REVIEW BOOK AND FILM "EAT PRAY AND LOVE"

In her book “The Great Miracle”, author Elizabeth Gilbert said that after the book Eat Pray and Love was published and became famous, many readers wrote to Elizabeth Gilbert and said that it was really the trip they had thought about or wanted to do. Eat Pray and Love is based on a true story of her life. Leaving everything behind to find yourself is a bravery that not everyone can do. That is clearly shown in the scene at the airport, when her best friend Tara hugs Liz goodbye. Tara is the one who reminds Liz of her dream when she shows her a box full of travel magazine posters. Tara is the one who stops Liz when Liz wants to take the trip and also the one who tells Liz:

“I love my job, I love my husband and my children. But I wish I could go like you, Liz”

Have you ever asked yourself “What would it be like if you were unconstrained and unafraid?” Do you have the courage to do what you want?

A MARRIAGE WITHOUT FAULTS

Although he only appeared for a few minutes, Stephen, Liz's husband, is the character I feel most sorry for in the whole story

Stephen loves his wife, he tries to have a perfect family. After 8 years of love, the couple just bought a dream house. However, the lack of sharing and listening leads to invisible cracks. They have their own ideals and different expectations of each other. Steven always wants a family woman while Liz wants freedom in her career and travel. Liz also wants Stephen to be a part of enjoying that freedom. Liz tried her best to become the perfect housewife but she failed, she can try but she can't fool her mind. That's why one morning Liz woke up and found herself no longer having passion, ideals, beliefs and motivation. Stephen did not want to go with Liz on the trip that she was very interested in, and Liz did not want a marriage like this.

You may think that Stephen was heartless, only thinking about his career and wanting his wife to stay at home and take care of the children, but he was the one who held on to his career, the life that he dreamed of, and Liz did not hesitate to choose Liz and just wanted Liz to stay. The image of a man wiping away tears when his heart was broken and there was no way to reconcile the marriage that he cherished made Liz feel guilty towards him.

This marriage was not at fault, the breakup was just because they were not meant for each other.

A LOVE STORY THAT DOES NOT NEED TO BE ENDURED

After breaking up with Stephen, Liz came to the actor David. Their love story took place in the gloomy frame of David's house, David was young and handsome, passionately in love with the dream of going to India. It was the dark and gloomy frame that made me feel the endurance and temporary that Liz was relying on. They argued, David was not a gentle, comforting man. Should they accept the dark present because they were afraid of change? That endurance would hurt and destroy both of them, in the end it was the path to change.

David was a good man, a religious man could not be a blameworthy person, the love affair with David was short-lived but David helped her know meditation and a miraculous place in India helped her find her own path to healing.

STAY AND THE MEANING OF LEAVING

David and Liz waited for the car to go to the airport in front of the house and he said "you are my hero" that sentence also expressed the dream that he always cherished, but never dared to realize. But in the mind of David's hero Liz, there is also uncertainty, she does not know if she will return to New York after a week, if leaving behind is worth it and if she will find anything in that year? Is traveling to find the meaning of life or simply to escape suffering but in another form. She does not know either.

In today's life, traveling is mentioned as a pleasure, an extremely happy lifestyle, recorded by carefully invested and edited photos on modern applications. But in the end, what do people go for? Liz's story dedicates itself to looking back at the true meaning of traveling, which is to find passion, ideals, beliefs and motivation to find oneself.

“the only thing more unimaginable than leaving is staying, the only thing more impossible than staying is leaving”

Liz wanted to go to a place that surprised her, where she could find joy in food and the world instead of being confined to the standards of women being thin and beautiful and forcing herself to eat salad all her life. She went to India to meditate and pray after being inspired by David and went to Bali to find faith in life again. The journey lasted 1 year without any certainty of outcome, no hope and too much aim for it.

THE TASTE OF ITALY

Italy and Vespa, coffee, napoleon cake, lamb with the perfect blend of sounds. We all dream and pray but not everyone starts to do something to make the dream come true.

FIND A COMMUNITY

Wherever she goes, Liz integrates into life and opens her heart to make friends to find like-minded souls. In Italy, Liz meets a Swedish girl, Sofie. Sofie also left her life behind for 4 months with the simple purpose of learning Italian in Rome. Then Liz meets Maria and Giulion, an Italian tutor.

