Recently I purchased a DVD which left an unmistakable mark on me from my childhood and gave inspiration for the theme of this blog. The movie in question is Watership Down. Usual responses to me revealing my love of this film at the age of 4-5 are "I would never have allowed my children to watch that film at that age" and the moderately witty "That explains a lot...".
In truth I don't think my mother expected me to see beyond rabbits on a screen but I was a child who was forming sentences when other children were trying to learn simple words and it left a big impression on me. There are many themes to the film around honour, freedom and courage. The most striking to me was always wrapped up in the final line:
"Be cunning and your people will never be destroyed."
It has inspired me most of my life and in truth probably had a large influence on the way I see the world and the people in it. For many people the film will simply strike them as violent, brutal and sad. To me it is perhaps the most inspiring tale I have ever known, wound up in many simple truths that outline the man I aspire to be.
