Enlightenment Guaranteed

Enlightenment Guaranteed may seem funny at first but in fact it's very serious and explicitly Buddhist, since it involves two German brothers and their adventures in getting into and out of Japan's Monzen Buddhist monastery. Unfortunately the only format in which it has been released in North America is German VHS with English Subtitled which is somehow disappointing but the beauty of the movie almost makes you forget this little problem, The more interesting fact is that the actors actually had to live the monastery life during the shooting: for two weeks they and the crew never left the Monzen grounds!

Though I haven't seen a lot of John Casavetes' work, apart from

that, this is one of the best modern (read: 1985-present) uses of

8mm film that I've ever seen. This is one of those films you just

have to throw yourself into. I'm not drawing a parallel between the

two--at all!--but people who have seen 'Neon Genesis Evangelion'

will recall how by the end of the first episode you had no idea what

was going on, right alongside the principle character. This movie

has a similar feel--It's unsettling at first, but ultimately presents

itself as a curiously wonderful juxtaposition of warmth and

coldness; interrelation and alienation. Very few films are capable

of doing this well. Oh, and as a side note -- this is NOT one of

those aimlessly meandering art films hell-bent on using 8mm to

generate indie/underground credibility. In sum: a thoughtfully

rewarding film about two very different German brothers lost in

Japan and discovering a fine gray line dividing the point of no

return from the point just before it and overcoming that dualism.

If you want to see a little of the real Japan then watch this movie rather than "Lost in Translation" (which would have been better if it was filmed in New York so the director knew what she was talking about). Yes, it is a bit slow in some parts but anyone who has been on a self-finding journey will relate, and laugh even more at the funny situations they get into. Germans and Japanese have a lot in common so that makes the misunderstandings real rather than the usual "foreigners in Japan trying to make the Japanese seem like savage aliens".

In this time of reality TV and home-movies being used on various TV shows, the hand-held camera shots are very real. Also interesting is that the characters names are the actors real names so it adds to the effect.

I adored this movie; it was sweet, funny, honest, beautiful, and poetic; I was smitten. As a friend of mine (a film critic) wrote to me, "I've rarely seen anything that matches form to content in such an easy and really loving way."

"Enlightenment Guaranteed" is a wonderful film. Funny, visually interesting and intelligent. However, education about Buddhism is required, I think, for real appreciation of the film's layers of story telling. The independent film feeling was really charming. Ochsenknecht and Wohler work well as a comic team. The monastery scenes were fascinating and fun. There is a whole self consciousness of the play as a play that I really liked. It seemed more like small, alternative theater than film at times. I don't think this could be a commercial hit, simply because it takes a certain level of education and understanding of philosophy to get many of the jokes. The small audience, with whom I saw the film, were split down the middle. Half of them seemed as delighted as I was. Half seemed bored and restless. The German speakers near me were laughing as often and as loudly as I was. My own education in Buddhist practices was a major source of my appreciation for the film, I think. Well worth seeing, if you can find it.