Customer Reviews

Echos Of Enlightenment

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

There are films that still come back to me in the most unusual of times and rattle my brain.

Echos of Enlightenment does the same thing, although to a much lesser degree, and I cannot tell you how much that delights me.

This is a time in which most filmmakers do not want to force their viewers to question their lives, their values, or their acceptance of reality. Entertainment is the focus, and I'm all for that, at least most of the time. But a steady diet of fun, thrilling, gory, dorky films eventually leaves a stale taste in your cinematic mouth. Echoes of Enlightenment provides an excellent change of diet.

Daniel is a lawyer. He works very hard. His wife is distant. Daniel works harder. His wife grows more distant. Clients are harder to satisfy. The cases become more difficult. Daniel works even harder. His wife is all but a stranger. Then, one day, Daniel vanishes. He leaves a trail of people whose lives he has touched and altered, but once he hit the coastline, he seems to have vanished into thin air.

The premise almost sounds like an episode of The X Files. But writer/director Dan Coplan doesn't go for the creepy mystery thing. Instead, he heaps so much crap onto the main character that the character's only option is shift gears and simplify his world in an effort to find meaning. His journey of spiritual enlightenment alters everyone with whom he comes in contact, and as he learns more about himself and his place in the world, everyone he meets suddenly finds they have the same desire to delve deeper into themselves and their existence.

Such a film could easily be a rambling mess or the breeding ground for cheap moralizing. Coplan keeps things well balanced between New Age prophet tale and raving looney road picture. For every scene you get of the main character opening his mind, you also get the vague feeling that he has just snapped from the stress of his professional and personal lives. The fact that you are made to closely identify with the main character in the first third of the film lends his spiritual road trip with just enough credibility to keep you by his side until he reaches the coastline and debates his ultimate fate.

Yet, as pleasant as the various threads of the story doing a Maypole dance happens to be, the film is not without a couple of minor weak points. Occasionally, the acting comes across as stiff and staged, and the weird thing is that those particular scenes come across as though they were improvised -- just not improvised with much confidence. Also, a couple of the scenes of characters debating drag on a bit long, as if the running time needed padding or the dialogue needed some minor tightening. Very slight problems in the great scheme of things.

If you can't watch Echos of Enlightenment for the spiritual quest or the human search for meaning, watch it simply because it delivers a profoundly different experience than the run-of-the-mill film. Most likely, you will thank yourself, and you will find the film crossing your thoughts more than you might like to admit.

Facing death by swallowing the barrel of a .45, the protagonist Daniel Gesar, a tormented attorney, takes us on a journey of self-discovery through flashbacks merging past, present and future into that culminating point in his life. The main story in Echos of Enlightenment, unfolds the last days of a quietly despairing man who leaves his home, his work, and his wife, never to return.

The director and producer Daniel J Coplan explores the basic ideals of Buddhism and intricately weaves these concepts into a contemporary story line. Whilst fusing the cinematic influences of David Lynch and Quentin Tarantino, this first full-length feature of Coplan's encompasses both positive and negative dimensions that exist in a single moment of life. Coplan reconciles this duality in the context of defining enlightenment at the moment of death.

Portrayed through Daniel Gesar, he offers liberating insights to the despairing even when Daniel's own circumstances are diminished. Coplan skilfully expressed the seemingly incompatible disciplines of Shakyamuni's ancient parables with contemporary lives in a modern day setting. He uses them to illustrate just how Daniel Gesar has become imprisoned by his life and his journey to ultimately break the chains that bind him as he escapes from an allegorical prison.

Echos of Enlightenment could have easily gotten lost in a maze of contradictions and metaphors. However, the narrative holds the whole script together coherently, linking events to capture Shakyamuni/Daniel Gesar's journey to enlightenment. The metaphors add deliberate depth to the stylish visuals. For example, the dew dripping into a pond ripple effect when something pivotal was about to happen, or what I interpret as an intimate moment captured in a black and white photograph, the scene where Daniel reminisces holding his wife Mary. It was like looking at someone's photograph and wondering what words/feelings were exchanged, what they were thinking, when that photo was taken. Echos is a coherent ensemble of fragmented moments where several storylines, running in parallel to the main story, circles back to the onset of the movie. This is a reflection of Coplan's desire to emphasize the inter-connections of life and environment (esho funi) and time itself.

Coplan finds his inspiration from the "Expedient Means" (Hoben) chapter of the Lotus Sutra as an answer to the drudgeries of our mortal daily toils. Interpreting the concept of enlightenment on screen requires the finesse of walking the fine line between proselyting and sentimentality in which Coplan skillfully surpasses. Quite remarkably, Coplan's Echos coaxes the audience to surrender disbelief and be drawn into a vibrant world of magical realism. We cannot help but recognize a part, if not all, of ourselves in Daniel Gesar.

It was hard not to like Daniel. There is one scene, when looking in the bathroom mirror, he doesn't recognize who he is anymore, that scene resonated with me. The difficult transition between a person who was angry, frustrated, torn apart by people's expectations into a character who uplifted people's spirit was remarkably believable. Indeed, the performance by Coplan as Daniel Gesar is poignantly human; shades of pathos unravelled rreminiscing of Martin Sheen in Apocalypse Now!

On the whole, I thought that "Echos" was pretty gutsy. It boldly went where no other spiritual film has ever gone before, i.e., to offer a glimpse into a man's journey towards transcendent escape from an allegoric prison, without the preachiness. For good measure, there are erotic and minor violent scenes for universal appeal. Love it or hate it, Echos of Enlightenment is an engrossing, post-viewing conversation piece, bridging pop-culture with religious classic. We rate it 8 out of 10, with 10 being the best!

