I give this movie a rating of 10 out of 10 not because it could not have been improved somewhat. It could have been a tad bit better, but if it were better I would be very frustrated since it is not possible to give it an 11.
The actors were engaging; the script well oiled and full of folk wisdom, cosmic wisdom and slants I had never thought of before -- WOW. I was forced by some of the excellent dialog to stop and write down many of the things the lady driver had to say, especially when she was talking to women whose men (one a husband, the other a fiancé) had left them. Some of the advice she dispensed was nothing less than Stellar: "Honestly, honey. You can't live without losing. We come into the world for that. To win and to lose. Win! Lose! Why don't you want to lose? See what it's like. Experience. More experience. Nothing but experience!....You're weak. You've very weak. -- (the woman continues to cry, maudlin) -- You understand? You cling like this to someone who leaves you. It's useless. Forget him. We women are unhappy because we don't love ourselves. We don't know how to live for ourselves. You can't sum it all up in just one person. Life is so vast. Why depend on just one person? Why not be different? It's not love. It's an illusion." "If it's an illusion, what is love then?" the grieving woman asks.
"First you must love yourself. You despise yourself so much, you hurt yourself. Has he gone? Too bad. There's more than one man in the world. Are you still crying? Go on and leave him too. You're wrong to cling to him. It's an illusion. That's all! You were hurting each other like psychopaths. 'Why are you late? Who's on the phone? Where were you?' Why this, why that. People say women should please men. That is a weakness." Still weeping, the other woman says, "All the same, I was fond of him." "You were wrong. We're unhappy, dependent, clinging. When we were little we clung to our mother and father, then to a boy, then to a man, then to our child. Like idiots. He is no longer there. You can cry all you want. He's not there anymore....Should your life and your ruin depend on just one person? What's preventing you from being yourself?" The quotes above and more where what I copied down, and it was like manna from heaven for my ears to hear (and in my case to read). I may not agree 100% with what she said, but 99% yes definitely, and can't tell you how much it would have helped me as a person to have watched this film when I was 15 or 16 years old before the saga of all my heartbreaks with men began. It may not have changed my fate, but it sure would have changed my attitude enough to help me learn at a much younger age to roll with the punches! I would just like to add that I feel the weakest portion of this film is the very first 10 minutes or more. In fact, I got an entirely negative impression of the lady driver at the beginning of the film because I thought of her as another mom who yells at her child too much and has not learned how to communicate well. However this problem righted itself and I very much enjoyed her conversations with all of the people who rode in her car. I was also particularly touched by the story of the woman who traveled to the mausoleum 3 times a day to pray for the dead (among other things). Turned out both her husband and 12 year old son had died. Somehow her response of going so often to pray for them struck another beautiful chord for me.
Her conversation with the prostitute was interesting too, though I am not certain I learned anything from that one.
I think people who feel a need for plot and action in a film will not be able to listen to this film, and that is unfortunate. However for those who are able to and enjoy just listening, this movie will provide you with wonderful fare.
The actors were engaging; the script well oiled and full of folk wisdom, cosmic wisdom and slants I had never thought of before -- WOW. I was forced by some of the excellent dialog to stop and write down many of the things the lady driver had to say, especially when she was talking to women whose men (one a husband, the other a fiancé) had left them. Some of the advice she dispensed was nothing less than Stellar: "Honestly, honey. You can't live without losing. We come into the world for that. To win and to lose. Win! Lose! Why don't you want to lose? See what it's like. Experience. More experience. Nothing but experience!....You're weak. You've very weak. -- (the woman continues to cry, maudlin) -- You understand? You cling like this to someone who leaves you. It's useless. Forget him. We women are unhappy because we don't love ourselves. We don't know how to live for ourselves. You can't sum it all up in just one person. Life is so vast. Why depend on just one person? Why not be different? It's not love. It's an illusion." "If it's an illusion, what is love then?" the grieving woman asks.
"First you must love yourself. You despise yourself so much, you hurt yourself. Has he gone? Too bad. There's more than one man in the world. Are you still crying? Go on and leave him too. You're wrong to cling to him. It's an illusion. That's all! You were hurting each other like psychopaths. 'Why are you late? Who's on the phone? Where were you?' Why this, why that. People say women should please men. That is a weakness." Still weeping, the other woman says, "All the same, I was fond of him." "You were wrong. We're unhappy, dependent, clinging. When we were little we clung to our mother and father, then to a boy, then to a man, then to our child. Like idiots. He is no longer there. You can cry all you want. He's not there anymore....Should your life and your ruin depend on just one person? What's preventing you from being yourself?" The quotes above and more where what I copied down, and it was like manna from heaven for my ears to hear (and in my case to read). I may not agree 100% with what she said, but 99% yes definitely, and can't tell you how much it would have helped me as a person to have watched this film when I was 15 or 16 years old before the saga of all my heartbreaks with men began. It may not have changed my fate, but it sure would have changed my attitude enough to help me learn at a much younger age to roll with the punches! I would just like to add that I feel the weakest portion of this film is the very first 10 minutes or more. In fact, I got an entirely negative impression of the lady driver at the beginning of the film because I thought of her as another mom who yells at her child too much and has not learned how to communicate well. However this problem righted itself and I very much enjoyed her conversations with all of the people who rode in her car. I was also particularly touched by the story of the woman who traveled to the mausoleum 3 times a day to pray for the dead (among other things). Turned out both her husband and 12 year old son had died. Somehow her response of going so often to pray for them struck another beautiful chord for me.
Her conversation with the prostitute was interesting too, though I am not certain I learned anything from that one.
I think people who feel a need for plot and action in a film will not be able to listen to this film, and that is unfortunate. However for those who are able to and enjoy just listening, this movie will provide you with wonderful fare.