If you love animation movies, don’t skip The Magician’s Elephant. Though it might look like a graphic novel for kids, it is, undoubtedly, a ‘food for thought’ movie for adults.
The Magician’s Elephant makes you believe in yourself once again. These are the kind of movies you want your kids to grow up watching so that they grow up believing that anything is possible. But what happens when these kids grow up? They forget that they can still shine. This film will remind you of that lustre again. The magic that you and I have forgotten, the magic that this Universe is.
The Magician’s Elephant is about a kid, Peter, who lost his newborn sister, Edele, during a war. While a soldier rescued this little boy and saved his life, a nurse saved his sister as the soldier thought he knew nothing about infants and requested the nurse to take care of the baby. As the soldier and nurse decide to meet at a point once they are in a safe zone and will no longer face the repercussions of the war, they could never meet as an explosion makes them believe that the other person and child he/she is carrying is dead.
But when Peter, after years, visits a fortune teller, he gets to know that his younger sister is alive. Now the question arises, how to find her? The answer is, ‘follow the magician’s elephant.’ Even though following the elephant will lead Peter to Edele, the problem is there is no elephant in the town, Baltese. Then how will Peer find Edele? That is when The Magician’s Elephant lands in the town, quite magically. Then the quest to take that elephant into custody that is declared ‘dangerous’ by the authorities begins.
To hand over the elephant to Peter, he is given three impossible tasks to prove his mettle. And to also prove that this tiny guy can handle a gigantic animal. One after the other, three tasks that even you know are impossible for Peter are given to him just so that he loses the battle and forgets the elephant. Also, let go of the dream of finding the sister everyone thinks is dead.
The unexpected starts happening. It feels like Peter is given this dream knowing that he can very well achieve it. He is supported by every single person who wants to see him win, including the soldier who brought him up and thinks he is an orphan. He still supports his dream and wants him to win the tasks.
This is where The Magician’s Elephant takes you on a magical journey of hope. This is where you start believing that ‘anything is possible.’ This is where you would want to revisit your dreams and wonder whether they were truly impossible to achieve. If you have read the book, The Secret, you must very well be aware of how you can manifest anything in life as you are made of the same particles that this Universe is made up of. And when you align with the same energy, you manifest miracles. When we are kids, these magical twists and turns and ‘you are supported by the Universe’ theories sound so good that we actually live life to the fullest without any fears. But as we grow up, we see only obstacles and challenges that seem as huge as De Smedt. The first thought hence always is ‘I cannot defeat him.’ If you change your perspective, you win the battle even when it’s against De Smedt. You should only know how to bring him down to his knees.
The fortune teller, the challenges, the clouds in the sky are all used as signs and symbolism that we need to interpret. If you just sit back and watch the movie waiting for it to give you a crystal clear message, that won’t happen. You will then not even like the film.
Get involved in it. Decode the signs, symbols, and interpret the message. As the fortune teller in the movie says, ‘ask the right question,’ only then your quest for magic will begin.
The Digital Popcorn 