Das Verschwinden der Eleanor Rigby

The first time we see the couple (the first scene), they are so much in love. The scene is filled with fun, excitement, and such passionate love for each other; we are easily drawn into that magical moment of theirs. The next time we see these people, it's like their lives have taken a right about turn. Something terrible has occurred in their life, we don't know what exactly. The movie as well as the characters try their best to keep away from that topic (people who have read about the movie might know what has happened, I don't want to spoil it for others). Although the path has been tread before, Ned Benson has woven an intriguing exploration of a couple after a tragedy, and it's great for a debut feature.

When something terrible happens in our life, the two things we usually tend to do are: trying our best not to remember it. If we do remember, we try to find a close person around on whom we can shift all the blame and direct all our hatred. The best thing we can do is, accept the situation, and let time take over and do its trick.

The topic has been dealt with time and again, in movies as well as novels. With a little more depth, the characters might have been more intriguing. Nonetheless, I was still interested in their lives, and the beautiful one-on-one scenes in the second half were really engaging and emotional. These characters pour their hearts out, either to let it out (and lessen the burden on their mind) or to make the other person feel better. The one which really stands out is the one in which William Hurt (as Eleanor's father) shares an old traumatizing memory with her, involving her; the monologue transports us to the actual place of the event, and we can see the agony in his eyes.

The acting by the two leads, Chastain and McAvoy, is brilliant; it's the emotional backbone of the film. Their eyes have such sorrow; though we know so less about the situation, we are intrigued by what has happened. The sometimes-fun-sometimes-supportive characters played by actors like William Hurt, Isabelle Hupert (it was amazing to see this French talent as Eleanor's mother in this film), Viola Davis, Bill Hader, Jess Weixler and Ciarán Hinds are interesting; their presence makes the story more appealing. I wish the characters were developed a little more; I don't know if the Him-Her version has more depth or not, I'm yet to see it.

The ending might baffle or annoy some, but to me, it was different and delightful. It conveyed the message it intended to, and the background music by Son Lux was just perfect for it.

Ned Benson both wrote and directed this little quiet film – an amalgamation of two separate films 'The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby Her' and 'The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby Him'. Each premiered in 2013 as two films at the Toronto Film Festival. After the premiere, although it received rave reviews, Ned Benson started cutting the movie again, as a one feature. The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them (2014) premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. All three movies received a theatrical release.

The story is elusive, dealing with internal issues as to why a happy marriage dissolves. Perhaps (and this is not said outright) the marriage crumbled with the death of their little boy (no details of when or how are given, just obtuse references), but what ever the reason, the summary sates a woman and man seemingly so in love finds their marriage is shaken to the core when life throws them a devastating curve. Now this New York couple must try to understand each other as they cope with loss and attempt to reclaim the life and love they once had.

The cast is loaded with stars – Eleanor Rigby is beautifully off center as played by Jessica Chastain and she is matched by her husband Conor played by James McAvoy. But the supporting cast (all in very small roles) offers Eleanor's parents portrayed by Isabelle Huppert (who has some of the best lines - 'I didn't know I could retrieve all the opportunities I threw away then.' - and William Hurt, Conor's father by Ciarán Hinds, Viola Davis as a snarky professor, Ryan Eggold as a would-be paramour for Eleanor, Jess Weixler as Eleanor's sister, and Nina Arianda as Conor's paramour, and more.

The story is fragile and perhaps too much so, as the line of relating the tale runs into alleyways of nothing too frequently. It is as though a very fine editor could have tightened this up and made it stronger. Certainly as far as a cast is concerned it is top drawer: it just drags around far too slowly to stay very interested. The DVD comes with a second disc for the 'Her' and 'Him' version, but after over two hours of 'Them', viewing that may merit watching on another evening. Very mixed feelings.

The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby was originally intended as a movie to be focused on a man's perspective as his wife disappeared out of his life. When writer-director Ned Benson brought star Jessica Chastain on, she asked him about Eleanor's perspective and he was so enraptured with this question that he wrote an entire version of the movie dedicated to her view point of the marriage. The two films were shot simultaneously, but times and audiences being what they are, the distributor cut a third version of the film so that audiences could experience the whole thing in one go.

