Le château de cartes

There is no doubt that somewhere out there there is someone who loved this film, who adores it and watches it all the time, fed up by the bad reviews. That person is obviously not me, as I can see how this mind-boggling movie could have a following like that, but I positively hated it.

I rented it because of Tommy Lee Jones and Kathleen Turner, and the movie taught me a valuable lesson: listen to the critics and DON'T rent a movie that looks bad because of two stars in it. Both are given horrible, underdeveloped, unlikeble characters and asked to turn them into lovable, realistic characters. They failed miserable, not because they can't, but because they won't. The film is THAT bad.

Which ever studio exec who green lighted this project must've been high, or drunk. Or both. The story makes no sense whatsoever and is immensely boring. If you are a fan of either Turner or Jones, skip this one and instead see The Fugitive or War of The Roses again.

I prefer to see it as a poetic film. I teach in classes with autistic students, I was confronted with some cases . But, in same measure I am seduced by fairy tales. The death of father can reate strong refuges. And, in this film, the refuge is just well projected. Because it is a film about a six years old girl, in touch with Mayan myth - a myth reminding the stories about the rabbit on the moon from my childhood - admirable acting, moving end . A film about truth, with few unrealistic pink parts but real nice for understand, in fair manner, the other.

This movie is very interesting to watch and the characters are well-acted by Kathleen Turner and Tommy Lee Jones. The little girl is very convincing as well. It's a good movie, but people should know: this is not about autism.

I have an autistic daughter. Even in regressive autism, which is not that common, you don't just become autistic through emotional trauma, as this movie suggests. And you don't just stop talking one day. It's a progressive or, rather, regressive thing. And regressive autism takes place about age 2-3, not age 6. Her seeming imperviousness to danger is autistic-like and the screams when things change is something that can happen, but please don't come away from this movie thinking this is what autism is.

Many autistic children are not silent and do interact or try to. Take note of the scenes at the school with real autistic children to get a somewhat better picture.

This movie is more about emotional trauma than autism. Leading the viewer to believe otherwise is a tragic disservice. But what's worse is then leading the viewer to believe simple psychological intervention will "fix" autism.

The one good thing is that the movie shows autistics to be bright and very creative. If you want to learn something about autism, learn that.

The great things about this film make me forget the obvious concessions to box office: the uselessness of Tommy Lee's over dramatic character, or the cheesy ending.

The beauty of this is all in the multiple structures presented to us, both physically and metaphorically, and how they are layered in such a way that moving one affects all the others, like a house of cards. How they are put together is flawed, and it lacks the subtleties and hooks of any Medem script. But it's a glorious try, a world of connections of all sorts.

The first gate to this world are the Maya pyramids, so carefully photographed in the clever initial sequence in Mexico. There we are given key concepts to interpret the whole thing: The ascending dynamic of this (highly spiritual) shape, the tragedy of the father's death, which triggers the whole plot, and the moon – introduced in a clumsy way, as the cosmic witness to the tragedy and as some old folk Indian tale.

Later we fold the idea of the abstract structure that is the "key" to our girl's mind into the idea of a physical shape, that of a spiral, conceptually close to the conception of a Maya pyramid. The girl actually builds the thing, using common cards and some Tarot cards, providing us another key to another abstract structured cosmic world: metaphorical links between cards and several realities; a whole cosmology of its own.

In between you get hints at other parallel, strong structures: 1 – before becoming an autist the girl spoke three languages; 2 – trees… she climbs them, repeating the ascending movement, and she disguises herself as one… she becomes it!; 3 – the construction site and the crane, an obvious reference, as it is the fact that the mother is an engineer, a designer of structures (the 3d stuff does sound middle- aged to our BIM days…)

The spiral is replicated in a greater scale by the mother, she actually builds her own gate to her daughter (building up for the obvious climax). What you get is the beautiful idea of a physical structure as the metaphor for a spiritual link, and the act of building as a symbol of reaching for someone. This is underscored by the seemingly shared dream between our girls, which i found pretty lame. So the result is a sort of maternal built love. You have to love it!

This is one of the best movies I've seen and I'm shocked at the ratings it has received. I found it hidden in the back room at the video store because so few customers were checking it out. I agree that Tommy Lee Jones has been better in other movies but the story is excellent and the portrayal of the story is very well done. Please don't let the ratings keep you from deciding for yourself!