Customer Reviews

Eve & the Fire Horse DVD - Sundance Film Festival Jury Prize Winner

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The "editorial review" does not do Eve and the Fire Horse justice because, as is too often the case on the info that appears on DVD cases, the "product description" is far from accurate. In my opinion, this film won its numerous prizes because it shows in a moving way how hard it is to grow up, how even more difficult it is to grow up in a family in America or Canada, or any country really, when the family still retains strong ties to a different culture. In this case, the immigrant family happens to be of Chinese origin. It is too simplistic to consider this rich story as another depiction of assimilation. Julia Kwan's brilliant story allows us to view all this with the added emphasis on how these two young girls try to understand their need for faith in their lives. The family is not a "wayward" family. It happens to be of Chinese origin and their old Buddhist traditions are what both parents and the grandmother solely believed until the children weave together what the mother accepts with hope "It is better to have two Gods to be safe." As the children struggle to understand, their new convictions about Christianity are important to both. Yes, the family experiences many changes as all families and relationships that are meaningful do. The touching aspect of how their love holds them together even to the youngest exuberant one is what makes this film so lovely.