Mouth to mouth - Rebelle adolescence

This film is based on an interesting idea which in the right hands could have been a wonderful film. Its an indie film, of course it is, but I have seen a good few indie films and this really hits rock with the director. I mean Alison Murray, I'm sure she knows a lot about being a teenage dropout but she doesn't know much about making a gripping film.

Its got some pretty good casting, about six of the people cast were okay actors and that includes Ellen Page, it didn't really push her the way a film and a good director should, as as we have all seen - she can do a lot better! The film was shot as though Murray read about every effect you can do with a camera and thought - I'm gonna use them all! It went light for no reason, it didn't accentuate a feeling or to show an emotion, it wasn't intimate or innocent it just was and in my experience, ever shot should be justified, from the first to the very last.

The sound track was good, I'll give you that. And some of it was quite hard hitting, but I find it difficult to believe that I just watched a film where people died in the course of an anarchist group trying to find freedom and I don't care about them. It wasn't believable, no grief, no despair, no anguish. I wasn't reeled in, I didn't feel their pain and so I didn't believe in its reality.

It is that typical film made by someone who wants to tell their 'incredible story' and just got out of art school. It tries to fit too much in to the plot when a good film can focus on both plot and the dimension of the characters. The ending was excruciating and I cant believe I just spent £15 on this film.

I like Indie films and this one feels like a classic of the early 2000's, telling a story set in the 1980's with a gritty aesthetic and punk grunge soundtrack including The Stranglers Nice and Sleazy. I notice that Jim Sturgess and August Diehl have roles here and they both went out to have strong careers, not to mention Elliot ( Ellen ) Page. The interactions between the young street life characters feel authentic to me and I was invested to know what would happen to the vulnerable young woman at the heart of a disturbing story about how good intentions can go horribly wrong when we turn our individuality over to an all powerful leader.

Mouth to Mouth is a moving story with an unexpected twist. We follow a disillusioned teenage girl looking to find a place to belong , a journey that takes her hitchhiking across Europe and finally into the arms of a cult with a utopian project and a domineering leader. ( I heard it is based on the writer's real life experiences as a teenager in Europe in the 1980's. ) I really liked the cinematography that reminded me a bit of Chris what's his name, the British ( ? ) cinematographer of Wong Kar Wai's early films. The locations of Berlin, Spain and Portugal look amazing and also Camden Market ( I think ? ) in London. Loved this movie.

(I apologize if the review contain mistakes, because I'm Portuguese)

I'm loyal fan of the movies that Ellen Page has been doing in recent times ("Juno," "An American Crime", "Hard Candy" ...)

Recently I had the opportunity to see this "Mouth to Mouth". I prepared some popcorn, sat down on the couch and started to watch it!

The first parameter to not like the movie, I noticed that happens early in the film, his screenplay was a bit confusing. Very tied up. Do not know if understood the "tied" which meant, but is a bit confused. The worst is that the screenplay will continued so until the rest of the film.

The director of the film sometimes shows strange scenes on screen (I will not say the spoiler), but who see the movie will notice this and identify what those scenes. Sometimes, the course of the film is a bit confusing. I do not have much sense of time.

Now let the good things the movie. I love the twists of the film and the performances. The cinematography is very dirty! And for being "dirty", it is a good cinematography. And the soundtrack, I liked.

Overall is good. But ... have their reservations. Have bad side. Recommend, but does not belong to my favorite movies.

What can I say about this? Nothing about it is inherently bad (well okay, most of the acting is, but aside from that very obvious fact); it's mostly just a very plodding even boring film of often silly, predictable nothingness. You have your standard stereotypes everywhere, but none of the characters are in any way likable, which in itself doesn't necessarily cause me a problem and maybe this is just the type of film where no one needs to be liked, but either way. It even fails to explore the nature of a cult more deeply (or even at all), which was a wasted opportunity.

One last thing, I've seen a few mentions of this being realistic. My a**e is it realistic! People seem to think that if a film's made on a low budget with no special effects and bad acting that it's realistic. Please stop mistaking hard to watch with realism.