Så som i himmelen

What does your heaven look like? For me, it's a place where there is no fear, only love, and I will have everything that I always wanted - not so much material goods, but the people I love around me.

"As It In Heaven" made the Australian news recently as the small film that out-grossed "Titanic" at the classic Orpheum cinema in Cremorne, North Sydney. We made plans a couple of months ago when we heard raves about the movie to watch it, but since it was a fair distance away (across the Harbour Bridge which we rarely venture unless we visit John's family in Newcastle), it never eventuated.

We finally bit the bullet in shivering temperatures last Thursday evening, and walked out close to midnight, warm in our hearts. Made in 2004 and a Best Foreign Picture Oscar nominee in 2005, this crowd pleaser is a story about relationships and how music and love can move us to open our hearts and allow love in. It could have been a real mush-fest but under the skillful hands of Swedish filmmakers, we are thankfully excused from a saccharine and sentimental experience.

The movie begins with a talented seven year old boy playing the violin in the fields and how not far away, ran some bullies who would soon locate and beat him to a pulp because he was different. His sole parent, his mother soothes him and comforts him that he will never have to suffer the pain again by moving them to the city. There at fourteen, while preparing for his entry for a major contest, he glances out of the window just in time to catch his mother being knocked down by a chair.

We are treated next to his adulthood and here he is, grand as a world renowned conductor of an orchestra, his genius in full force as blood is gushing out of his nose while he in fully entrenched in his work. The next few scenes establish him as a perfectionist as he berates the musicians for apparently not dedicating their lives as much as he does to his passion. As he walks off finishing another performance, he collapses, and it is revealed that he suffered a heart attack.

He decides to take a break and though he doesn't realise why then, decides to go back to his birthplace, and buys the school that he first studied at. Being a loner all his life, he finds life in this small town a little difficult to adjust to at first, because of the proximity of the relationships between the townsfolk, which he is not accustomed to, since he has been a loner since his mother died. One day, he makes a decision to train the church choir, and through his unique techniques, to breathe and live music instead of just singing it, he brings salvation and freedom to the many people in this choir and town. Without being aware, he buys the school he was taught and ends up teaching life lessons to them and himself.

It is not exactly "The Sound of Music", which is one of my favourite films of all time, but it does share a similar theme of the power of music and love. There are some wonderful scenes and messages in the film, the best easily being the confrontation between the town pastor and his wife. I am so happy that someone finally put it down on the screen because it is so true that Jesus Christ never forgave because he never condemned in the first place. It is all about power hungry people using religion as their own way of getting what they want, and preaching their own views and values rather than Christ. I am not religious but I really balk at what some famous archbishops have to say about issues and in particular marginalised people, just because they are not common. We are all normal, just uncommon.

I also adore the theme of honesty in the movie, and how we need to open our hearts first before love can enter. It is all about giving and the joys of it, and how when it can return if you start by giving. I love the communal feel of the small town and how these group of people learn to speak their minds and live the lives that they want, and the support they learn to provide to each other, and strength in numbers. The power of being and the inspiration of music and life.

Another scene that struck a real note with me was one of the choir members standing up to a bully, and finally confronting him for berating him all these years, giving him a nickname that he could never live outside. This really reminded me of the painful days when I was growing up, and how nicknames given by bullies at school used to hurt so much, and no matter what I did, tried to fit in, that I would never be able to be one of them. Why does this still happen in life? Oh what I would give to relive all those years and give it back to them. To be brave and say to them that I am happy with who I am and I no longer have to be afraid. Maybe this is why I have not kept in touch with them, and I know that if I stood next to them today, that I wouldn't be the one feeling ashamed. I may not be more successful or richer than anyone of them, but I am certain that I am more complete and I am happy with I am and the life I am leading.

This is a truly moving and powerful movie. It is so many things to so many people that one word or an adjective cannot sum up the entire movie, but they are speechless nonetheless. I don't want to hike up the expectations for anyone because it is dangerous to walk into any film with such hopes, but if you do get a chance to watch it, see if music opens your heart to love as well.