One: The Movie

Review #16 of 365
Film: One: the movie [NR] 79 minutes
WIP: $8.75
When 1st Seen: 26 January 2006
Where Viewed: Hallett Cinemas Bellevue Galleria Stadium 11, Bellevue, WA
Time: 2:50 p.m.
Review Dedicated to: Blake B. of Chicago, IL

Imagine waking up one morning with the notion that you need to make a film that will unite humanity. That’s the story behind Ward Powers’s new documentary film, One: the movie. The Detroit, MI resident had never made a movie nor seemingly even had a desire to be involved in the documentary film industry. So, one morning he wakes up and thinks he needs to make a film with interviews of random people being asked what they think the meaning of life is. As he shared his plans, he got help from friends and eventually was surprised to learn that some of the world’s greatest thinkers about life and spirituality including the likes of Deepak Chopra, Ram Dass, Riane Eisler, Thich Nhat Hahn, and Robert Thurman (Uma Thurman’s father, by the way) would agree to be in his film. I applaud Mr. Powers first for making his dream happen. The very idea that he must have overcome hundreds of naysayers who told him that he would never release his film is impressive. Next, I admire his vision for the film. This is a truly excellent idea: timely, significant, and important. We live in troubling times, and what could be more relevant than a film which seeks to unite all people in a common realization that, regardless of individual beliefs or lack of beliefs, we are all human beings of this earth? And, finally, it was rewarding to see this all-star line up of spiritual philosophers engaged in conversation interspersed with people off the street. Each was asked the same questions for example: if you had one wish what would you wish for the world, and describe without words the current state of the world. For all of this, I congratulate Mr. Powers and his co-creator, Scott Carter. I really enjoyed seeing these people and hearing their thoughts on the central topic—ultimately the ‘oneness’ of humanity and why so many humans on the planet cannot seem to find it. Additionally, there is certainly something to be learned from the real and the off-the-street philosophers who share in the film.

With all of that said, I cannot give this film a more than an average rating. I found certain aspects with the film frustrating. To begin, there was obviously a lot more to the interviews than were shown in the film, and it wasn’t clear if the reason for the edits was to focus on the couple of themes that arose in the interviews, or if the information was considered too high brow, or what. Given the choice of hearing more from Deepak Chopra, Ram Dass, or Riane Eisler vs. some of the others interviewed, it would not be a hard choice for me. Next, some grandiose statements were made by the creators in voice over as they narrate their own film such as the impact on their project that the candid contributions of central Coloradoan teen Chris Willis who has a very selflessness and unique outlook on life, however, his on-screen contributions did not convey what real impact he had. He basically says, when asked what one wish he would have for the world, that he isn’t worth enough to have a wish for the entire world. I admired Mr. Willis’s modesty; yet, clearly he must have had a lot more to give for the creators to include his comments in the film and feature him prominently (he is included in the closing credits along with the world-famous spiritual leaders such as Chopra and Hahn). So, I would have liked to see much more of what Mr. Willis had to say that made him so compelling to the filmmakers. Clearly, this was the product of first-timers, so I don’t fault many of the more technical flaws with the film, however, I will choose to take issue with some of the choices of what they included or did not include in the film. There were some hints at political criticism, but the film does not really take these head on. This was not a Michael Moore production. I could not see the point in dancing around the political issues in this way. Like it or not, you cannot do a film on the problems with humanity in the world today without it becoming a political commentary. Therefore, I was disappointed that the film planted seeds but didn’t grow them. At the very least, I felt the documentarians owed it to the audience to acknowledge more pointedly the problems the current geopolitical landscape has wreaked on the realization of their vision of a unified humanity.

On the whole, I definitely admire this film and the goals of its creators for bringing it to the market. I admire their goal and vision. I feel the film suffered a bit from editing and a focus on how surprised the filmmakers were that they got these brilliant people to be in their film, however, they did not fully capitalize on all they had to offer. The lack of better choices in footage came through most pointedly in the closing credits when each of the world-famous people were shown with a brief snippet from the film and a brief biography. Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, a very important Sheikh of the Naqshandi Sufi Order and author of Spiritual Power: How It Works , was reduced to asking if what he had said was any good. I think this may have supposed to have been humorous, but it came across as being either, in the worst case, disrespectful or, in the best case, cheesy. I support the film in concept, and I hope it will be successful. I hope the producers take time with the DVD release and include more footage from the interviews and worry less about upsetting the political landscape by providing more challenging comments as to what role it plays in preventing human beings from achieving ‘oneness’.