Nirvana

I want to start by praising Diego Abatantuono's performance in this movie. He belongs in more cult films like this. I could see him working very well with the likes of Quentin Tarantino, Guy Ritchie, or Frank Miller's crew. The man just owns the screen and you can't help but feel his energy. Brilliant job, made the movie for me.

As for the rest of the story, I enjoyed it for what it was. A B style creative science fiction movie. I always admired Christopher Lambert for his choice to lend his talent to a more free and open market of film making. There are B Sci Fi movies and then there are B Sci Fi movies with Christopher Lambert, much in the same way Bruce Campbell enjoys the unofficial bad ass award when it comes to B Horror Movies.

This is a gem for fan's of the genre, other's may not enjoy or understand how to enjoy a movie like this. I can't really recommend this movie to everyone, but I will recommend it to people who enjoy this genre. 6/10

I've been a fan of Gabrielle Salvatores' dreamy, surrealistic style ever since I saw the first 5 minutes of "Denti" (2000). Now there's a film for movie buffs to sink their teeth into, lame pun intended. I immediately went on the hunt and found his follow up films, "Io non ho paura" (2003) and "Quo Vadis Baby" (2005) which I also thoroughly enjoyed, and now I'm working my way backwards to his earlier films.

Then I saw "Nirvana" (1997) and it stopped me dead in my tracks. My first impression was that it's a really good story but the presentation fell short, felt incomplete and lacked authenticity. Then I found out that's because the Miramax (DVD) is a total hack job of the original film, with 20 minutes chopped off and distracting dubbing of all the actors' voices. In case you didn't already know, the original film is in Italian, and it was dubbed into English for this particular DVD.

The story itself is really interesting, and it's a cut above all the other cyberpunk movies that were churned out in the late 90s capitalizing on the burgeoning net culture. "Nirvana" is set in a dystopian future à la Bladerunner and follows 3 days in the life of a software programmer (Christopher Lambert) who is about to deliver his masterpiece virtual reality game called Nirvana. The problem: with only 3 days to go before it hits the market, the main character in the video game becomes self-aware and starts questioning the game he's in. The movie then splits into 2 concurrent timelines, one with Lambert trying to stop the game's release, and two with the video game character trying to understand his own existence.

With a good dose of action, lots of style and peppered with some good unexpected comedic moments, the film is entertaining. But (I'm assuming due to the Miramax hack job) it often feels rushed, disorienting or just plain nonsensical at times. If you watch the Miramax DVD (96 mins) be sure to take it with a grain of salt, or as I'm trying to do, hunt down the original 113 min Italian version which is generally loved by all who have seen it.

Films generally carry a title for a reason. Salvatores's Nirvana's is the key to understanding it. Without the key, the film will look like rubbish, like many comments here testify. But, if you get that key and use it, it can become one of the most astonishing movie experiences you may make.

The title is not just the name of a videogame. That is totally incidental.

The movie is about the voyage towards Nirvana - the real thing - of two men (or maybe of one man and his own projection in a virtual world): how the two (or maybe the man and his own inner conscience) start to understand what Nirvana is and how they eventually reach it, in spite of all misadventures and (that is not casual at all...) the cycles of deaths and rebirths that the virtual self Solo (meaning alone, in Italian, not Star Wars' character - again not a coincidence) has to go through.

This is a movie about symbolisms. This is a movie about the deepest searches of the soul. Searches that cannot be disturbed by petty concerns (see Bebo Storti's apparently bizarre line after he appears in a flash for just a few seconds to shoot and kill a very unlucky henchman "I am MEDITATING [profanities deleted]!").

Science fiction is incidental to its aims, and provides a fabulously well used tool to unravel the story in what I regard as a cinematic masterpiece.

Blade Runner's climax ended on the recognition that replicants (and humans, maybe) were just "tears... in the rain". Nirvana's is about snowflakes that fall forever, and yet never fall.... Pity this is so far above the expectations of an average moviegoer that most viewers did not even recognize the genius in its simplicity. My congratulations to Cacucci, Corica and Salvatores!

Jimi, a computer programmer, is trying to finish his latest role-playing computer game Nirvana for the Okasama Star corporation. He is surprised to find that Solo, the lead character has developed awareness of his location in the game, the fact that every time he dies he is reborn, and that he is doomed to live out the same life and situations over and over again. He asks Jimi to delete the game.

Jimi needs to penetrate Okasama's mainframe, and enlists the help of many technological wizards. Chief among them are Joystick, a poor hacker (or 'angel') who has sold his eyes to raise money and now sees with the aid of small black and white cameras in his eye sockets; and Naima, a woman whose memories have been erased and who can only remember things with the assistance of artificially created memories loaded through a port in her skull. The mainframe is protected by sophisticated anti-hacking devices known as 'devils' which feed off memories and mental energy to destroy the brains of the angels who try to penetrate it. Jimi is also battling painful memories of his own - his lost girlfriend who disappeared from his life leaving only a video recording and a picture to remind him of her...

Although there is not much in this film for action buffs, there is conceptually a link to other films about simulated experience such as Total Recall and The Matrix, as well as some existential musings on the nature of memory and experience in the digital age where such things can be easily synthesised. A delightfully ambiguous ending emphasises the film's main themes.

Good use is made of a medium budget to simulate an anarchic future world sliding into decay, with a decline in morality and a low value placed on the sanctity of life and the human body - the streets of the slums are replete with organ thieves; and Joystick's synthetic eyes are a physical complement to Naima's synthetic memories. A strong visual style is complemented by an insistent soundtrack.

Alright, as I can see, we have very mixed reviews on this one. I personally really liked this sci-fi flick. What's so cool about it? No, no, it's not thought-provoking like eXistenZ of David Cronenberg and then again YES forget about Matrix - Nirvana is magical in a way a Hollywood film will never be. Almost surreal, Nirvana presents the future world in a most atmospheric way, and quite realistically manages to capture the decadent atmosphere of a future cyberpunk world.

What's no realistic at all, and oversimplifying is the whole plot and stuff. But who cares? Characters manage to be quite interesting, the music builds an awesome atmosphere. As you see, I don't try to intellectualise any of it: i like it for what it is, a small euro sci-fi that, at least to me, delivered the goods!

A recommendation... especially if you like Gibson-like, cyber-punk literature. BUT DON'T EXPECT TOO MUCH