L'annulaire

This little gem was Olga Kurylenko's (Quantum of Solace, Hit-man, Paris, je t'aime) first film. That is the only thing that attracted me to it. She has a beauty that just draws you in no matter what she stars in.

She has to do a lot of acting in this film, as it is short on dialog. She injures herself in an industrial accident and ends up in a situation with a strange man in a strange job, and sharing a room with a sailor who works nights. The only interaction with the sailor is through what he leaves in the room, but the relationship with her boss takes on an erotic turn.

Despite the absolutely awesome display of femininity by Kurylenko in the musical and visual feast, there just wasn't enough story to carry this all the way.

Very fine film, beautifully photographed and directed with a wonderful central performance from Olga Kurylenko, who of course, has deservedly gone on to find fame and fortune, while this gem languishes, barely seen. I had never heard of it when I picked it up but am certainly glad I did. Based on a book by Japanese author Yoko Ogawa this is a marvellously quirky tale on the nature of obsession and possession. Some have mentioned David Lynch and I would have thought most of his fans would enjoy this. Set mainly in the port of Hamburg, we get a fantastic painterly picture with the increasingly strange happening inside as people visit to have painful memories preserved and thereby contained. Very Japanese in concept and this would have worked more easily in a Japanese setting but this is still a unique experience well worth seeing. Oh, and I almost forgot mesmerising score from Beth Gibbons, which is sadly not available.

The sexy Ukrainian Bond-babe (from Quantum of Solace) Olga Kurylenko's first film was L'Annulaire (2005) . Iris (Kurylenko) have an accident and cut off her ring finger. Then she moves to a port town (filmed in Hamburg), and lodging in a hotel by the seafront. She gets a job as an assistant and receptionist for a man who preserve peoples specials items into specimen. The guy and the place is weird, and he comes up with some requirements to her, that makes the job and employer even weirder. It's originally a Japanese novel by Yoko Ogawa, and there is some strange Japanese atmosphere over this story. The movie is packed with the nude Iris, and I guess that alone will please a lot of male viewers. I think the story was going a bit empty after a while, but I'm a male viewer - so I stayed tune with the beautiful Iris until the final.

There were a lot of things I enjoyed about this movie. The cover, the synopsis and the concept were really the high points. The lead actress was quite good as well (not bad to look at too). I mean the cinematography was good I guess, but nothing to out the ordinary. I mean you can't rely on gritty filters and a softened colour palate to carry a movie. The concept for this movie really intrigued me and I had begged my friends to rent it a couple times by the cover(instead of "Poisidon" and "When a Stranger Calls"). Just it seemed to me that it was trying too hard to be something and wasn't focusing enough on characters actual motivations and any connection with the real world. "Who is this girl?" is what I'm sure would have been the question if I had convinced anyone I know to watch it with me.

Don't bother. Heard its hard to find so should be a problem for most people.

SO..... WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE???

Haunting musical score, disturbingly unsettling erotic scenes, perturbing voyeuristic encounters, Olga Kurylenko as eye candy, preserve-and-cherish-those-best-moments-of-your-life metaphors, artistic and interesting visuals...

Put all these diverse elements into a cinematic blender and what do you get? A Film-Making 101 textbook example of the total being LESS than the sum of its parts! I've been asking myself the "What the H*LL is this?" question incessantly for hours since spending 90 minutes as a "voyeur" of this experiment. And...As yet, there just doesn't seem to be an answer!

The director, Diane Bertrand, seems to be assiduously and blatantly giving us the title (sans "Ring") for the duration! The film revolves around a mysterious "clinic" where people go to have important life-relics "preserved"...In theory, at least. In practice, these supposedly priceless articles are soon forgotten about. It's difficult to empathize with any of the characters in the film because they're all so creepy, to one extent or another. Even Kurylenko's character is more off-putting than not.

The supposedly "erotic" scenes are reminiscent of watching someone getting violated by their orthodontist during a root canal procedure. A rather self-indulgent piece of film-making, it's not hard to imagine dozens of Director Bertrand's friends gathered at her home for a private screening shouting "C'est Magnifique!" and "Incroyable!" afterward! As if this weren't enough, many segments are painfully languidly paced.

"FINGER" might have faired a little better after a second viewing, but I'm not motivated in the least to see it again.

3***........ ENJOY! / DISFUTELA!??!?...(If You Can Manage!)

Any comments, questions or observations, in English o en Español, are most welcome!