I watched
Shadows in the Sun last night and I really enjoyed it. Here’s a
blurb about it from Yahoo! movies:
“Harvey Keitel stars as Weldon Parish, a great but blocked writer hiding from the world in Italy, in this comedy-infused drama. He is hunted down by young writer Jeremy, who follows his mentor to learn about life and art, while Parish's daughter, Isabella teaches him about love.”
Weldon hasn’t written in 20 years. He’s afraid to write because he’s had previous success and he doesn’t think he can live up to it. So, he hides. After Jeremy finds him and eventually befriends him, Weldon lets him in on a secret while they are lounging next to a pool one day:
“I used to come here with my wife. Back then, I never had time for the little things. I was always so afraid I wouldn’t get a thought down—I might forget a line of dialogue. Then one night the police came and told me that her car had...
“After that nothing mattered. Now, I wish I could go back just for one day. Time is a precious thing Jeremy. And the years teach much which the days never knew.”
This entire statement is powerful and full of truth. But at the same time, it’s not the entire truth. Weldon probably did take the little things for granted while his wife was still alive. We all tend to take the present for granted. But Weldon also chose to use his wife’s death as an excuse to stop writing, when in reality he was just afraid of failing. He just needed someone to courageously point this out to him and Jeremy was up to the task.
While Weldon is coming to terms with all of that, Jeremy is busy falling in love with Weldon’s daughter Isabella. Along the way, Jeremy learns a lesson or two about writing from Weldon as the two discuss the topic. Turns out that Jeremy has always wanted to be a writer, but he felt like he just couldn’t take the chance. He’s an editor at a major publishing company and the thought of leaving it for the unknown scares him. Weldon challenges him to face his own fears and for probably the first time in his life, Jeremy can’t think of a reason not to chase him own dreams.
