Yes, the ending is abrupt, rather like a sex act cut off at the height of climax. Who doesn't also want that slide down from orgasm and the tingling afterglow? The essence of an ending is there, but storytelling is about explicating, delineating the specific, sensual details, including that of resolution. Usually I like ambiguous endings--when they're appropriate to the text and theme--because they commend my intelligence; but this time it leaves the viewer unsatisfied and seems like an arthouse pretense.
A shame since this film offers so much in texture, cinematography, subtle characterizations, good acting, and nuanced metaphors that lift it above not only made-for-TV dramas but most modern cinema as well, sadly. Note the driveway exchange when Alex meets Sarah and asks, "Did I leave you enough room?" Consider the house in the valley whose owner tells her how happy he and his wife were there and how he'd like to see Alex and her husband enjoy it as well; later Alex reports to Sam that another couple got to it first. Recall Jane's "AC/DC" t-shirt that Alex wears after the night in the pool. How about the opening sex scene which portrays Alex as very sexually responsive and Sam as slow on the pop, so to speak. And, of course, the remote-control boat Sam sees at the end.
McDormand is fine, as always: bracing and unapologetic in the fullness of her personhood, both as the character and as a performer beyond. Bale and Beckinsale are believable as self-controlled academicians who logically become engaged and find that self-control and logic does not equal self-knowledge and happiness. McElhone's character seems underwritten, but her seductive beauty delivers the point of Sam's temptation. And in mousy-librarian-unleashed terms, Beckinsale delivers the eye-candy.
This film is worth your while, but you have to watch it--REALLY watch it. Watch everything in it. Usually one has to view foreign films to receive so much storytelling value per scene, per shot, per line of dialogue. It just lacks that ending--that top bun on an otherwise splendid sandwich, if you will--to take the viewer home. I wanted to see what choice Sam made and the emotional repercussions for Alex who had awakened to so much within her. Screenwriting teachers will tell you to end your story as quickly as possible after climax, but this movie proves an extreme and ill-considered example of that notion. Granted, a dragged-out denouement such as in "The Lord of the Rings III: The Return of the King" is a too-long goodbye, but there's a happy medium.
I look forward to Lisa Cholodenko's next project. Hopefully, she won't jet out the door so quickly.
A shame since this film offers so much in texture, cinematography, subtle characterizations, good acting, and nuanced metaphors that lift it above not only made-for-TV dramas but most modern cinema as well, sadly. Note the driveway exchange when Alex meets Sarah and asks, "Did I leave you enough room?" Consider the house in the valley whose owner tells her how happy he and his wife were there and how he'd like to see Alex and her husband enjoy it as well; later Alex reports to Sam that another couple got to it first. Recall Jane's "AC/DC" t-shirt that Alex wears after the night in the pool. How about the opening sex scene which portrays Alex as very sexually responsive and Sam as slow on the pop, so to speak. And, of course, the remote-control boat Sam sees at the end.
McDormand is fine, as always: bracing and unapologetic in the fullness of her personhood, both as the character and as a performer beyond. Bale and Beckinsale are believable as self-controlled academicians who logically become engaged and find that self-control and logic does not equal self-knowledge and happiness. McElhone's character seems underwritten, but her seductive beauty delivers the point of Sam's temptation. And in mousy-librarian-unleashed terms, Beckinsale delivers the eye-candy.
This film is worth your while, but you have to watch it--REALLY watch it. Watch everything in it. Usually one has to view foreign films to receive so much storytelling value per scene, per shot, per line of dialogue. It just lacks that ending--that top bun on an otherwise splendid sandwich, if you will--to take the viewer home. I wanted to see what choice Sam made and the emotional repercussions for Alex who had awakened to so much within her. Screenwriting teachers will tell you to end your story as quickly as possible after climax, but this movie proves an extreme and ill-considered example of that notion. Granted, a dragged-out denouement such as in "The Lord of the Rings III: The Return of the King" is a too-long goodbye, but there's a happy medium.
I look forward to Lisa Cholodenko's next project. Hopefully, she won't jet out the door so quickly.