Pierced to the Heart

"You can't measure the success of a [film] on how many tickets it sells. You can only measure it in how many hearts it changes." — Hayao Miyazaki …more »»

Pierced to the Heart gets a new home!

Over time, we will be moving content from this site to a new web address: Life Love Illusion (lifeloveillusion.com). The new name and format support a broader range of exploration. During the (long) transition, you will be automatically redirected for articles we’ve moved. Other articles will remain available here.

What’s the deal here?

Have you ever had a blinding flash of clarity about a better life or a better world? A moment where you thought, “Hey, maybe there’s life before death”? It can change you, and it can start with a moment in a movie.

That’s what is about: finding life through film. Whether a film is old or new, we turn things around: We spend less time critiquing a film and more time asking if the film can critique us. With any film, we:

Focus first on how a film embodies the best in life — good, true, beautiful things — even if its filmcraft falls short.
Tone down (but don’t ignore) our critique of a film’s failings.
Allow a film to show ugly sides of life if, by doing so, it might help us see the best in life more clearly.

Why? Because life is better when the world’s a better place, and that starts with us. Whether on DVD or in a theater, we have a good time with film and we want movies to help us get better. Other bits you’ll find on the site:

The latest film talks
The three parts of a film talk
Good books and quotes
How to learn more about it

A angle on film is about how we change from the inside out and how film can help us do that. It works like this:

Change from the inside out

Heart. On the inside, in our hearts, is who we really are. A film can show us the best things in life and move us toward loving them.
Beauty. Our hearts move with Beauty — good, true, pleasing things. A film can help us feel the joy of real Beauty or the pain of Beauty's absence.
Love. As a film moves us toward Beauty, we can find and live love and relationship with those around us.

Be thoughtful about film

Find a film's heart. Seeing a film, we want more than the fun of the moment. We also want the film's heart to move us toward the best in life.
Take care with content. We see films that dive deep into ugly issues of this life, and thus show ugly things, but we don't want to enjoy ugly content for its own sake.
Consider what to watch. We see a broad range of films, yet we aim to choose better films that enrich our lives with Beauty in the moment and that also help us get better.

I hope you'll join us.

Randy Heffner
organizer

Talk about great films: Goodbye Solo (2009)

Before viewing talk
A momentary acquaintance is most times just that: momentary. The beauty in Goodbye Solo arises from a quick, sharp moment of insight leads one character, driven by his depth of concern for other people, to relentlessly …more »»

After viewing talk
I was intensely struck by Solo's character in Goodbye Solo and specifically by his immediate — and sustained — reaction to a fellow human … more »»

…more »»

Before viewing talks

Before viewing

More in-depth talks about great films

The Secret of Roan Inish (1994)

Before viewing talk
The legends, mystery, and characters in The Secret of Roan Inish beautifully embody our innate longing for home and how we deal with that longing. The Irish waterscape and the life within it becomes a character, being both lovely and treacherous, passive and with its own active agenda. …more »»

After viewing talk
After seeing The Secret of Roan Inish, I sat back and wondered how often I, like Tess (the grandmother), repress my longing for home. I wondered how often … more »»

An Unfinished Life (2005)

Before viewing talk
An Unfinished Life is rich with diversity of relational contexts and emotional perspectives. In its exploration of forgiveness and responsibility, one central conflict is echoed and reflected in multiple …more »»

After viewing talk
After watching An Unfinished life, and seeing played out before me its multi-faceted exploration of blaming and forgiveness, I hope I am more senstive … more »»

Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

Before viewing talk
With Moonrise Kingdom’s quirky, crazy story and demeanor, director Wes Anderson delivers an emotionally rich and wry exploration of relationships. Even better, …more »»

After viewing talk
Seeing Moonrise Kingdom, I long for the simple, true, mature love that gets lost amidst the dysfunction in our own lives and in the world around us. … more »»

Smoke Signals (1998)

Before viewing talk
Made by Indians about Indians (we can say “Indians” rather than “Native Americans” because they themselves say it that way in the film), Smoke Signals creatively mixes humor from multiple angles (about Indians, about reservations, about how others see Indians, about the history of Indian relations with the USA, etc.) with …more »»

After viewing talk
Watching Smoke Signals affected me in two distinct ways. The first comes from seeing Victor struggle with his father's failings and offenses. Victor starts … more »»

August 3, 2009, 15:41 UTC (updated July 22, 2020, 12:24 UTC)
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