Even though Liz feels lonely in this beautiful, romantic Italy, she still feels scared of falling into a quick love. She freely enjoys Italy the Italian way, speaks Italian with local swear words and signs, watches football and enjoys life as a family with her friends.

NO NEED TO FEEL GUILTY IN ALLOWING YOURSELF TO ENJOY LIFE

Italy seems to awaken the taste buds, the scene where Liz eats a large plate of Spagheti in the Opera House has something humorous, like a liberation of the soul without feeling entangled. Now she doesn't have to sin her taste buds by eating salad anymore, I let myself enjoy the delicious and fatty taste of this heavenly cheese and that is my great happiness right now.

Eating is also a way to love yourself and enjoy this life, why just because of chasing after models that don't belong to you, force yourself to eat too much. Scene in the famous pizza shop in Naples hi Sofie worried about her belly fat and gained 4 kg Liz did not hesitate to express her freedom “I sing tired because I have to say no to delicious food, then the next morning I wake up remembering every thing I ate the day before, counting every calorie I ate to know how much I hate myself while taking a shower. I don’t want to be fat, I just don’t feel guilty anymore, I will eat this pizza and tomorrow we will go buy bigger jeans together”

And that is the simplest and most comfortable solution worthy of the happiness that girls should receive.

THE SWEET TASTE OF IDLING

Liz is an American girl, a point of view expressed many times in the movie, the difference between Americans and Europeans as I also saw in the movie Midnight in Paris, is that Americans live to work. they don't know how to enjoy life, working too much and then coming home to sit in front of the TV as the only way to relax.

Italian friends made Liz understand that sometimes we should take time for ourselves, buy a beautiful outfit for ourselves without waiting for a special occasion, wear the most attractive dress not for anyone to see but just to feel comfortable and happy, cook a delicious meal and enjoy it even when we are alone, that is loving ourselves.

WOMEN NEED A LOT OF COURAGE TO FEEL THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE WHAT THEY WANT

During her last days in Italy, Liz attended a Thanks Giving party at Lucca's mother's house with her friends. A party of soul connection when there is no longer a gap between origin and language. This is my favorite scene, it evokes the warm peace of a family.

INDIA THE LAND OF BOTH NOISY AND QUIET

Goodbye to peaceful Italy is an India with chaos and crowds. No more gentle opera music, Liz goes to the meditation monastery where David introduced her, where she befriends an initially unpleasant American man named Richard and another healing journey begins.

LEARNING ABOUT SILENCE AND MEDITATION

In India Liz starts doing manual work like cleaning the temple, eating simple food in the communal kitchen and practicing meditation. At first she struggles with the chanting sessions as she doesn't know Sanskrit, she can't sit still for even 1 minute without thinking.

Coming to India to pray, the film does not focus on any religion, the belief mentioned here is simply God, just like the boy Pi in the film Life of Pi by author Yann Martel "God is not a distant doctrine, but in the feelings of each person. God resides in our hearts or in other words, believing in God is also believing in yourself" Life of Pi

Or like the viewpoint of author Nguyen Phong in the book "Muon kiep nhan sinh", God resides in each person, Liz learned this lesson thanks to Richard, the story is about finding inner peace, connecting with the person inside, not decorating the meditation room. Finding peace and quiet is something that Liz seems to have forgotten in the bustling, bustling, crowded world of fame. Once she learned that lesson, once she began to believe, Liz smiled peacefully when she saw the miracle right before her eyes. Finally, she was able to talk to "God".

FORGIVE YOURSELF

Back at the monastery, Liz was still thinking about her marriage. Reading her thoughts, Richard took her to the rooftop under the tower. Richard told her about the past, the mistakes of his life that caused his family, his job, and made him lose the most wonderful things in his life as a father, which was watching his son grow up.

Richard came to this place to learn how to forgive himself, forgiving the past was an experience, a difficult lesson that he wanted Liz to learn. accept but his own shortcomings, doubt the past, but not in a way that stabbed the wound, but to heal it. When people are truly healed, it is when they can forgive the mistakes of the past, before waiting for forgiveness from others. Nothing is forever, not even pain and regret. We have known love and always have the right to love, always have the right to keep beautiful memories and have the right to be happy.

