I've been told for quite some time to watch this film, so finally here I am. I'll be honest in that at around the ten minute mark I started to worry. I was enjoying it, sure, but at the same time I wasn't sure how this visual style was going to work over a two hour period. Little did I know that I was in the hands of a wonderful storyteller.
I love that we don't get to leave his point-of-view until he's decided to commit to life. It's a wonderful choice, and by the time we finally leave him, we're familiar with him.
His snarky inner-monologue is quite enjoyable. I question whether some of the same dialogue, in English, wouldn't just sound pretentious, and if it's saved by the foreign language.
Max von Sydow made me tear up here, he's always wonderful and is no exception here. All of the women in this film are interesting and great actors, but the stand out for me is Marie-Josée Croze. She's got that rare kind of beauty that just looks effortless. She can say so much with so little. She should be used more.
I need to see more of Julian Schnabel's work to see if this is a fluke or the work of a great filmmaker. I'm hoping for the latter.
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