CONSCIOUS CINEMA
his duty or doing the bidding of his corporate bosses , he ’ s left to wrangle with a difficult decision , one that forces him to assess his beliefs , particularly where his integrity is concerned .
As embarrassing as the foibles depicted in the foregoing films may be , they ’ re nothing compared to what can happen when we intentionally disavow our integrity in favor of manifesting creations that fulfill wholly self-serving ends . This becomes apparent , for example , in the film adaptation of E . M . Forster ’ s classic novel “ Howards End ” ( originally released 1992 , re-released 2016 ), in which the relatives of a wealthy dying matron ( Vanessa Redgrave )
When we fail to listen to our integrity , we can get ourselves into trouble . By playing around with our sense of personal authenticity , we can unwittingly dig deep holes for ourselves , as a family of serial fibbers finds out in the charming comedy of errors , “ City Island ” ( 2009 ). Comparable results arise in “ Big Eyes ” ( 2014 ), director Tim Burton ’ s whimsical biopic of artist Margaret Keane ( Amy Adams ), who defers to her opportunist husband Walter ( Christoph Waltz ) when he takes credit for her work , all in an ill-conceived effort to keep peace in the family . In both of these cases , the results boomerang on those who fail to heed their own inner voices . purposely attempt to undermine her efforts to bequeath her beloved manor to a new , compassionate friend ( Emma Thompson ), a scheme fraught with numerous ironic pitfalls . Such insincerity also emerges in the biting Italian / French mystical satire “ The Confessions ” (“ Le confessioni ”) ( 2016 ), in which a suicidal International Monetary Fund manager ( Daniel Auteuil ) who harbors secrets with global implications feels compelled to confess his situation to a mysterious Italian monk ( Toni Servillo ) at a G8 summit , an act that raises comparable apprehension among the other ministers in attendance .
Difficult though it may be , paying attention to our integrity sometimes requires us to own up to our shortcomings . But one could also argue that , in the end , acknowledging our deficiencies is preferable to tackling tasks we know we ’ re not properly equipped to handle . That ’ s the case for a soft-spoken Roman
46 | New Consciousness Review