Movie Monologues That Changed My Entire Worldview

more explicit.  He wanted to be loved because he was great, a great man. I'm nothing.  And it is in this sense that Niel's priest, a supporting character in the film, at one point gives a sermon that could well have been aimed directly at Neil, and from which he could have learned, if only he had been listening. "We want to live within the security of the laws." – says the priest, referring here not so much to actual laws but rather to the broader notion of conventions, comforts and other artificial obstructions, false promises and temporary sedatives that hinder true meaning – “We are afraid to choose.

Jesus insists on the choice. The only thing he completely condemns is avoiding the election.” To choose is to commit. And to commit is to take the risk, it is to take the risk of failure, the risk of sin, the risk of betrayal.  He goes on to explain that Jesus can deal with all of this, that forgiveness is never withheld, and that if you make a mistake you can repent, but, and this is the part that has always stuck with me, the part that is almost erased by the noise. in the background and must be given active attention if you want to even hear it properly; “But the man who doubts,” he says, “who does nothing, who buries his talent in the ground, with him he can do nothing.”  Now, I don't consider myself a religious person, but I find the language and symbols of religion useful as a metaphor.

So, while it might require a bit of translation for an atheist or agnostic person, I think there is great value to be found here. Because, to begin with, to invoke Scripture, or any ancient text or philosophy, is to implicitly remember that any particular struggle you are going through is, at its core, a timeless struggle, one that is rooted in deeper, more fundamental issues that do not exist. It is not based solely on the current state of society. In fact, another way to reach this conclusion is to simply go back in film history, which has already been around long enough to demonstrate that many of the problems we think of as specifically contemporary have actually been around for much longer.

The famous monologue at the end of Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator, for example, which premiered more than 80 years ago, in 1940, could well have been written yesterday; Greed has poisoned the souls of men, has entrenched the world with hatred, has led us goose-stepping into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have locked ourselves in. The machinery that gives abundance has left us in misery. Our knowledge has made us cynical. Our cunning, hard and cruel. We think too much and feel too little.  To be fair, the temporal distance from which these words now speak to us allows for a more pessimistic interpretation;

That is, this simply means that society is still bad, perhaps fundamentally bad. But for me, and this is where we get to the second reason why the priest's words resonate so strongly with me, and the most important thing that separates Malick's comment from that of a Fight Club or a Mr. Robot, is that The universality of this struggle means that the real achievement of purpose and meaning is determined not so much by the state of the world around us but by our own willingness to take true responsibility for our place in it. In other words, it is not just about life advice or personal happiness, it is not just about what we want to do, it is also about what we have to do, what is required of us.

And as such, words become a question of morality.  The director's cut of Kingdom of Heaven is not only one of my favorite historical epics, I also think it is a true masterpiece when it comes to exploring moral philosophy. Balian, the protagonist, is a character in search of good and virtue. “What man is the man who does not improve the world?” – He recorded in his workshop. He finds guidance in the principles of chivalry; a code of honor that, in its own right, is already worth remembering;  Do not fear before your enemies.  Be brave and upright so that God will love you.   Always tell the truth, even if it leads to your death.

Save the unprotected, and do no evil.  And yet, when I think about The Kingdom of Heaven, it is another monologue that attracts my attention, one that adds vital context to why principles like those proposed by chivalry are so important. Remember that regardless of how you play or who plays you, your soul is in your custody alone. In this conversation with King Baldwin, the king prepares Balian for the sociopolitical game he is about to enter, which is more or less the same game we all have to participate in, reminding him that the more important he is, the more existential conflict that lies hidden beneath the surface, the conflict that arises because no matter what our place in life, every human being possesses a fundamental inner freedom that cannot be compromised unless we allow it, and that therefore imbues us of an innate demand for personal responsibility.

