Maya

Watching this as a fan of the best European Director of our times. MIA HANSEN LOVE.

A true romantic who has no more illusions and wanders in thoughts working through pains. Running away and yet at the same time facing the pains and fears. That is a true form of overcoming compulsive behaviors and hurts of the soul. From avoiding to facing and being accountable and still yet also being a tiny bit irresponsible.

Go on this journey through the soul of Roman. This could also be any girl/boy you know.

Just released from captivity in Syria, Gabriel abandons everything he knows, including his wife, to return to a childhood home in Goa, India. He is intent upon becoming something other than a victim and regaining a positive outlook on life. The beatings and torture Gabriel suffered pale in comparison to the guilt and helplessness he feels. Mixing with crowds along the ocean shore, the pulse of the dance clubs and the beautiful people within, tropical breezes, moped rides at night, the rising sun, and the wild, exotic heart of India, help him to heal. The clincher is Maya, the college-aged daughter of his godfather. Love is within reach, but Gabriel is hesitant. "You have to know what you want," he dismissively tells the younger woman. That soft voice in the night calling out his name, is it Maya or the return of guilt and fear?

Maya is shot mostly on location in India. The country around Goa is beautiful and Hansen-Løve has a knack for including the landscape in the narrative. The acting and romantic chemistry are as hot as the country. I quite agree with the philosophy of Gabriel, immersing myself in nature and out of the ordinary terrains and people, to restore balance and well-being. Dialogue depth is lacking, but overall an intriguing and resplendent film. Mia Hansen-Løve is the director of Things to Come and Eden. Seen at the Toronto international film festival.

Sometimes in a film, when nothing happens, magic is created. Not in this case. The dragging story leads uninvolving characters to nowhere, we are treated to plenty of postcard images of the countryside which look like they have sponsored by the local tourist boards, and the only thing all this creates is - boredom. Two stars for the nice scenery.

A great disappointment. This film follows a moping lost soul of a guy around after (we are supposed to believe, but I didn't) he has been released from a kidnapping in Syria. The women are particularly-poorly drawn, and come across as mere accessories to his hedonistic pseudo-tragic tourism. The only character with any salt is his mother, a former hippy who at least breaks down as she drives away from her reunion with him, giving a hint of the more complex emotions that should be much more present if this was to be believable. The dialog is completely wooden, with diatribes about the destruction of Goa, when this film seems to be just as much a work of Indian travel porn. His relationship with the young girl Maya (practically young enough to be his daughter) is fairly well portrayed, but depressing in that it shows the damage that self-glorious men do without caring. Had it been believable that either of the journalists had actually seen much of the world (let alone endured a kidnapping), this film might have worked but it fell flat from the beginning.

It's rare to see a director take a film story and direction into multiple layers of a characters inner search via a travel log of India centered mostly in Goa. It brings forth a beautiful unique grasp of the lifestyle of a travelers daily life living in Goa and its beautiful culture and people.

It is shot as an indi film that many viewers might not be enticed to watch unless they like a slow paced film or have been to Goa and are enamored by India/ Goa as the visuals and sites are stunning but might not appeal to everyone as it spends more time drifting around sites to set the tone of a travel log life rather than digging deeper into character development and inner journey of the main character.

Yet the subtle manner in which this director handles the subject matter and main character journey is delicate and soft including the love romance which has a lovely message that is rarely seen in most films.

The only criticism is that the dialogue could have been more developed to share more character insight but it works more as a India travel log / love story with the viewer captivated by this lost soul war reporter personal journey and his troubled upbringing and search for meaning in his life - which is very touching.

6 stars for the acting, dp and stunning shots of India esp Sweet Lake Arambol and Agonda and Hampi.

Looking forward to more films from this filmmaker and inspired to watch more of her other films.