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Sliding Doors (1998) More at IMDbPro »

Through the door; sliding destinies, 14 October 2008
Author: ruiresende84 (ruiresende84@gmail.com) from Porto, Portugal

This is a little cozy and intelligent piece of film making. It plays with the tools and pieces i enjoy the most: creating a mood, inventing a world or given a personal angle of a world close to mind, and inventing in narrative, novel ways of telling a story. It does it competently, it's an even film in practically every aspect.

Here, there is a clear plot line considered: The life of an unhappy woman, who looses her job and has an unfaithful partner. This line has a beginning and two possible ends. Somewhere over that curved line, the writers place an alternative, a second line which deviates from the first one only to intersect it further ahead. So, a line with a perfectly defined beginning and end. The plot is fully centered on Gwyneth's character. The distinct plot lines are followed in parallel and this gives alternate versions, which we follow, alternating between them. The moment where both lines cross again is relatively banal - death of one of the alternative Gwyneths which reestablishes the normal curse of things. But the moment in which time breaks is a beautiful piece of film. The cinematography is beautiful, how the subway doors are shot, how the editing of Gwyneth living both versions in that moment is made. Beautiful. Curiosity: the little girl who in one version causes Gwyneth to loose the train, and on the other is step aside to allow her to pass carries a doll, blonde, with which she plays. Like a puppet. Fate drives the life of the characters here. Delicious.

Gwyneth Paltrow is a very good actress, who can perform that same distinctive character in both versions bearing in mind that some strange will of some superior manipulator is playing dice with her fate. I felt that. It was good. So we have a number of players in this board, and all of them have their lives dramatically and profoundly changed by the single event that divided Gwyneth's character time.

The cinematography, and the tone of the story sets the mood. The thing that impressed me the most was the clear sensation that the film created a little place i can visit and hide for a little, like if i was visiting the possible reality the sliding doors created for Gwyneth. This is top notch, and it is a nearly perfect cinematic creation of intimacy. On-screen and outside it. How great to be in this film.

My opinion: 4/5

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