GRIEF

THE BROKEN CIRCLE BREAKDOWN Talk about a heavy movie. My wife and  I ran across it on "On Demand" which is our cable system. In a sense, we really didn't know what we were getting. It is a study in "grief." Sad is not even close to the concept. Two highly "edgy" people discover each other. One a tattoo artist and the other a farmer/musician. An unplanned pregnancy and the birth of an adorable child but as she grows up, "cancer." The movie shows treatment, losing hair, all the things that this insidious disease forces victims to deal with. Sad beyond belief. The child goes to the "next life." (heaven, a concept that is comforting to me). 

The movie deals with how this couple handles or doesn't handle their grief. The film touches the depth of someone's loss. The director cleverly uses flashbacks to fill in crevices of the overwhelming grief. Even proofing this, makes my heart heavy. 

As a Vietnam vet who lives with a touch of permanent grief, I was moved bigtime. The choice of music: "bluegrass" was so great. I bought the album which is a first for me. The interspersing of gospel music was genius. 

I love movies that tackle the most difficult of experiences and this one does in spades. I hope it will be seen by many. You almost think it is an American movie, based on songs and dialogue but not: the couple lives in Belgium and the movie is from the Netherlands. 

I really don't even know who should see this movie. After watching, I was emotionally spent. How did they handle their grief? How do we handle our grief? Suck it up and see this movie.