The Trap
As a Maritimer from the East Coast, I’m so interested to see this short film by the National Film Board of Canada.
In a Cape Breton village, Buddhist monks and nuns pray in their abbey, while French-speaking fishermen put out to sea to haul in their lobster traps. Seemingly divided by language, culture and religion, these people share more than meets the eye. The film delicately weaves a connection between the beliefs of the two groups, both regarding life as a cycle.
Once a year, the Buddhist monks and nuns buy the fishermen’s last lobster catch and release it back into the sea, believing that these lobsters could be reincarnated in the cycle leading to enlightenment. The fishermen too regard existence as a natural cycle. They preserve life by delicately putting back in the water female lobsters carrying eggs, which will hatch into the lobsters the men’s descendants will fish. The film considers mutual respect and tolerance.
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