360

This film is about a married couple, and the people linked to them through their respective infidelity.

"360" is an artistic film that tells the live stories of may different individuals, loosely linked with Jude Law and Rachel Weisz. Despite the plethora of characters, the story is easy to follow. However, the story itself is not that interesting. Basically, it's A meets B, B meets C, C meets D, D meets E, then A sees F walking past and then F does the same thing B was doing earlier. It is a nice circle, but I am unsure if it is entertaining or interesting to watch. One thing I would like the film to expand on is Blanca's fate after she found the suitcase. That would have been interesting. Overall, "360" is an OK film to watch, but don't expect much from it.

Taking as its, admittedly uncredited, source Arthur Schnitzler's play "Reigen", screen-writer Peter Morgan and director Fernando Meirelles' 360 combines several stories in something of the disjointed manner of Inarritu's "Amores Perros" or "Babel". It's very skillfully made and yes, it holds our attention but that's all it does. On an emotional level it never really engages us and the 'stories', which are naturally related, aren't particularly interesting. The film is clever, well-written, often beautifully directed and the large, international cast are all fine but there's a distinct lack of substance; this isn't a memorable film. Still, there is at least one thing about this film that is great and it occurs whenever Anthony Hopkins is on screen. It isn't a big part and there isn't a great deal of character development in the writing but Hopkins is such a great actor that he makes the part great. You get the impression he's making it up as he goes along; in other words, you feel you are seeing a real person rather than the actor playing him. He's only on screen for much too short a time but he's magnificent. As can he guessed from the title, the film is called 360 because the stories go full circle; if only they had been better this film might have been as great as something like "Amores Perros" or "Pulp Fiction" which were constructed in much the same way. It's certainly not a bad film but it could have been so much better while the closing story seems both melodramatic and really rather tagged on for effect. On hindsight this would probably have made a good six-part television series rather than a two hour movie.

The idea of narrating different linked stories of characters is certainly not new and the material in this picture is quite abundant: a lot of complex characters, a lot of deep and tense backgrounds. The limit was that the director probably wanted to explore too many characters and too many situations, and the result is that no single story or character is sufficiently developed and seem to be more kept separate than interconnected. The idea that people's lives are connected comes out as banal and evident, as part of any person not living secluded at home, and the fact that in the picture the links go from Europe to the US to Brasil is simply because it deals with dynamic people who move across the world. Some story lines, such as Hopkins' search for his lost daughter could have been explored more deeply, on the contrary it remains faded like the other stories.

Nothing to say against shooting, the use of split scenes is effective and tries to underline the idea of interconnections, and the subtle use of camera tries to make the characters' personalities come out, but in the end do not make up for a general underdevelopment. Nothing to say against the talented, but a little wasted cast, who give depth to the characters, although in the end we cannot but miss some more insight and deepening of both characters and stories.

This is an international cast directed by Fernando Meirelles (City of God) of a marginally-connected multiple-plots. They all deal with sex and lust in some way. Sisters Anna (Gabriela Marcinkova) and Mirka (Lucia Siposová) are in Vienna where Mirka is starting as a call girl named Blanca. British businessman Michael Daly (Jude Law) has made an appointment with Blanca but he runs into some vendors looking to doing business. He immediately abandons the appointment, but one of the sleazy vendors finds out his appointment and blackmails him for his business. Michael's wife Rose (Rachel Weisz) has an affair with photographer Rui (Juliano Cazarré). Rui's girlfriend Laura (Maria Flor) dumps him and she travels back home. Laura meets John (Anthony Hopkins) on the flight and she learns that he is looking for his missing daughter. On a stop-over, sex offender Tyler (Ben Foster) has just been released and is tempted by aggressive Laura in her hotel room.

There are a couple other story lines. Some are interesting. Most notably is Ben Foster and his powerful performance. Others are boring as hell. When Jude Law gets blackmailed, I thought that storyline had potential but it completely fizzled. That's how I feel about this movie. I thought it had potential, but other than a couple of sections, there was very little realized.

360 is the film that "Crash" wanted to be. Unlike the overt manipulations of "Crash", 360 is a slow burn with a deft sleight of hand.

Rather than leading you along with neon coloured sign-posts, lets your mind do a lot of the driving. Shot in a muted, bluish pallet, the gorgeous cinematography captures the attention, while your imagination is allowed to build up steam. It doesn't demand your attention, it flirts with it. I found that refreshing.

The first few plot twists put my brain was on alert, trying to predict where the stories would lead. All the while the tension built, waiting for the axe to fall or the excrement hit the fan.

A few people have complained that 360 was slow and boring and left story lines unfinished. But that is what made it such a good film for me, it took its time and avoided clichés. The characters were neither good nor bad, they simply struggled. Some triumph and some fall, but none are unchanged.

It isn't without faults, nothing with intertwined stories can avoid some contrivance. But it didn't fall prey to the imagined demand of the audience, that everything resolve neatly. Some plots twist and turn until the very end, some evaporate like mist in the light of hearts restored while others end badly.

I can understand how the film's pacing might annoy if you aren't in the mood but if you are prepared to be a bit patient and to do some of the work, 360 is a rare treat.