Signs & Wonders

"Signs & Wonders" is the first Jonathan Nossiter movie that I've ever seen. There were two things that struck me about it besides the main plot. One was the awkward camerawork and editing. I wasn't sure whether or not it was supposed to have a naturalistic look. If so, then I guess that it added to the movie's style; if not, then it was distracting.

And the other thing. As the movie is set in Greece, there's ample discussion of the Regime of the Colonels. In case you're not familiar, it was the CIA-backed junta that seized power in 1967 and spent the next seven years torturing and assassinating political opponents, most infamously in the massacre of protesters in Athens Polytechnic Institute in 1973 (after which the group 17N named itself). Costa Gavras's "Z" - set in an unidentified country but was obviously supposed to be Greece - was targeted at the junta. In this movie, it gets noted that the US had backed the regime every step of the way. In fact, just the year before its release, Bill Clinton had formally apologized to Greece for the US's support of the junta. Even today the regime's effects linger, with Greece looking like a Third World country.

Anyway, it's an okay movie, not great. The cast members - Stellan Skarsgård, Charlotte Rampling and Deborah Kara Unger - put on fine performances.

"Signs & Wonders" is a minimally interesting psychodrama about a man (Skarsgard) involved in an affair who tries to reclaim his family as things slowly get out of hand. There is little meat on the bones of this flick which plods along to the strains of peculiar background music in a feeble attempt to create suspense in the absence of a real story. Barely worth the time.

Can't really say that I though that this movie was a very good one to watch but it at least is being different in its approach and storytelling, which does keep you watching.

Make no mistake about it, this is an art-house movie alright. It's using a strange storytelling approach, that doesn't even necessarily feel like it's following a main plot line. It does add to the rawness and realism of the movie but then again, it distance itself from its viewers again by being vague and desperately metaphorical at times. A true mixed bag of a movie, that on the one hand does some stuff nice and originally, while on the other it's not always being a good or pleasant enough movie to follow, mostly due to its unusual approach.

I do admit that I got more in this movie as it was heading toward its ending. Suddenly the drama started to develop better and in a more interesting way and the movie also ends on a good note.

I couldn't really care for its first half though. This is probably also partly because of it that the characters don't really get developed enough, so you won't feel anything for them, or what they are going through. This is done all better in its second half, when we as the viewers are also more accustomed to its characters and the overall style of the movie.

It really is a watchable enough movie but I still can't think of any good reason why anyone should ever watch it though. Maybe only if you have a true love and passion for art-house cinema or are a big Stellan Skarsgård fan and want to see him playing a lead role, in an English spoken movie (well, some Greek as well).

6/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Shot in DV the film shows the fascinating possibilities with the new small cameras: Special atmosphere (strange but realistic), permanent changes of perspectives, authentic locations.It will be worth to discuss now all the losts and founds of this new kind of filmmaking. Besides these esthetic questions, the narrative structure of this film becomes more and more fascinating if you don't give up the attention after the irritating impressions at the beginning. It is only another story of dissolving the family structures under certain circumstances, but Nossiter shows that this can still have real suspense and a cool and analytic story-telling. Deconstructing love and family values. Good film!