Even if those who presume to play with you are kings or men of power. When you stand before God, you cannot say, "But others told me to do this," or that virtue was not convenient at that time. This will not be enough.  What he explains here is basically the principled ethics of philosopher Immanuel Kant, which to put it simply; We propose that what is morally correct is not determined by the result of an action, but by the intention that preceded it, by the principle that was being respected. Obviously there is much more to it than this, but for the purposes of our discussion here, what matters is that it is a philosophy that strives for pure consciousness, one that does not allow us, as Balian ultimately faces, to do a little evil to achieve a greater good.  It is a realm of consciousness, or nothing.

It is definitely one of the most extreme ethical philosophies and also one that, despite having such a seemingly simple premise, is deceptively complicated when it comes to putting it into practice, which might be the real reason why it has always fascinated me. so much. he. Because having one respect those principles that, on paper, would lead to a realm of consciousness if everyone followed them, does not always seem so momentous, or even just, when placed in a real-world context where such moral simplicity is never possible. . the case. If God gives us free will, we are responsible for what we do and what we don't do, aren't we?

Take for example A Hidden Life, another Terrence Malick film, which wonderfully explores rather rigid Kantian beliefs and their implications through the true story of Frans Jägerstätter, a man who refused to serve in Nazi Germany and was prosecuted for it. I want to save my life, but not through lies.  Faced with the choice between evil or death, A Hidden Life examines the sometimes impossible complications of trying to live by one's conscience and the real cost it could take to do so. I can't find anyone to turn to. Nothing enters my soul. It shows how what compromises our fundamental beliefs, what we can reasonably argue is evil, could well be what is lawful, could well be what is commonly practiced, what is commonly believed, or even what is commonly believed. valued in a country, a culture, a religion or an ideology.

And more than that, especially in our modern society, what we see as bad, or at least, what compromises the principles that we would otherwise want to defend, it is very likely that, in one way or another, we are already participating in, and that from what seems increasingly difficult, if not completely impossible, to separate ourselves from, even if we were willing to make significant personal sacrifices.  As such, it's hard not to surrender to a kind of fatalistic relativism, you know? the idea that nothing we do makes a significant difference, that any attempt to do something would only end up making us hypocrites anyway, and that therefore it is better to just ignore it all, bury our talent in the ground and go back . to distract ourselves with the superfluous, to build walls again, to pursue material gains, false ideals and empty philosophies.

But at the same time, it is also precisely because of this predominant feeling, this ease with which we can fall back into inaction, into unconsciousness, into non-being, that I find myself returning to these films, to the words of all these

monologues

, and the force with which they are released, to shake me from apathy, to remind me of what really matters, what I am called to do, what I am called to be;   in personal relationships, in the causes I believe in, in my general faith and my connection to the world and the people in it.  And whatever form it takes, from a more concrete action as an individual or as part of a larger collective movement for systemic change, or a more abstract leap of faith, dedication to a belief or an ideal, for me It all starts with We tear a lot from ourselves to heal faster.

You have to fight with yourself. ...that we're going bankrupt at thirty - You're sitting on a winning lottery ticket - ...and we have less to offer each time we start with someone new. …You're too much of a sissy to take advantage of it. More than machinery, we need humanity. More than intelligence, we need kindness and gentleness.  I disgraced everything, I did not notice the glory. They don't even know you. You'll love it, whether you like it or not. …because you haven't shown them.  Do what is in your heart son, you will be fine. This video, of course, but it barely scratches the surface when it comes to covering all the great

monologues

that have given and are still shaping our view of the world, monologues that stir our emotions and that we come to carry with us wherever we go. .

In this sense, there is a wonderful monologue in Frances Ha, written by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, that talks about the strange but beautiful experience of being in a relationship, but that really points to that general idea of ​​each of us walking with our own secret worlds of meaning and connection; It's that thing when you're with someone, and you love him and he knows it, and he loves you and you know it... For the rest of the monologue, I highly recommend you watch the full

movie

, which is available now. streaming as a friend of the channel and sponsor of today's video;   MUBI.

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