Movie Review of One Week (2008)

Both life and death arise from the mind and exist within the mind. Hence, when the mind that concerns itself with life and death passes on, the world of life and death passes with it.

An unenlightened life rises from a mind that is bewildered by its own world of delusion. If we learn that there is no world of delusion outside the mind, the bewildered mind becomes clear; and because we cease to create impure surroundings, we attain Enlightenment.

In this way the world of life and death is created by the mind, is in bondage to the mind, is ruled by the mind; the mind is the master of every situation. The world of suffering is brought about by the deluded mortal mind.

-The Buddha

Joshua Jackson plays Ben Tyler, a young man with wide-spread stage four cancer. He is about to be married and instead of opting for the ten percent chance of a cure immediately, he decides to take a trip West. It becomes both an inner and outer journey, helping Ben to awaken to the realities of his life. Without being silly or insensitive, Ben’s adventures are often humorous as well as insightful.

The Canadian vista is almost a character in itself. From Toronto to Vancouver we see the majestic and the mundane, all with its own power. His visit to the Terry Fox monument is particularly poignant.