Caught in the act

After my Isya' prayers, I comfortably lay down on my bed, tucked my feet under the blanket, and picked up the book I was finishing. It's Akira Kurosawa's 'Something like an Autobiography'.

On the section of Random Notes on Filmmaking, I came to read this passage:

"I've forgotten who it was that said creation is memory. My own experiences and the things I have read remain in my memory and become the basis upon which I create something new. I couldn't do it out of nothing. For this reason, since the time I was a young man, I have always kept a notebook handy when I read a book. I write down my reactions and what particularly moves me. I have stacks and stacks of these notebooks, and when I go off to write a script, these are what I read. Somewhere, they always provide me with a point of breakthrough. Even for single lines of dialogue I have taken from these notebooks. So, what I want to say is don't read books while lying down on a bed."


Right.


I thoroughly enjoyed this book. At the end of the book, I felt like I personally knew him.

But, of course I don't.

Like he said, people tend to write a good description of themselves, or even a description that is more towards the type of person they'd like to be, but not necessarily is. Most of the time too, people would leave out the negative or ugly parts.

But then again, of course, right? I mean, who in the right mind, would write about their ugly parts for the public to read. As Muslims we are told not to go reveal our personal sins to others - just acknowledge it personally to God, and ask for forgiveness.

Anyway, like I said, I enjoyed the book. Apart from some of the funny incidences he related, I think a lot can be learnt from this man's thoughts about life in general, and filmmaking.