Act Normal (2006)
Run Time - 80 min. |
Countries - Iceland |
MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Jason Buchanan
A lifelong space enthusiast and devoted Buddhist explores the outside world after 16 years as a monk in director Olafur Johannesson's intimate look at the life of British-born monk Robert T. Edison. Born and raised in Nottingham, England, Edison developed an interest in Buddhism early on and later traveled to a Thailand monastery in order to further explore the teachings of Siddhartha Guatama. Initially planning to stay for only a few months, Edison eventually ended up residing in the monastery for over a decade. It was during that time that the devoted monk entered into a friendly correspondence with a pen pal from Iceland, and upon traveling to the North Atlantic island country to visit his friend, Edison found that hundreds of other Buddhists resided there as well. Later, a trip to Kazakstan to visit the space station where astronaut Yuri Gagarin embarked on his historic mission found the Buddhist space aficionado falling in love with a beautiful aerobic instructor. Upon traveling back to Iceland to marry, Edison effectively ended his 16-year stint as a monk. Then something strange happened. When the marriage ended after only five months, Edison began to work as a hospital security guard and began to see his life slip into a troubling phase of wearing pants and paying bills. All of that would end, however, when after a decade in the outside world, Edison determined to travel back to Thailand and once again commit himself to living life as a Buddhist monk.