Cinephile No. 629 "Lion"
Home is more than a place. It is more than a dot on the map. It is more than an opening line at networking events. It is who you are. You either adopt it or fight it. It is a launching pad that will define your life no matter where you roam. It is where your roots lie. It is life. To not know your home, is to be deprived of these characteristics. It is to be known by another name. Lion tells the story of young man from the slums of India who is separated from his brother only to wind up in Australia. As he grows into himself, he finds that he is torn between two worlds; the world he knows and the world that should be more than just a dot on the map.
This movie also does a wonderful job of telling a powerful story about what it means to be poor in the developing world. The odds are long and stacked against you. Children are often forced to work in order to provide for the family. Mothers and fathers spend hours upon hours doing back-breaking labor in an effort to provide. Education is seen as a luxury. The system is stacked against you. It is built to keep you in your place. Rarely, despite all of the talk about the American dream (a worldwide phenomenon), do people ever escape the clutches of poverty. The main character in this movie escapes, but not without losing some piece of himself.
This film also does a sensational job of telling the story of adoptive parents. In this instance, we are talking about parents who cannot or choose not to have children of their own. Knowing they have the resources to improve someone's life, our adoptive parents in this movie choose to adopt two little boys from India. They do so knowing each comes with unique challenges and struggles. Still, they choose to open their arms and home. As they do, they create a protective environment for their kids to learn and play, but then a new struggle arises. As a kid who was born not knowing his biological father, I can tell you sooner or later the push to know your true family becomes too strong to ignore. From here, this film gets truly interesting.
Be good to each other,
-Nathan
