As a lawyer for many years in negligence cases there is a theory called the thin skulled theory. You take your victims as you find them. If you carelessly back your car in shopping centre parking lot and kill a pedestrian that might have not died had they not had such a thin skull that is no defence to your negligence.
Similarly if you watch a film and you are profoundly effected by it the filmmakers have scored a great success as opposed to those in the audience who view the film as light and interesting entertainment.
Eru is young boy of Mexican descent living in the United States. Eru has lost his mother at an early age. Eru is a soccer nut and after his soccer practice he visits his mother’s grave with his grandmother who he is living with. There is no emotion shown by Eru. Then the same day he is playing soccer with his friend and the ball is kicked over the graveyard fence. The caretaker expresses anger at his sneaking into the graveyard to retrieve the soccer ball. Eru covered in mud from the graveyard returns home to hear his grandmother has been having strange dreams about her deceased daughter. Eru falls asleep and has bizarre dreams about being visited by his mother. Using native medicine Eru’s grandmother tries to cleanse the house of spirits with negative influences. Eru learns that the graveyard caretaker was asked by his mother to acts as his guardian. Eru hears this and hugs the caretaker with tears running down his eyes to end the film. Nice story?
Dig a bit deeper. Eru is a child, like many, who has lost a parent at an early age. How can such a poor child process such a tragic death? That child simply lacks an understanding of the death of that child’s parent. That tragic event can be buried deep in the child’s mind and locked up in a state of numbness for many years if not forever. Through the visit of his mother in a dream Eru understands his mother is indeed gone and grieves with tears running down his eyes.
A particularly sad and touching movie for me. Why. I am just another Eru having lost my father at 9 years of age. Unlike Eru I never had the chance to grieve because the death of my father was an impossibility my mind could never wrap around. If you know of young children who have lost a parent “Lodo” may be invaluable for that child. Grieving upon the death of a parent may be therapeutic instead of eternal postponement.
This short recently played DWF (Dances With Wolves) Film Festival in Los Angeles. The film was directed and co-written by Alessandro Gentile.
While the acting is stiff the message for some will be profound.
RKS Film Rating 93/100.
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