The ability to forgive and empathize with others are valuable qualities to possess, as they allow you to live life without deep-seated resentments getting in the way of happiness. In a world teeming with ignorance and fear, there are movies designed to counter those social flaws with upbeat stories of redemption.
Rafal Zielinski's Tiger Within is a heavy drama dealing with childhood trauma, forgiveness, love and neglect, except the end product is more of an idealized version of a grittier and more devastating history of humanity. “Embrace the dagger. To take the tiger within us and become its master” is a direct quote that speaks volumes for human determination in a film that is driven by life lesson after life lesson.
Director: Rafal Zielinski
Writer: Gina Wendkos
Stars: Edward Asner, Luke Eisner, Taylor Nichols
Casey (Margot Josefsohn) is a recalcitrant, punk-loving and deeply frustrated teenager who often wears torn jeans, a distinctive nose ring and a shiny leather jacket. She's had enough of living with her reckless mother (Erica Piccininni) and her fiery boyfriend (Jonathan Brooks). Casey is also an aspiring artist, which explains why she adds seductively simple cartoon animation throughout the film to visually represent what she's feeling at specific moments. Seeking a change, she leaves Ohio and travels to Los Angeles to live with her absentee father (James C. Victor). However, realizing that her father has a life with a new wife and three other daughters, Ella Casey feels even more abandoned. She then wanders the streets of Los Angeles without a home, mother or father.
Samuel (Ed Asner) is a reserved old man who spends his days in the local park and frequently visits the cemetery to pay his respects to a deceased loved one. It is in the cemetery that Samuel sees Casey sleeping near a tombstone. At first, Samuel pulls away from Casey because of a spray-painted swastika on her jacket, but eventually comes back to make sure she's okay.
Samuel offers to buy Casey food, even going so far as to offer advice money can't buy. He bestows words of wisdom on an incredibly misguided and misinformed teenager that he doesn't know any better. Eventually, Samuel and Casey form a friendship, and she learns more about what Samuel went through as a Holocaust survivor.
Tiger Within is a well-intentioned drama that promotes healing and redemption in the face of prejudice and fear. The film inspires, regardless of how inauthentic the heavy-handed dialogue and superficial conversation occasionally flow. Still, Samuel has some treasured musings to contemplate more introspectively. One of the first lines of wisdom that Samuel imparts is especially clever: “A thought is as powerful as a word. It can affect longer and stronger.” The date came after Casey insulted a waiter behind her back, which was quite an abrupt and polite reaction. But the quote's potency remains reasonably intact as a result of the old man's astute and reassuring presence.
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