Otto (the young one played by Truman Hanks while the aging by Tom Hanks) both impress me in a very different way despite they are the same person. “A Man Called Otto” depicts what an aging man’s mental journey is when he lives alone suffering from some kind of depression constantly seeking suicide after his wife passes away leaving him lonely, sad, and emotionally painful.

With not a few flashbacks of young Otto appearing in the film by aging Otto’s recalling memories, we cannot but know Otto is a special man, at least not the worldly kind that has dominated our world today. He is urbane despite some people would find the aging one rude or unapproachable, the truth is they may not know Otto is a bit awkward in managing social skills. Young Otto could be helpful to such an extent that he would desperately run to a never-met girl who had dropped her book to the ground when hastily boarding a train. The movie goes on to tell us Otto is a person who loves life and is frenetic about helping people with a scene of the aging Otto, regardless of his personal safety, jumping onto the track of a railway to save an old fragile man who has fallen into it.

One episode in the film amusingly tells us young Otto could be so honest and straightforward as to tell his girlfriend Sonya (Rachel Keller) he had taken food before dining with her because he was afraid he might not afford to pay the bill for two with his meagre income when she was enjoying the set dinner she ordered and asking him why he just ordered a scant for himself. Legitimately, this girl could feel embarrassed by her boyfriend’s so awkward social skills in the conversation and decide to leave. However, she admired his candidness and kindness, and abruptly stood up from the dining table and kissed him deeply expressing love and mainly identification with him. I feel pretty impressed to have seen these two amazing people in our world, and I define them as a rarity deserving of treasure.

Marisol (Mariana Treviño), a happy mom with two kids, born innately with a bunch of optimism spilled with laughter and joy in character, is pregnant again. She has played a not little role in Otto’s latter stage of life despite it being short. As a neighbor of his, she is unexpectedly concerned about Otto and has paid more than enough attention to him despite more often than not attracting offense and rejection from him. Yeah, the aging Otto has become easily grumbled and angry after losing his wife. However; the movie later tells us Otto was moved by Marisol’s sincerity and has, more than willingly, told her his story which he sees as unutterable, yet treasure. This message speaks volumes for humans are vulnerable to love, indicating that when we are sincere and true enough, we can melt any heart. No one can deny the truth that we do need each other sometimes, no one can live wholly independently all the time, and we have to be humble to admit that we are born interdependent.

My sentiment after watching the movie is some perspectives about philosophy, that life is natural, it has its own time to live and we can by no means arbitrarily take it away. Aging Otto has committed suicide frequently and fails, and when he has eventually found value and meaning in his life by helping people in the community to fight for justice against the evils and wants to live, he dies of a heart hereditary disease. Anyway, from Otto, I grasp that life is worth living as long as we know to find our value with meaning, and to do so, we have to be positive to own a flexible mindset that is reachable to people. Never try to hide or even bury yourself – when – there is many an open door everywhere.