But you'' have to watch it carefully to understand this.
This is actually a conceptual flick, meaning that all classifications attached are ridiculous. It is a kind of romance but it's not comedy, not drama, not Sci-Fi (even though you do see interlaced timelines - they are not :-).
Catch the moment in which female lead professes her hatred for "time based art" (meaning flicks - because you are confined to following the time) and claims that painting is the real art because you see everything at the same time and you look at it for whatever short or long period of time you want - which makes it timeless.
Well this whole flick is doing (OK trying) exactly that for you. It doesn't let you latch to a time progression. Forces you to accept all moment of that cupple's history as happening at the same time in front of you - transposing the time into (timeless) painting.
That's why it doesn't matter that female lead is not really beautiful on screen, despite the male lead repeating N times that she is, and it doesn't matter that male lead is a nutcase and it doesn't matter that neither can act to save their lives if they had to. They are just brush strokes on a canvas painted by director. No one cares that "Mademoiselles from Avignon" are ugly - because they are just "cubes" in Picasso's painting.
And OK production didn't have money to pay actually beautiful actress :-) but we are not going to split hair in front of a painting, are we? Although it would have been a masterpiece if they did have more money and better cast (and would go into legend right next to "Marienbad").
The only problem is that director did succumb to the dictate of "time" and even "formula" by the end and made a linear "finale" ruining the concept to a degree.
But it did remain timeless to a significant degree. If you want to check this claim watch it again. Unlike all story/time-progression flicks that turn boring once you "know the plot and what happened at the end" this one doesn't - because it is a painting and all these moments happen at equally same instant - it just takes you time to grasp them all :-) Would work great as a playlist with bookmarks for all jumps. Then you could create your own path.
Kim loved this flick, and yes that is a bit too meta statement for the linear notion of things :-) but it is what it is. This flick wasn't made for you and me - it was made for Kim. Don't believe it? Check out director's page - personal section :-) Wellcome to twilight zone :-)))
