Lost Horizon

The dramatic start and the confusion of the first few scenes draw you into the movie and then a surprisingly leisurely-paced plot keeps your attention to the last second. As a plane takes off by the light of the burning hangers, a few lives have been saved while the fate of those left behind is not really discussed. Once aboard, they realize this plane is flying in the wrong direction. To make matters worse, the plane crashes in the mountains and leaves the passengers stranded in the bitter cold.

Robert Conway (Ronald Colman) is almost unnaturally calm in the face of certain death and throughout the movie he displays the qualities of a hero who is faced with difficult choices. At first he is a captive of Shangri-La's choices and then later he puts his life at risk to follow his destiny. I did love when Conway said: "Not knowing where you are going is exciting..." Conway wastes no time anguishing over the unpredictability of life and is a great example of how we can stay calm in the adventure of life itself. I saw this movie as a metaphor for everyone who is seeking an escape from the conflicts of our planetary existence. In a way, the message in Lost Horizon reminded me of the messages in the movie Camelot.

The ideas of how we are killing ourselves with "indirect suicide" are still very relevant for today. Walking for 30 minutes and then practicing yoga for 70 minutes is sure to dissolve mountains of stress. If you do that before watching this movie, it can only help to dissolve even more stress. Yoga (a meditation of the body and not a religion) definitely makes you feel and look younger than your age.

The romance in this movie is quite mild and I actually preferred the alternate and more dramatic ending. There are a few flaws in the Shangri-La philosophy of life. How could anyone be happy giving away the woman they loved? While the heart may want peace, the heart may prefer conflict in such cases. It does seem that at times we humans thrive on inner conflicts and external controversy. We are born for the struggle, but Shangri-La definitely sounds like an interesting vacation escape, just don't make me live there without computers. ;) There are ways to find inner peace and I assume that if everyone did yoga, no one would have any time to start wars because they would be floating in some blissful state that is difficult to explain, but very real.

More peaceful escapes: Sarah Swersey's Nightingale CD.

~TheRebeccaReview.com

There is a great deal going for this movie starting with great acting from Ronald Colman through the supporting cast of Sam Jaffe, Thomas Mitchell, Edward Everett Horton, etc. The directing is great as well. Could anyone other than Frank Capra have made this movie? There is action right from the beginning as the characters are hijacked and when the group is led through the mountains to the secret location. There is comedy, romance, and drama as well. But most of all there is hope.

This is a movie that came out at a time the world was about to go crazy and we were reminded that if we could get away from all the craziness we could still find peace and sanity. In time the movie has come to symbolize the Shangri-la that exists for all of us. As we are caught up in the stresses and strains of modern living, we dream of an escape to serenity. For many the struggle to find it is difficult, for others it may seem to find them, while others find it but fail to recognize it. Well, if you're having trouble finding your peace, you might just discover it in this movie.