It is always dangerous to criticize a movie which has garnered international acclaim; for, being a lone voice can always be dismissed as merely another “disgruntled viewpoint” stemming from problems relegated to an unattractive personality. After all, if a film wins an Oscar, isn’t that evidence enough to refute any criticism — valid or not?
There were, in this author’s humble opinion, many problems: Too long; the subtitles removed one from being able to have that “direct connection” with the characters; and much of it was too formulaic. Perhaps, if one was fluent in the language and needn’t have bothered with the subtitles, the bridge to empathy would more easily have been attained.
You will note, of course, that the identity of the movie has not been explicitly stated; but, of course, there are enough hints to reveal to the reader by indirect references, or otherwise known as “hints”.
Here are some more: Murakami may finally win his coveted Nobel Prize for Literature — not for his writing, but for the film which became so popular; and while the play on the name, “Kafuku” may be a clever reference to “Kafka” and the further implications to The Metamorphosis, this type of formulaic confessional therapy-movie fails to achieve that which was intended: The formulation and construction of the bridge to empathy.
For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who are intending upon preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, there is a lesson to be learned from the Oscar-winning film we are leaving unnamed: The Bridge to Empathy cannot be some formulaic device we presumptuously rely upon; rather, the evidence to be presented must be well-conceived and “real”, and not based upon an artifice of tear-jerking devices meant to play upon our emotions.
Fortunately, for Federal and Postal employees submitting a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS to OPM, there is something beyond mere formulaic empathy to rely upon in expecting an approval from OPM: The Law. And, in the end, “the Law” is a much more powerful and effective device than the bridge to empathy built upon formulaic devices, which can, in the end, be both unpredictable and unreliable.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill
Lawyer exclusively representing Federal and Postal employees to secure their Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.