(contains a very minor spoiler)
This year at the Toronto film festival I decided to do the patriotic thing and see some films from my native land. This, unfortunatly was one of them.
The problem with this film is not that it is so bad, but it could have been good. The acting is superb and the whole film has an interesting visual look. Unfortunatly, the script is a mess. The plot is predictable at best and ludicrous at its worst. The characters act without motivation of any kind. Example: a teenaged youth decides to live with his biological mother who he has just met and run away from his adopted mother. He has an excellent relationship to his adoptive mother, his adoptive father isn't in the picture so he isn't a factor, and the mother provides much for him. Yet for some unknown reason he runs away. At no point does he show any form of resentment towards his biological mother and at no time does he show any signs of being angry at his adoptive mother. Speaking as a teenager, we might be irrational but this is just insane.
Also, the past that the main characters share is revealed badly and many of the flashbacks have little to do with the film. The main idea of a woman who was raped seeking revenge on the people who did it isn't bad. The idea that she would do this by simply calling one of them up and annoying him is. The character who helped to rape her, Max seems filled with guilt at some times and others he acts as though she is an old girlfriend who is simply pesky.
There are other problems, like a tendancy of the director to be so ambiguous that some scenes tell you absolutely nothing. The film is also filled with many superfluous characters who add nothing and simply confuse the story (something the rest of the script achieves quite well). The ending feels as though it has been tacked on from another film. It resolves little and again is completely unmotivated. Overall, the film is confusing and the plot unjustified. But it looks nice and that's all that seemed to matter to some members of the audience. I wasn't one of them.
This year at the Toronto film festival I decided to do the patriotic thing and see some films from my native land. This, unfortunatly was one of them.
The problem with this film is not that it is so bad, but it could have been good. The acting is superb and the whole film has an interesting visual look. Unfortunatly, the script is a mess. The plot is predictable at best and ludicrous at its worst. The characters act without motivation of any kind. Example: a teenaged youth decides to live with his biological mother who he has just met and run away from his adopted mother. He has an excellent relationship to his adoptive mother, his adoptive father isn't in the picture so he isn't a factor, and the mother provides much for him. Yet for some unknown reason he runs away. At no point does he show any form of resentment towards his biological mother and at no time does he show any signs of being angry at his adoptive mother. Speaking as a teenager, we might be irrational but this is just insane.
Also, the past that the main characters share is revealed badly and many of the flashbacks have little to do with the film. The main idea of a woman who was raped seeking revenge on the people who did it isn't bad. The idea that she would do this by simply calling one of them up and annoying him is. The character who helped to rape her, Max seems filled with guilt at some times and others he acts as though she is an old girlfriend who is simply pesky.
There are other problems, like a tendancy of the director to be so ambiguous that some scenes tell you absolutely nothing. The film is also filled with many superfluous characters who add nothing and simply confuse the story (something the rest of the script achieves quite well). The ending feels as though it has been tacked on from another film. It resolves little and again is completely unmotivated. Overall, the film is confusing and the plot unjustified. But it looks nice and that's all that seemed to matter to some members of the audience. I wasn't one of them.