Trenchant stuff here...the first portion of the movie, at the very least; the second part works itself out perhaps a bit more subtly than is comfortable.
If you're unaware, Solondz's film is in two parts: "Fiction" and "Non-fiction". In my opinion, the first story is a complete knockout, rife with all kinds of unsettling and -- equally -- interesting ideas to be drawn out from a most well-crafted narrative. On the other hand, I found "Non-fiction" taking quite a while longer to find its legs: unlike the straightforward and often deliciously clever self-referential nature of the story in "Fiction", the film's second part is not so easy to handle. Whereas, watching "Fiction", I found myself in the clear midst of an intelligent social exploration, grasping keenly the import of what was going on before my very eyes -- and all the while constantly surprised at turns in the plot; simply wonderful storytelling here -- "Non-fiction" simply confounded me at times, leading me to suspect -- wrongly, it turned out -- that clearly here was Solondz's much weaker writing. The film's last shot was most revealing to me, then, in the sense of elucidating all the slipperiness preceding it.
Apart from that, the film as a whole is entirely entertaining, perhaps with the second part being even more so than the first. The acting is up to par, but the real beauty of Solandz here is in his strong writing.
That said, I liked it. 8 out of a possible 10.
If you're unaware, Solondz's film is in two parts: "Fiction" and "Non-fiction". In my opinion, the first story is a complete knockout, rife with all kinds of unsettling and -- equally -- interesting ideas to be drawn out from a most well-crafted narrative. On the other hand, I found "Non-fiction" taking quite a while longer to find its legs: unlike the straightforward and often deliciously clever self-referential nature of the story in "Fiction", the film's second part is not so easy to handle. Whereas, watching "Fiction", I found myself in the clear midst of an intelligent social exploration, grasping keenly the import of what was going on before my very eyes -- and all the while constantly surprised at turns in the plot; simply wonderful storytelling here -- "Non-fiction" simply confounded me at times, leading me to suspect -- wrongly, it turned out -- that clearly here was Solondz's much weaker writing. The film's last shot was most revealing to me, then, in the sense of elucidating all the slipperiness preceding it.
Apart from that, the film as a whole is entirely entertaining, perhaps with the second part being even more so than the first. The acting is up to par, but the real beauty of Solandz here is in his strong writing.
That said, I liked it. 8 out of a possible 10.