Welcome to the Movie Mystic! The films we discuss each month are not "reviewed" in the traditional sense of that word; rather, we look at metaphysical messages in films, both current and classic.

THE HOURS

It has been a long time since I have felt so moved by a film as I was while watching The Hours. Only Far From Heaven came close in 2002 and The Hours had a much more powerful and emotional impact on me. The film is eerie, disturbing, exhilarating, unsettling, totally engrossing, and is also brilliantly written, photographed, scored, acted, and directed.

The Hours tells the interlocking story of three women in different decades. Nicole Kidman plays Virginia Woolf in the 1920's, Julianne Moore plays a woman in the 1950's whose life is unraveling as she reads Woolf's novel Mrs. Dalloway, and Meryl Streep plays a modern-day woman whose life is deeply affected by both of the other two women. The device that connects their lives is so beautifully and brilliantly conceived and executed that I don't want to say anything more about the plot here.

Nicole Kidman's performance is hauntingly brilliant and definitively marks her evolution from being considered a beautiful woman who can act -- to being one of the most accomplished and powerful actresses in film today. Through the use of an extraordinary achievement in prosthetic makeup, Kidman is almost unrecognizable as she literally inhabits the soul of the tortured Virginia Woolf. Although Kidman is on-screen for only a few scenes, the depth, pathos, and heartache that she brings to her character are, for me, comparable to Diane Lane's career performance in Unfaithful and Julianne Moore's performance in Far From Heaven (throw in Salma Hayek's bravura depiction of Frida and this has been one amazing year for actresses!!). Moore is wonderful in another Fifties portrayal in The Hours (two in one year ... hmmmm??) and Streep is her usual extraordinary self -- as is the entire cast. Both Stephen Dillane as Woolf's husband and Ed Harris as Streep's dear friend give performances worthy of Academy Award recognition. The film is directed with great style and intelligence by Stephen Daldry, and Philip Glass has composed one of the most memorable and achingly beautiful film scores since The Piano. In short, this is a first-class production all the way through and will deservedly be one of the strongest Oscar candidates in most major categories.

As Spiritual Cinema, it completes for me (with Frida and Far From Heaven) the Trilogy in 2002's Holiday Season that celebrates both the ascension of feminine energy and our evolution from the Male Age of Pisces into the Female Age of Aquarius. And it's about time, yes? Resonant causation is appearing in greater intensity and impact causation is being challenged like never before. Old paradigms die hard, yes, but die they indeed do -- and this new Aquarian Age is indeed dawning despite so much evidence to the contrary in the so-called "mainstream" world. While I can't really elaborate without divulging more of The Hours than is appropriate here, the internal structure of the progressive attitudes of all three women in the film up through the decades reflect this amazing evolution as well. When Meryl Streep appears in the penultimate scene to merely turn off some lights in her apartment, we have a sense that a major transformation has taken place.

As the title of The Hours refers, in part, to the time we spend in reflection after the occurrence of a particular event in our lives, so has this film fascinated and affected me for these few weeks since I first saw it on New Year's Eve. After playing in exclusive runs, it opened in mid-January in cities across the United States and will get more exposure after it receives the several Academy Award nominations that I believe it will deservedly receive. If it hasn't opened near you yet -- it might soon. As it is a complex film that may stir emotions and musings within you, it's a great movie to see with other members of your Spiritual Cinema Community.

The Hours is a deeply moving, emotionally challenging, and often brooding film that may very well unsettle some viewers. With all that in mind, I heartily recommend it to you as a film for adults who are in the mood for an absorbing and haunting literary evening at the movies.

NEXT MONTH: Spiritual Cinema's Most Memorable 5 of 2002!!

(Stephen Simon has produced such films as Somewhere in Time and What Dreams May Come. His book The Force is With You: Mystical Movie Messages That Inspire Our Lives, published by Walsch Books/Hampton Roads, is now available. For more information, visit MysticalMovies.com. Stephen welcomes your comments by email: Stephen@MysticalMovies.com)

MovieMystic Chakra Rating for The Hours

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Rating 5 5 4 5 5 5 5

A full explanation of this Chakra Rating system is available at MysticalMovies.com.