As someone who has seen all three versions of the films (his, her and them) I can tell you this is a mistake. The best way to experience the film is by watching some combination of the Him & Her versions (pick your poison, watching either one first has its benefits and drawbacks, although "Him" does start earlier in the timeline than "Her").

The problem with Them is that it reveals that Rigby is actually a very simplistic movie. It's the story of married couple Connor Ludlow (James McAvoy) and Eleanor Rigby (Jessica Chastain) whose marriage has suffered a devastating blow. Rigby tries to kill herself and when she is unsuccessful she leaves her husband and the two begin separate journeys of discovery. The joy in the Him & Her versions is seeing the different ways the two people experience the same event. Rigby and Ludlow both disappear from each other's narratives for long periods of time posing questions about certain events, questions that get answered when you watch whichever of the two movies you choose to watch first. There's also a handful of scenes that are the same in both stories but the tone and information conveyed is different, showing how people can interpret things differently. All the joy of this is wiped out of the Them version in which everything plays chronologically and we don't get multiple versions of the same scenes.

It's an okay movie, but it will leave you wondering what the fuss is all about.

Apparently different versions exist. This IMDb site lists the running time as a little over two hours, but the version I saw was listed at well over three hours. It was very long, basically two movies back to back. Many of the scenes were shown twice, from the perspective of the two principals, with differences that were sometimes striking and sometimes very subtle. I found it fascinating, but I can imagine that some viewers will become impatient. (My bladder did -- don't go into this one with a large Coke.) I would like to see it again on video so I can go back and forth and compare versions of events, but I am worried that I'll end up renting a shorter version. The existence of different versions makes it a moving target -- it's difficult to review, and even more difficult for a prospective viewer to evaluate on the basis of published reviews, if you don't know which version the reviewer saw. They say the difference between a good haircut and a bad haircut is three days. Well, the difference between a good movie and a bad movie may be as little as three minutes, edited out or left in.

I'm giving this movie 9 stars because of a single line of dialog that blew me away and changed my perception of a lot of experiences in my own life. You can't ask for more than that from a movie. It's a comment made by one of the minor characters (the waitress) -- almost a throwaway line, really -- about the effect that people have on each other in relationships. I don't even know if it is included in the shorter version of the movie.

So yes, I watched all the three movies before making any judgement. I only did it because I saw some comments on the movie (Them) saying that it was messy and then someone saying that it was best to watch the three to better understand. I started with Him, followed to Her version and ended with Them for chronological reasons. Some people say that Her is a better version, but I decided to stick to time factor and follow the directors way.

So is it worth it? *Really trying not to say any spoilers so I don't ruin it for you* Him really gets the guy perspective of everything that is happening around and we see only his version of events, his feelings everything about him. By now we don't really know what's happening and it seems just like a story about a break up.

With Her we get the girls version and here is were we really comprehend the trigger point. I love how they explore differences between the moments that we seem them together. I think it's pretty amazing because every time we put two people talking about things from their past, even though they lived it together, each of them always seems to have differences in their memories, so it's quite amazing to see it (a first time for me) in a movie.

Them it's the putting together of these two people. I confess I was a bit disappointed with this last version. I expected a little more after the first two movies and certainly a putting together of the pieces. Even though it still manage to surprise us with small differences of what we already seen. I guess after the first two I got my expectations high, but maybe it was too much. I tried watching it as I hadn't seen the other two and it was surprising how, even it seemed confusing at the beginning without seeing Him and/or Her, in the middle we get to understand things without they being showed to us.

The end was not absolutely what I was expecting. Here too I was expecting more. But somehow it managed to still conquer me. I guess on this part the soundtrack really gives an amazing help.

So yes, it's worth watching the three otherwise there are some little pieces that connect us to the story that you will lose. My advice: watch Him and Her and later watch Them. The soundtrack connects very well with the dynamic of the movie. This is a "dramance" and it's about love and lost so you can't expect much action or fairy tale ending. It's real life pouring on! Jessica Chastain and James Mcavoy perform it very well and what we have here is original cinema. Hope I've been helpful without spoiling.