The soundtrack gradually changes the life in India, gradually becoming calm as Liz's soul is no longer disturbed or thoughtful. Finally, Liz gradually finds herself again without any coercion or restraint. Richard says goodbye to her to return to life and tells her "Believe in love again"

The words seem to touch the pain and the greatest fear in her heart, something that she is not really ready to face, something that she continues to learn in the last land of her sacred journey in Bali

BALI-INDONESIA - LET YOURSELF BE LOVED

The scene of Bali with the rice fields appears peaceful, different from the scene at the beginning of the film where Liz rides her bike leisurely with a smile on her lips, no longer anxious, no longer in a hurry, no longer worried. Liz went to Ketut's house as he had predicted (Ketut is a humorous and always optimistic fortuneteller. He talked about the cremation ceremony when he died as a vibrant cultural festival and was Liz's guide in this journey.

Besides her own healing journey, Liz also healed the people she met. She helped Ketut make a sturdy book to record her prayers, more special on the occasion of her birthday instead of a lavish party with gifts from friends, she created a donation to give Wayan and her mother, a single mother she met in Bali, a house with blue marble floors so that Wayan could open a pharmacy and little Tutti could live with her mother and go to school. Tutti in Italian means everyone and to create this miracle, she needed everyone to join hands.

DARE TO LOVE AND BE LOVED

Bali is a tourist and resort city where you have a love affair. Here, Liz no longer struggled with life, she is calm and content. She is immersed in love with Felipe, a Brazilian man who is warm, affectionate, and knows how to care for others. She loves passionately like she did when she was 15, but that love makes her afraid, afraid of losing herself, afraid of being hurt again, afraid of loving someone again.

This is the conflict, the climax, Liz has to face throughout the film. What is the balance that she has been searching for for the past year in Italy and India? Is it meditating for 20 minutes every day, having to see a healer every day and running away from love, running away from the wonderful things that she deserves.

"Balance is not letting anyone love you less than you love yourself"

Felipe said.

As she prepares to return to New York, Liz has learned about joy, about laughing with all her heart and gut, about connecting with God, and the final lesson that Ketut gives her so that she can end this journey peacefully fully.

“Sometimes being unbalanced in love is part of living a balanced life,” Ketut said.

We always deserve to love fully, live fully, love fully.

DEFINING YOURSELF

During a meal, Liz and her friends in Italy searched for a word to describe the cities.

Each city has its own word:

London - Sweet

Stockholm - Compliance

New York - Ambition

Rome - Sex

But Liz has not found a word for herself. A woman, a wife, an author. All are not. Throughout this life, people are always busy searching for the question “Who am I?”

Elizabeth Gilbert said: “Overcoming is the most elegant way I know, to remind yourself to let it go, to put it all behind you, to face the future, not the past, to stand up and try again”.

And It was Liz's choice to look to the future, to continue loving, to continue a new journey.

CONCLUSION

The film has a perfect ending, if at the beginning of the film, all the characters have a hurt, the scenes in New York are stuffy, sad, in dark rooms, then at the end, everything is covered by the bright golden light of dreams, of smiles and of healing. Together with Liz, Stephen, David and Liz's friends all find happiness and smiles without worries for themselves. Don't look at the world with reason but look with your heart, you will be closer to God.

In short, Eat Pray and Love is a humane film, suitable for women. Compared to the story, the film has removed some elements of "sad truth" and only kept things that bring positive messages. Julia Robert's acting is excellent. Of course, no one advises women to leave their husbands to travel, but no matter who you are, where you are, what you do, you always deserve good things.

“In the end, I believe in something called the principle of physics,” which is a force in nature governed by the law of gravity. The principle of physics goes something like this: if you are brave enough to leave behind everything familiar and comfortable, anything from your home to your long-standing resentments and bitterness, and embark on a journey to find the truth, whether it be external or internal, and if you are truly willing to see everything that happens to you on that journey as a hint, to accept every person you meet along the way as a teacher, and above all if you are willing to face and forgive the difficult truths about yourself, then you will always see the truth. From my own experience, I cannot help but believe.”