The film "No country for old men" portrays the harsh and unbearable reality of our current times which is far from the lives our fathers, grandfathers and ancestors lived. The story is quite simple. The plot happens to take place in the countryside of modern America, where a man finds a briefcase filled with millions of dollars. The people to whom it belonged have killed each other in a gun battle and their corpses are lying there to rot in the deserted countryside, in scorching sun. And then begins a cat and mouse game between him and a psychotic assassin hired by the mafia to whom the briefcase originally belonged. When the news of the mass murders spreads, the town sheriffs get involved and try to unravel the mysterious and brutal serial killings that take place after this event, courtesy the hired hit-man.
The old sheriffs of the town have been there working and doing their duty for so long but they haven't experienced crime as it happens in today's world. They talk to each other of the times when they saw children playing outside without any fear and how people in the neighbourhood used to feel protected and happy in each and others company. The lead sheriff seems pretty nostalgic about his father and of the fact that he has been continuing the family legacy of being the town sheriff in the foot steps of his father and grandfather. These old guys can't really make sense of the bad bad world of the time. But they have to work in desperation and keep their faith like their ancestors. Can we make sense of this money-crazy world, where human beings are butchered worse than the animals in slaughterhouse?
Lets face it. Our forefather's lived in a much peaceful and kinder world. Their idea of happiness did not necessarily come from money. They lived with dignity, worked with honesty, behaved with simplicity, helped each other with empathy and believed in the power of kindness. If we reflect on our lives today and try to find how many of the above qualities it encompasses, we would definitely be put to shame.
Fortunately, some of us still have time, to understand, get wise and change the way our modern world works. The way to do it is to be the change you want to see in the world. Easier said then done ha? Lets give it a try. At this point I can't help but quote a few words from Gurucharan Das's lecture that I happened to listen to : "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars".
The old sheriffs of the town have been there working and doing their duty for so long but they haven't experienced crime as it happens in today's world. They talk to each other of the times when they saw children playing outside without any fear and how people in the neighbourhood used to feel protected and happy in each and others company. The lead sheriff seems pretty nostalgic about his father and of the fact that he has been continuing the family legacy of being the town sheriff in the foot steps of his father and grandfather. These old guys can't really make sense of the bad bad world of the time. But they have to work in desperation and keep their faith like their ancestors. Can we make sense of this money-crazy world, where human beings are butchered worse than the animals in slaughterhouse?
Lets face it. Our forefather's lived in a much peaceful and kinder world. Their idea of happiness did not necessarily come from money. They lived with dignity, worked with honesty, behaved with simplicity, helped each other with empathy and believed in the power of kindness. If we reflect on our lives today and try to find how many of the above qualities it encompasses, we would definitely be put to shame.
Fortunately, some of us still have time, to understand, get wise and change the way our modern world works. The way to do it is to be the change you want to see in the world. Easier said then done ha? Lets give it a try. At this point I can't help but quote a few words from Gurucharan Das's lecture that I happened to listen to : "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars".
