:up: The local film society chose this for the year's first viewing. I am unsure what to write here as this movie impacted me personally ... and very deeply. This is not a feel good movie. It has areas of subtitles which aren't a bother, but the movie is one rich in Jewish history, and how events change people. This movie actually requires the viewer to become engaged and then envelopes them without warning. Personally I identified with a broken man who was alone in the world and living with the ghosts of the past and trying desperately to live and function in the present. His only solace is writing. I can say that it is oft easier to open up and write the desperate and painful parts of our souls than it is to utter the words to another soul. For it is when the words are breathed that the feeling is intensified to a point of nearly destroying the author. These intense feelings are tempered by the goodness that each of us posses. I am convinced that under the surface, we are all broken into a million little pieces. What matters is what we use to glue them back together. That glue is love, forgiveness and understanding. I am moved to tears writing this review but I am very grateful for viewing such a thought provoking movie which will further assist me in picking up my own pieces and gluing them together.

I particularly like the quote: "it is not extraordinary that wood can burn, but that it can float". I am not of Jewish descent but I can glean the wisdom of this quote. Each of us choose to either be consumed by the fire(s)and horrors of the past, or allow ourselves to float ... for that is when we will survive and thrive. One might say that I myself am beginning to learn how to float.