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When I was born, many years ago now, my father, instead of the usual lavish jewelry, thought of giving my mother a nice VCR.
"What a curious gift!" you might say, and rightly so: however, I assure you that back then, the value of such an object was equal to if not greater than that of any diadem or rare pearl.
Nevertheless, we inaugurated the arrival of the new super-technological gadget with a movie night, specifically with a film seemingly suitable for all ages, namely "Watership Down."
Having two very young sisters at the time, yet much older than me, it took very little to realize that the aforementioned film was anything but suitable for a non-adult audience: expecting perhaps naively the classic Disney-like movie, everyone was horrified by the scenes of violence (physical and psychological) that the cartoon presented.
But that's not all: a complex, articulated plot, with deep and complicated philosophical implications, a series of characters with inspired and, indeed, complex characterization, all of it light-years away, if not more, from any common children's or non-children's cartoon.
A spectacular metaphor of human life, through violence, blood, death, suffering, and the discomfort of a simple "community" of anthropomorphic animals, seemingly harmless, at the mercy of a hostile world and in search of physical and spiritual salvation.
The viewer, in the end, will wonder what the meaning of life is in the face of so much suffering and tribulation, in the presence of an existence that is seemingly tragic, self-deceptive, and absurd.
Perhaps only human relationships can give meaning to a life (here presented through metaphors upon metaphors and symbolic rites ranging from the creation of the world to the epic conclusion) beset by so much pain and sorrow, perhaps only friendship and love can save us despite the undeniable reality of death.
A dense and evocative "Leopardian" masterpiece that is not suitable for all ages and certainly not the best way to inaugurate that famous VCR.
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