What a surprise!

A sleazy lawyer stumbles upon enlightenment!

This film is grounded in the expression of the Buddha nature. I think this is the first time the essence of Buddhism is expressed on the screen. Even if the quote from the Lotus Sutra is unrecognizable to the general audience, everyone can relate to the impact of a single life on so many others and the struggle for meaning in life.

The route to Daniel's enlightenment was laced with social commentary and humor about the mundane routine of life. The lawyer's daily trudging his cases up to the courthouse was a great motif for showing the increasing burden his life and his unraveling before he finds enlightenment. Daniel's struggle between his humanity and his dreary work is something many people can relate to. (I'm especially recommending this to my lawyer friends).

Very good actors, well cast. The direction, camera work, and editing were well done--better than many movies emerging from the independent market. ("Clerks," and "Chuck & Buck" come to mind). Visually interesting, particularly that scene where his disappearance is envisioned. Powerfully presented.

Some of the reviews for this movie appear to be self-marketing attempts. The language used in these reviews is remarkably similar and the "reviewers" often only have reviewed this one movie. This is highly unusual. In addition, at least two reviewers included a reference to the 2002 Telluride Film Festival, perhaps to give it an air of authenticity. Upon checking, however, this was NOT one of the movies on the program during that year. I didn't check other years, but this certainly calls into question the validity of these "reviewers". Please proceed at your own risk.

As the story opens, we're immediately handed a mystery: Who is Daniel? What happened in his last days? Is he Dead? If so, how? Through flashbacks, we follow the spiritual transformation, as Daniel slowly awakens to the illusion surrounding him - the lies, the struggle, the social conditioning of everyday life. Overwhelmed by the world coming down around him, Daniel breaks out, disappears, and comes face-to-face with people all around him suffering from various forms of fear and disconnection.

Daniel's awakening allows him a sort of transcendental detatchment, from which he pronounces wisdom, and causes those around him to stop, think, and transform. While I appreciate the spirit of the film and script, I found the nature and ease of these transformations distracting and strained. Daniel seems like a smart and powerful person, and his wisdom is often profound, but even so, the awe-struck reactions he inspires are unrepresentative of the world I know.

Parallel to this, there's a sort of gnawing creepiness about Daniel. Maybe he's really insane? Maybe he's a charlatan? Why not play with these possibilies, and serve back some of the complexity that actually surrounds these issues in real life?

I respect this movie for approaching the human condition in a challenging way, and recommend it to anyone open to Buddhism - anyone who feels the chafe of social conditioning, and wants more... for those on the fence, or for whom "spiritual" is equal parts truth and nonsense... be forewarned...

"Echos of Enlightenment" Dan Coplan's indie is a great study of humanity in the 21st century. The character Dan is, whether or not we admit it, can be found in all of us. He is a man coping in the 21st century with all the stresses of outside influences hammering away at anything good he has, or is about, when he disappears. This movie is an excellent metaphor for the Buddhist principle of the mutual possession of the Ten Worlds and shows that happiness is possible under any circumstance. It's all up to the individual. The characters journey from Hell to Buddhahood is depicted with seriousness and humor. A great movie for anyone open to the possibilities of innate happiness.

I thought this picture was an honest attempt to dig deeper into the human psychie. It's not perfect by any means but it has something to say about society and the human condition. Those "reviewers" who complain about it being sold by "spammers" are just bitching about nothing. So what if the picture is being advertised by mass market media? That does not take away from what the film is trying to say and it is no reason to dump on the picture....One would almost think the complainers had a personel ax to grind with those who made the picture....What, you didn't get cast in it?

Dan (director) does a marvelous job or creating some really wonderful scenes in a life opening indie film. Dan has a real touch when it comes to creating scenes that give the viewer real insights into the character. One of my favorite scenes is Daniel going to and from his office. Each time he trudges up the hill he carries more and more files etc. until his little cart, rolls over from the burden into the street. Another favorite scene is the creditors coming to the door. The casting is great and the actors are very convincing. Dan wrote, directed and plays the lead character no easy feat. But, he pulls it off well. The transformation of Daniel is a life opening experience that shows the power of Buddhism in a well crafted manner.

This film kept my interest throughout. Dan, as a lawyer really had to deal with a lot! The way his clients were depicted was a real eye opener!
Between his professional life and his personal life, Daniel really was walking a tightrope. The film depicts very well what can happen when we have too much going on in our lives

I was left with a feeling of admiration for what they all went through and the outcome.
I would recommend it to anyone especially those that are going through tough times.

The spiritual journey of Daniel Coplan unfolds much like the spiritual journey that many of us find ourselves on: Confusing, painful, humorous and inspirational, anything but boring. Echos of Enlightenment is stylistically similar to books like Robert Persig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and movies like Memento, with the philosophical weight of What Dreams May Come. If you are in the mood for a 'brainstem' evening of movie watching, Echos of Enlightenment is not the movie to see. It requires the full attention of the viewer, prompting each to reflect on the state of their current existence.

One especially 'enlightening' aspect of the film is the look at the life of a lawyer. Mr. Coplan (Director) does a particularly good job of illustrating the tedium and minutia that can (and does) drive individuals to brink of implosion. I for one will never become an attorney after seeing this movie.

Echos of Enlightenment, while not technically perfect, is a film told in a unique and interesting fashion. Its subject matter is worthy of the art of cinema and should be explored more often. Thank you Mr. Coplan. Please make more movies.