Mind Walk
By Ayesha Haqqiqa
Synopsis: A failed presidential candidate, a poet, and a physicist spend a day together on Mont St. Michel in France, discussing physics, the world, and God—and how everything is interconnected.
Mind Walk is one of those films you either watch again and again for depth of meaning or a film you shrug off as boring. There are no neutral watchers of this film. Unlike action pictures, the adventure is with the mind, and the ideas that have evolved over the century. The three individuals realize that now is the time for a change in our way of thinking if we are to survive on planet earth. Released in 1990, the topic is still timely and worth a view for anyone seeking a way out of the messes the world seems to be in these days.
Sam's Performance: One thing that makes this film intriguing is that, I've been told, the actors wrote a lot of their own lines. I'm not exactly talking ad-libbing here; they were a part of the creative process. In doing so, they had to read and master the material upon which the movie is based, namely The Tao of Physics by Fritjof Capra. Sam, cast as politician Jack Edwards (very close to the name of a real Presidential candidate!), is mainly the student to Liv Ullman's physicist. His questions, his comments on the world and his frustration with dealing with others in Congress ring very true. In the end, you, like he, are rooting for the world to accept these ideas so that the planet can survive.
Must see scene:When Sam (as Sen. Jack Edwards) walks down the beach with Liv Ullman (the physicist) and explains just what a politician is able to do.
Rating:
Ratings are from 1 Sam (you won’t be able to sit through the whole film) to 5 Sams (you want to buy it and watch it over and over)