These movies included:
Click on link above to read article on each movie.
Interestingly enough, all three of these movies were directed by the same person: Kevin Reynolds. For whatever reasons, Reynolds and I seem share a lot of similar tastes in movie characters and content.
Recently, it has dawned on me that I left a very important movie off of this exclusive list of my favorites. In other words, I actually have FOUR (4) favorite movies, all of which carry strong thematic undertones rooted in FREEDOM, and the time has come to grant a proper review to this additional cinematic masterpiece.
I saw the movie in a public theater shortly after it came out. I saw it again in the theater later that summer. I subsequently purchased an audiocassette of the melodically apropos and hauntingly beautiful musical score by Williams.
I was—and to a degree still am—transfixed by just about everything in the movie and its accompanying musical score. Few films—before or since—have had such an impact on my imagination, emotions, and (indirectly) my actions.
The film is about a wealthy young woman (played by Kidman) in late-nineteenth century Ireland who, mesmerized by the U.S. Government's offer of free land in the West, yearns for the adventure, opportunity, and FREEDOM she believes exists across the Atlantic in the United States.
Against her parents wishes, she decides to to run away to America on her own. Along the way, a series of serendipitous events causes her to cross paths with a poor Irish tenant farmer (played by Cruise) who was caught in the act of trying to murder her father (who owns the land his family farms) in reprisal for cruel actions taken by her father's land manager.
Once in Boston, Kidman's character (Shannon Christie) is robbed and has to start over with nothing alongside Cruise's character (Joseph Donnelly), who now has the upper hand due to his youthful energy, strength, and street smarts. In a stark reversal of roles, Joseph ends up successful and marginally wealthy from his victories as a bar room boxer. Meanwhile, Shannon slides increasingly into obscurity and poverty, something that proves very trying for the young Irish aristocrat.
After many months of separation, Shannon and Joseph serendipitously meet up again at a the Great Oklahoma Land Race, where they individually race to obtain their own plot of land. Despite facing further adversity throughout the race, the pair eventually come together in a romantic climax that features the two of them unitedly staking claim to their own plot of 160 acres of land, after which they presumably live happily ever after pursuing the ultimate incarnation of the American Dream.
First of all, I can relate to the characters in several different ways. While I have never experienced the degree or kind of poverty and penury that Joseph Donnelly finds himself mired in back in Ireland, I did grow up—and enter adulthood—with limited resources. I am also well acquainted with the experience of being an underdog with plenty of energy, talent, and spirit and fire in the belly. It is for this reason that I have always felt a kinship with Cruise's character, as well as Cruise himself. Ever since he played in Far and Away he has been one of my favorite actors because of the indefatigable drive, energy, focus, and passion he invests in everything he does. And while I have never experienced the kind of wealth or social status that Shannon starts life out with, I can very much relate to her passionate quest for and pursuit of travel, adventure, opportunity, and FREEDOM in a land faraway from her home.
There is something very beautiful and attractive about these kinds of qualities in other human beings, and Kidman and Cruise brilliantly and emotively portray the rich pathos that accompany's the journeys of their deep, committed, and passionate characters.
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Far and Away majestically portrays concepts of FREEDOM throughout the film.
I'll never forget how entranced I was when I first watched this movie back in the summer of 1992. Moreover, I'll never forget how poignantly and powerfully it ignited thoughts and ideas in my mind and emotions and yearnings in my heart. To this day, I cannot listen to Williams' genius musical score without getting chills at certain measures—chilling thrills reminiscent of my wonderful memories watching the film so many years ago.
If you have not yet seen this glorious motion picture, I hope you will remedy the situation and do so soon!
More importantly, I hope that you will never stop striving after FREEDOM in your own life and career. While it is not always necessary to travel "FAR and AWAY" like Shannon Christie and Joseph Donnelly or Dr. JJ to find your freedom, it is always worth pursuing—right where you currently stand—with all of your heart, might, mind, strength, and soul.
—Dr. JJ
Author's Note: This is the 347th Blog Post Published by Freedom Focused LLC since November 2013 and the 165th consecutive weekly blog published since August 31, 2020.
Click HERE for a compete listing of the other 346 FF Blog Articles
Click HERE for a complete listing of Freedom Focused SAL QUOTES
Click HERE for a complete listing of Freedom Focused SAL POEMS
Click HERE to access the FULL TEXT of Dr. JJ's Psalms of Life: A Poetry Collection
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Tune in NEXT Wednesday for another article on a Self-Action Leadership related topic.
