birth is a brilliant film, one of my favourites but there's a scene in there that throws the story into a strange tangent where the viewer is conflicted. the boy denies he is the incarnation of the man he thinks he is.
it's a brilliantly constructed scene that would have meant confessing to an affair, but instead of hurting the woman he loves he denies his whole reality, thus the film spirals into a new narrative and the whole plot comes apart but remains a devastating ending. why the boy lies is never explained.
it's a mystery.
but is it.
the boy lies as he knows that the person he loves would be heartbroken, so he denies the whole premise. his whole existence is wiped out, his love is now a deception, he has made a sacrifice, the truth of an ex relationship remains perfect, a happy marriage, no affair. the lie, the whole reincarnation story. yet the smart viewer knows the reverse is true.
it's the fucking best film.
those who think kidman can't act should see her in this, a woman coming apart, the last scene is unbearable. i was smitten by it's tragedy and poetry, the crack up point where she just breaks was beautiful, she is in a terrible space, a place where reality shatters and everything she knows falls away, everything she thinks true is revealed to be a lie or is it, the paradox of her situation is the closest cinematic representation i have ever seen of a true break down of ego. it's quite outstanding, see it.
this of course is the first stage in any spiritual or magickal growth, the destruction of the ego. it can only be achieved under the right circumstances and hopefully there's a person around to guide or assist this transition, i did it alone but i have nursed a number of people through this process, it's extremely dangerous to do alone, and often the ego is re established as the controlling aspect in a new form.
the best way to loose it is to take large doses of hallucinogenics or suffer from unbearable trauma. not everyone makes it out the other side, but it's worthwhile attempting. the magickians called this the chapel perilious, the choates call it, chorozon.
the process starts there, construction of the ego and destruction of the ego,then involves the construction / destruction of the self, then the most important process undoing it.