Most depressing day of the year

In keeping with the most depressing day of the year (today- it's been calculated that the 3rd Monday of January is the most depressing day of the year by a British psychiatrist a few years ago), I went to see a gut wrenching tale of courage and despair. The film was called "Survivre avec des Loups" and it tells the true story of a young girl from Brussels who heads east with a compass to find her parents who have been deported by the Nazis. The only information she knows is that they have been taken East in big trucks.

She literally spends years on her own in the wilderness. After one year of heading East she is in Germany. After two years, she is in Poland. Three years later she has reached the Ukraine. It is astonishing that she kept going East, not asking for help, but befriending some wolves. The things she must do and what she experiences, no person, especially not an eight year old, should ever experience. I won't tell the end, but it was, after all a girl looking for her parents in Nazi Europe. A very compelling and beautiful film.

I saw another Nazi related film on Saturday, this time a German film called "Vier Minuten" or four minutes. It was a dark drama about a female prisoner who was an exceptional piano player. The story involves her relationship to the piano teacher and to her past. It is an intriguing story which I thoroughly enjoyed, despite the fact that it wasn't based on a true story (as far as I could find out).

So, I was primed for the most depressing day of the year. Actually, it caused me to hug my kids a little tighter when I got home and realize what a wonderful life we have. And it's good to continue to show the horrors of war on the big screen in the hope that people will work toward peace and acceptance of each other. I can dream can't I?

In all, I would have to say that this has been one of the least depressing days of the year for me. I would give it a 9 out of 10. It doesn't get much better than that!