Movie Magic, and More

There is a powerful scene in a movie that has sustained me through some of my darkest times. It was in "The Pianist," the brilliant depiction of what life was like for the Jews in Poland leading up to Hitler's takeover and ultimate reign of horror. Actor Adrian Brody, he of the long, skinny* face and the big nose (but he's very handsome anyway) was named Best Actor that year for his performance of the title character, Wladyslaw Szpilman.

Here's the scene: Szpilman, along with his parents and three siblings, all near starvation, have been rounded up and are being sent to a concentration camp. Marching along together, they stop for a moment to savor a morsel of food the father has squirreled away in his coat pocket: a small, square caramel candy wrapped in paper. The father ceremoniously cuts the candy into six equal portions and hands them out. Each of them takes their share and savors it slowly, as if it were a steak dinner.

The family stops to share a caramel candy on their march to the death chamber.

I flash on that scene whenever I feel I am lacking something. These days, with my kitchen torn apart and non-functioning, I remember it daily. This morning I made a couple of scrambled eggs in the microwave we have perched atop the piano bench. I followed a recipe I found on the Internet that promised a "fluffy" result. Fluffy is not the word I would have chosen to describe how mine turned out; "rubbery" would be more accurate. Anyway, as I ate them I thought of that caramel and decided that my eggs were absolutely perfect. Moral of the story: Sometimes Hollywood comes through for you. 

*As a helpful coda for those of you struggling with weight problems, Brody lost 31 pounds in six weeks for this role. His daily diet consisted of two boiled eggs and green tea for breakfast, a little chicken for lunch, and a small piece of fish or chicken with steamed vegetables for dinner.