Article February 2, 2004 Issue

Wake up to courage

By Margaret Rogers

Friends kid me about never going to a current movie, but there are benefits in opting for the timeless over the timely.

Recently I saw a video of The cup, which debuted at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. Based on true events, it centers on four young Tibetan novices in a Buddhist monastery whose passion for World Cup soccer leads to some amusing antics as well as important life-lessons. The film builds slowly, so I was glad I stayed with it until the end, when it unexpectedly introduced a parable familiar to me, but new in this context.

A man is having a nightmare in which a scary monster grabs him and shouts, "I'm going to eat you!"