Movie : I, Origins (2014)

*

I, Origins (2014)

Writer & Director : Mike Cahill

This post contains spoiler.
You should watch his movies before reading this post :D

*

What I like about the movie :

1. 2 different personalities :

He met Sofi, that believes in God, afterlife, and bigger power. She's impulsive, optimistic and a free-spirited character. They were very different from one another, but they fell in love.
They questioned and argued about different philosophical ideas & beliefs a lot. I like that her name is Sofi, meaning wisdom or wise - a root word for philosophy. She told a story about peacock, Phasianidae, she believed in reincarnation, she kept image of angel's statue from a cemetery on the wall, a Hindu's God miniature, wore an ancient Egyptian's locket of the eye of Horus. She believed in everything. I love how open she was in accepting things bigger than her.

Although Ian was totally different from Sofi, they fall in love with each other.

He also met Karen, his lab assistant, an intelligent first year Med student. They both discussed obsessively about the possibility of creating eyes from the scratch from the origin species, it was a question about evolution. How if it's possible for them to prove that they can create the eyes, then there isn't any bigger power i.e: God in the universe, just evolution. That's how scientist thinks.
In a way, he met someone exactly just like him.

*

2. Soul :

I like the idea of the eye can be seen as the person's soul. How because every single individual has a unique iris's pattern and it is also connected to the brain, that it makes the eyes as the most important aspect of each individual. And because it is so beautifully crafted that there is no possibility without any reason, all happened by chance, it must be because we are created by the most Intelligent being bigger than all of this in life, ie : God. 

*

3. Fate :

As a scientist, Ian didn't believe in fate or luck, and I like these details that the director added :

- He walked to 7/11 to buy a lottery ticket & cigarette that cost $11.11 and realized he bought it on 11.11.2006, at 11.11.11. Next a bus number 11 Broadway stopped in front of him, so he took the ride, sensing something slightly odd, he took off from the bus and he saw a billboard's ads of Sofi's eyes. Even so, later when Sofi said she was the one that sent off all those signs, Ian laughed it off.

- When Ian went to the cafe where Sofi usually went to, he saw the National Geographic's cover of the famous Afghan Girl photo by Steve McCurry on the wall. This Afghan Girl is famous because of her deep enchanting eyes, and after so many years, the photographer who took the picture found her and took another picture of her, have you read about it? Well in the scene, there was a word "Found", they found her, from her eyes.

- When he finally found her, Ian was in the train, he saw the infinity sign on the mirror, and then saw Sofi's reflection. Fate. I love it.

*

4. Beliefs & Questions we ask : 

Science vs faith, why is it hard to balance both? Is there any such thing as fate? Is reincarnation possible? Will people keep on reborn in another form? If so, will this disprove what people believe in their religion? Is it possible for them to remember their past's lives? Is there God behinds all this?
So many open questions. 

*

5. Same people :

I love how the director used his friend, Brit Marling in this movie, in previous movie : Another Earth which they wrote it together and also another one on a documentary. I also love how the man that came out for a short while as the priest in India was a cameo, he acted in Another Earth. 

*

6. Ending :

When Ian saw the data from the test, he was convinced that it is not Sofi, reincarnated as Salomina, because Ian only see things in evidence and data - from the number, it is definitely not her. But right when he stop trying, then he saw a possibility. He finally walked out the the open door, into the light.

*

7. Story :

When I watch a good story, I usually want to know who wrote it, who directed it, what are they like, what was their inspiration, etc. In this case, it's Mike Cahill, read here to understand how he was inspired to write this story. I've also watched his other movie, Another Earth several days ago. Not as good as this tho.