Seventh Heaven

Berlinda Carlisle sung the song Heaven Is A Place On Earth.

oh, baby, do you know what that's worth ?
Ooh heaven is a place on earth
They say in heaven love comes first
We'll make heaven a place on earth
Ooh heaven is a place on earth

Eric Clapton does Heaven In Tears.

Beyond the door there’s peace I’m sure
And I know there’ll be no more tears in heaven...

Anywhere Like Heaven by James Taylor

It’s been a long way from anywhere
Like heaven to your town, this town

Ok, this is what happened after watching an epic. Kingdom of Heaven. And just so where is the kingdom of heaven? You got that in Jerusalem, the Holy Land of the Muslim and the Christian and the Jews and the who knows what. Sorry, religon and history ain't my forte. Everyone seems to love Jerusalem back in the ancient world. I wonder why.

Warning*

Love it when Balian ask Saladin, how much is jerusalem worth and the reply is nothing.

Indeed it is worth nothing. As I always say, God is in your heart, not carry around by your mouth. Just as the buddhist has a saying buddha is in your heart( 佛 在心 中). I think it applies to all other religon as well. What matter most is the heart. You can do all the action and preach all you want, but if He, the Omnipotent, does not live in your heart, then all are for nothing.

I have not decided on any faith but I'm no atheist either. Been a taoist, buddhist, and christian before/after/whatever I seen it all. Ok, don't get started on any flaming on religon. I am not interested. Unless you wanna fire at me at a conversational level and no faith inclusive, then I consider taking you on.

The other phrase I do like from the movie is when Balian has to burn the bodies of the dead, and the priest is all against it. Balian's reply to the priest is really good. I can't remember the exact words (blame it on my failing memory and I blame it on the mobile and age) but it goes something like this

... god will understand and forgive us, and if he does not, he is not god, and if he is not god, there is nothing to worry about...

Beautiful statement I must say. In time of war, at the moment of the desperation, faith and morale is the deciding factor for war. In movies, in history books, in classroom, you seen it, you read, and its a fact.

There are several things that I kept me wondering as I watch the movie.

1. Are italians called italians or rather the language they spoke during the 12th century?
2. Princess can be slut and just throw them to you and commit adultry like its because you are more handsome and less disgusting and more in favour with the king, thy brother.
3. And they who commit it are of christiandom.
4. French can speak all languages, Balian can reach Jerusalem and then suddenly ask an old man on the street where is Christ crucified in supposedly french (though the movie is in english).
5. Everyone in Jerusalem seems to speak one universal language, maybe I should attribute that to the magic of Xanth (interesting series if you ask me).
   
6. If everyone in the movie is to speak their own rightful mothertongue, the whole movie might ended up in subtitles and many characters is going to have a lot of translator around.
7. The only time you get to hear English is what the end of the movie, where the English meet the french (less than 3 mins, or is that 1 min?).
8. Vegetation and crops appears almost in the very next scene after finding water source in an almost desert type dry land.
9. Jerusalem got no good mirror makers (get the chinese!).

There are good things about the movie, of course. It has manage to strike a balance between the muslim and christians. There is no "one bad guy". Everyone who fight in the war is fighting for a cause. You are the enemy does not means you are the bad guys. You are just the enemy. By faith. By time. By country. By history.

If you ask me -again-, I will say that this movie portray christian most as the bad guys. But still, everyone is fighting for a cause, and whether if the cause you are fighting is just, only you see it.


*Here comes the spoilers. So maybe if you hate this, then stop reading any further. Ops, I think you have finish reading by the time you hit this. Ops again.