What the Bleep Do We Know!? (2004)

Directed by: William Arntz, Betsy Chasse, Mark Vicente | 109 minutes | drama, comedy, animation, science fiction, documentary | Actors: Marlee Matlin, Elaine Hendrix, Barry Newman, Robert Bailey Jr., John Ross Bowie, Armin Shimerman, Robert Blanche, David Albert, Marsha Clark, Eric Newsome, Dawnn Pavlonnis, Candace Perth, Ramtha, Mercedes Rose, Jeffrey Satinover, Jeff S. Dodge, Carol Stanzione, Leslie Taylor, William Tiller, Tin Tran, Tara Walker, Fred Alan Wolf, William Joseph Elk III, Evan Jacobs, Casper Van Dien

‘What the Bleep Do We Know!?’ was a minor success in the United States. The film with a catchy title is a mixture of story, documentary and special effects. With lyrics like Its time to get wise and discover the film that opens your eyes to new possibilities! this DVD promises something. Lighting to be exact. The well-known deaf actress Marlee Matlin is someone whose talents are proven. An important note, however, is that the three directors of this film belong to the Ramtha School of Enlightenment. The word propaganda comes to mind for many, although the experts only introduce themselves at the end.

The story follows Amanda (Matlin), a divorced photographer whose life has been turned upside down since her husband cheated on her. She ends up in what the makers of the film call the quantum dimension (in which everything is connected). Strange events and circumstances lead Amanda to see things differently. Using computer animations and spectacular (and sometimes hilarious) special effects, the quantum physics world as the makers see it is revealed. Amanda comes to a deeper wisdom. Where until now she was a victim of circumstances, she becomes the creative force of her life.

It sounds pretty floaty and it is. How does one make such material (aside from whether the viewer agrees or not) accessible or at least entertaining for a large audience? By letting them think for themselves. But unfortunately the film is laced with commentary from the scientists and mystics. The film raises interesting questions. What is reality, why are we here, who or what is God, his thoughts conditioned? Unfortunately, the answers to these are given by the speakers without leaving much room for interpretation by the viewer. This was probably the intention of the makers, but it gets pretty annoying when they break in every once in a while to let their wisdom spew out. No, we’d rather see more of Amanda in her Alice-in-Wonderland quest rather than the opinions of people who never back it up with actually showing and describing scientific experiments.

The idea of ​​thought conditioning is nicely illustrated by the Native Americans who were initially unable to see Columbus’ boats at sea because their brains could not place the image.

The spiritually inspiring film What the Bleep Do We Know!? pretends to be it is not. With all the talk, it’s going to be a long sit even for patient viewers. Matlin doesn’t really do bad as someone in a constant state of wonder, by the way. We would have liked to see more story around her. This kind of floating fare should be presented subtly and preferably lightly. Subtlety is lacking and humor looks in the wrong places here.

The film concludes that everyone is a God with creative power, through thoughts he or she can create everything and at the same time enjoy this process. Based on this, most viewers will use their mind to turn this movie into something more enjoyable.