There may have been other films that adopted this narrative structure, playing the same events over thrice, but from different points of view, but I've not seen such a film until Lawless Heart. I was blown away by both the idea and the execution of this structure, and I applaud the screenwriters/directors.
A terrific cast of British actors including Bill Nighy get to strut their considerable acting stuff here. As the scenes are replayed each time, in each of the three acts, we gain more and more insight into each character. We are reminded that the events we live--you and I, in our quotidian lives--have many different protagonists, and we might be nothing more than a bit player to everyone else who experiences the same events, that we might be misinterpreting everyone else's motivation, and that the most interesting details may well be hidden from us.
This may make the movie sound confusing, but it is not. The plot unfolds clearly and coherently. While I, a woman, enjoyed it, this is a men's movie, I think, for men who think and feel deeply, rather than men who like to see things blown up. You leave the theater or turn off your DVD player thinking, perhaps even a deeper person--and how often does that happen with a movie?
A terrific cast of British actors including Bill Nighy get to strut their considerable acting stuff here. As the scenes are replayed each time, in each of the three acts, we gain more and more insight into each character. We are reminded that the events we live--you and I, in our quotidian lives--have many different protagonists, and we might be nothing more than a bit player to everyone else who experiences the same events, that we might be misinterpreting everyone else's motivation, and that the most interesting details may well be hidden from us.
This may make the movie sound confusing, but it is not. The plot unfolds clearly and coherently. While I, a woman, enjoyed it, this is a men's movie, I think, for men who think and feel deeply, rather than men who like to see things blown up. You leave the theater or turn off your DVD player thinking, perhaps even a deeper person--and how often does that happen with a movie?