By R3

I recently watched and thoroughly enjoyed the film Kubo and the Two Strings and all it’s visual glory. Like any LAIKA film, it’s a mind explosion of both story and motion-capture art, but keeping with the LAIKA tradition of making you reflect as you walk away from the movie.

Kubo and the Two Strings circles around the The Bon Festival, which is a Japanese Buddhist tradition that honors and remembers the ancestors of the past and reflecting on the impact they have had on the living. Its can be a somber moment for some, but it’s more of a celebration in that their loved ones live on in our hearts and memories we carry with us.  Very similar to the Mexican tradition of Day of the Dead.

It’s such a tricky subject to deal with, especially in a movie geared towards children, but nonetheless a subject we all have to deal with in our lives as that is the Circle of Life (reference to another cartoon dealing with death). But we as Christians can relate to the Bon Festival and Day of the Dead in that there is no reason to fear death, to which is enables us to celebrate it as Christ did for us on the cross and defeated death.

But the memories of lost loved ones that we keep in our hearts are the best treasures anybody can have. It could be as simple as a routine you do because of a grandparent instilling that same routine in you. It’s always difficult to lose someone but the best medicine is always to celebrate and honor their life.

MTFBWY

RR