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Now PlayingBy Steve MasonJuly 6, 2006
Peaceful Warrior – "Personal Growth Cinema" What the Bleep Do We Know!? was among the biggest box office surprises in recent memory. This unusual film that explores quantum physics through an unorthodox mix of expert interviews and narrative storyline delivered nearly $11 million for IDP Films. At the same time Christians were rallying behind The Passion of the Christ, New Age/New Thought devotees were buying tickets to see their own version of a spiritual blockbuster. New Age themes aren't exactly new. In fact, some of the most successful film franchises of all time often sound like self-help books. In the Star Wars trilogy, Yoda tells Luke, "For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us." The New Age principle that "all is one" is also a theme in both the Matrix and Lord of the Rings franchises. (There's a lot of Deepak Chopra in both Morpheus and Gandalf.) There have been some "micro-releases" in the last year that have followed this trend. Naked in Ashes, a yoga documentary set in India from Paradise Filmworks, One: The Movie, an exploration of the nature of God featuring Deepak Chopra, Thich Nhat Hahn and others, and The Celestine Prophecy, based on the international bestseller, are all slowly making their way across the country. The makers of What the Bleep!? released a sequel called Down the Rabbit Hole this year to disappointing results. (It wasn't a true sequel rather a re-packaging of the original with some additional materials.) But there are high hopes for a film version of Neale Donald Walsch's Conversations With God this fall. Peaceful Warrior (Lionsgate), based on Dan Millman's beloved novel Way of the Peaceful Warrior, is the newest entry into this realm of spiritual cinema. It is now on 35 screens and has generated about $500,000 at the box office. I had the opportunity to correspond with Millman last week and although he doesn't like the term New Age, he does see an opportunity for something he calls "Personal Growth Cinema". In my Q&A with this best-selling author, we covered everything from the film's development and marketing to the controversial hiring of director Victor Salva (who confessed and was found guilty of five felony child sex abuse charges in 1988). Mason: Do you consider your book and this film adaptation to be New Age? Is this part of a broader trend in the film business that includes "What the Bleep!?" among others? Millman: I've never much cared for the term New Age, which has become a catch-all term, a miscellaneous drawer for everything from spirituality to occult to inspirational - whatever kind of material that doesn't neatly and cleanly fit into "religion" or "philosophy" or "psychology." Because Way of the Peaceful Warrior had some metaphysical elements, some magical realism, it ended up in that new section (was new in the 1980s when the book first came out). The book contains a mix of common sense and universal spiritual principles and practices. So no, I'm not really comfortable calling the book or film New Age even though some cynical reviewers seem to lump it into that category. In addition to successful mainstream films that have metaphysical elements - like Field of Dreams, The Natural, Ghost, Phenomenon, What Dreams May Come, and my favorite, Groundhog Day - there's been a recent surge in spiritual message films in response to this growing community of cultural creatives, new thought or alternative churches, and others seeking spirituality but not necessarily organized religion. Some of these films are seen on DVD; others play in churches. But few of these films had a compelling enough three-act story structure to attract mainstream distributors. Then the success of What the Bleep!?, in large part due to the dedicated and skillful marketing by John Raatz and colleagues at Visioneering Group, got people's attention. I believe that Peaceful Warrior may be the first example of "Personal Growth Cinema" that combines stirring entertainment with "food for the soul" that finds mainstream success. The director, Victor Salva, deserves much of the credit, along with the producers, actors, crew, and all parts of the Sobini/Lionsgate team. Mason: Did you have any hesitation about Victor Salva being hired as director of the film? Was he the first choice? Does his personal story, in some way, play into the themes of the film? Millman: When I first learned that Victor Salva had been hired as director, I did some research, and like most people, had clear concerns, due to his past. But after learning more details, and after meeting him, I found him a dedicated director whose own life had been deeply touched by Way of the Peaceful Warrior. In his words, it changed his life and "quite possibly saved it." I believe that Mark Amin and the other producers chose the best director available for this film. And the film offers a lasting testimonial to that decision. Mason: When you wrote Way of the Peaceful Warrior, did you ever imagine that it could be adapted for the screen? Millman: Like many authors, I had a vision of how it might have a similar impact as a film as it had in book form. So I did let this dream enter my imagination. But I was aware of the difficulties in adapting a didactic novel largely identified with the self-help community. Mason: How did Peaceful Warrior get made? How involved were you in the process? Millman: I had worked over a ten-year period on a screenplay, to convey my authorial vision of how it might be adapted. The story of that script and what happened to it, and how it "went underground" and finally surfaced two-weeks before principal photography, is a longer story. The first producer, David Welch, worked for years to give the project life; it wasn't until he teamed with Mark Amin and producers at Sobini Films and then the team at Lionsgate that the project came to life. Mason: Is the Socrates character based on a real person? Millman: Yes - he is based on an intriguing gas station mechanic I met early one starry winter's night on the corner of Oxford and Hearst streets in Berkeley; he didn't tell me his real name, so I called him "Socrates." But between the time we first met and the time I wrote the book, 14 years had passed; during that time I met other mentors and traveled around the world, so Socrates also became the archetype and spokesperson of the peaceful warrior's way as I've taught it for 25 years. Mason: Was Nick Nolte the first choice for Socrates? Millman: It was always fun, over the years, to discuss casting possibilities. Casting, in reality, no matter who a given person envisions, is dependent on timing - who is available, who resonates with a particular project, and so forth. First the producers and director didn't think Nick Nolte was available - that he was otherwise committed - so they sent the script to a number of other fine actors, who passed. Then they found out that Nick had become available and immediately offered him the role. Everyone, including audiences, is much gratified by that decision. Mason: This has been such a seminal film for so many people. How did Lionsgate reach out to your loyal readers? Were they effective? Millman: In a way, doing this film "spoils" the filmmakers at Sobini and Lionsgate, since few films - even well-made entertaining projects - will get the heartfelt and zealous comments that Peaceful Warrior is receiving. It has, in a sense, a similar effect of the book in changing perspectives, maybe even lives. Although many fine films are made that entertain and thrill, Peaceful Warrior is one of the few that provides lasting value - the kind of film people will see two or more times, and get new value each time because it is truly cinema with substance. Mason: How do you describe a peaceful warrior's approach to life? Millman: We are all peaceful warriors in training. Daily life is our arena. Our time is now. We are those who strive for a peaceful heart and a warrior spirit; who live with our head in the clouds but our feet on the ground. Peaceful warriors focus more on each present moment rather than worry about past or future; and we focus more on responsible behavior than waiting to have just the right thoughts or feelings before we act. We don't have to feel courageous; we just behave that way; we don't have to feel grateful - we just say "thank you!" We don't have to feel loving all the time, but we treat others with kindness and compassion just the same.
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