The story I most enjoyed from the second half of this unit
was The Wizard and his Pupil. It
reminded me of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice – the Nicolas Cage movie – except I
don’t think the apprentice kills the sorcerer.
Throughout this unit, dervishes are mention. I was surprised to hear that they were
actually holy men – the first time I had heard about them was in the movie Meet Joe Black. Sir Anthony Hopkins’s character is telling
his daughter that he wants to see her happy, to see her “dancing like a dervish.” From this context, and because of the premise
of the movie, I had assumed that a dervish was a type of devil – though why he
would want his daughter to be dancing like a devil, I don’t know, that’s just
what I thought.
Starting at 1:01, William Parrish (Sir Anthony Hopkins) tells his daughter how happy he wants her to be in her relationship
So I thought a dervish was a devil because in this movie,
Hopkins is playing William Parrish – a businessman on the verge of retirement
when, after having a heart attack, makes a deal with Death: show Death around in
order to buy himself just a little more time.
Death, portrayed by Brad Pitt, takes the name Joe Black as he
accompanies Parrish to work, a media company Parrish has built from the ground
up. It was Parrish’s passion for life
and his love for his family that had attracted Death to him in the first place –
it was how he had lived his life so fully.
Through Parrish, Death learns more about life – and love. Eventually falling for Parrish’s daughter. He comes to care about Parrish himself, too,
even helping him expose someone who was trying to steal Parrish’s company from
under his feet.
Best scene of the movie - Death is visiting Parrish's daughter, a doctor at a local hospital, when an older Jamaican woman sees him for what he is.
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