Movies to Make Before I Die - List 5

10.) Koan: Not sure how I missed this one. This is actually inspired from Zen. Again, I mean my experience in gathering information about it, reading about it in books and web. Also, in a way trying to apply and see this wonderful and different dimension of looking at life or actually, should I say a Way of life?

Before I go the plot, Koan can be a story, statement, quote or even a question. The meaning of this cannot be understood through a rational process of thinking but maybe through your heart/inner feeling/intuition.

Now to the plot line... The basic thing is that the movie will consist of 2 major koans enacted... with many other various koans put together in between (but will never feel as if it is not connected to the movie) .

Since this is a Koan it will not have the realistic touch as all my other movies, but will have a fable-kind approach with an ode to the art of cinematogrophy. It will be long shots or wide range shoots of nature, hills (of course, in connection to the location of the scene). Between you and me, that will be my little koan implying that nature and life around us keeps happening... there are no questions, no clear cut rules... but just happening around as you sleep, cry thinking about a problem. Oops... This is a koan, I am not supposed to explain but you are supposed to get it, feel it.

The movie will start with a man who is a great sword fighter/martial arts expert/ kalaripayuttu expert. He visits different competitions and proves himself to be a great fighter. His son (10 years old) accompanies him everytime. During one of such competitions, he defeats a egoistic and probably, evil man. The Egoistic man is unable to take this and kills the great fighter in his sleep/ attacks suddenly/ keeps the son as hostage and fights and kills the man(which is witnessed by the son). The son vows to take revenge and sets out to prepare himself to be a fighter. And there starts the koans (they are borrowed/inspired and not my creations)...

The son remembers a friend of his father who teaches sword fighter/martial arts/kalaripayuttu. He visits him and informs that he wants to learn the art and also the objective for the same. The Master takes him in as a student but never really teaches him. He makes him do all the household work. 2 years pass by and the son has doubts if he will ever learn, but still thinks of persevering for some more time (since he knows how highly his father used to think about the Master). Then after the 3rd year or so, while he is doing his usual chores the Master attacks him, hits him... and this cycle continues. At first the son gets startled and then hurt. But as months and years goes by, he starts becoming more alert and is able to avoid the attacks and is also able to give some smack back. Then at the end of 5 years, the Master says that you are now qualified to a higher training and then gets into training with real weapons and moves.

After 5 more years, the son is about 20 years old. The master informs him that he is his best student but not sure if he was able to teach him the higher merits of the art. The son says he is al ready to fulfil his vow of seeking revenge. The Master does not say anything but then takes him to the nearby river and tells him to keep his feet on the water and keep it back on the ground. Then he tells him to do it again. This goes on and the Son knows that there is something to be learnt is unable to get it. The Master tells him that maybe he is not ready yet but there is always a time.

The son then goes on his voyage, from one competition to the another, enquiring about the egoistic fighter as well. It looks like he has completely disappeared but then during one of his visits to a village, he is informed of such a man' s presence in one of the hills who lives as a recluse.

Ok to cut a long story short, the Son meets the Egoistic guy... Tells him why he is here. The Egoistic man is not aggressive anymore and does not shy away as well, but asks for some more time as he is actually digging a tunnel/paving a better way through the hill so that the villagers can commute well (something he toook upon himself, probably to get rid of the bad karma he had accumulated). The son sees it as a noble effort and agrees. He also helps the man in making the tunnel/paving the way through the forest. Inbetween there are koans put in like, where a man will rob the egoistic man and the son sees it, awaiting for this fighter to fight back. But he sees that the egoistic man gives all the food and whatever money he had to the robber...

Then after the said deed is completed, the son reminds the egoistic man of the promise. The Egoistic man says that he too should be killed in the night and sends the son to get some food item he would like to eat before he dies. The son goes to the village market and on his way to the market and back, he is witness to Koan vignettes put togerther. He returns to the Egoistic mans place and says he understood what his Master was trying to teach him.

"The Master appears when the pupil is ready"

There is a very teeny weeny romantic angle (never allowed to take a center piece or on the screen for more than a minute). Actually there will be only 4 minutes dedicated to love so that there is a place where the Son can return to and share his new found wisdom and understanding of love. THE END.