L'amore che resta

This underrated film was released just before Christmas in Tokyo. As a long time fun of the director, I enjoyed very much this beautiful film. It appears to be an ordinary boy-meets-girl story with somewhat quirky atmosphere, but inside I found the film is filled with homage to the Nouvellevague cinema.

Among them, I remember the film "Cleo de 5 a 7" by Agnes Varda (1962), which includes discussions of mortality, despair and the meaning of life. I also felt the airs of Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut. If you love the French films in 60s, I believe you will enjoy and appreciate it more.

The line by Hiroshi (the Ghost) summarizes the theme of this film.

"We have so little time to say any of the things we mean. We have so little time for any of it."

Gus Van Sant rarely makes bad movies. I've liked him him since 'My Own Private Idaho', and who can forget masterpieces like 'Good Will Hunting' and 'Milk'? With a gloomy premise involving a cancer-stricken girl (who's going to witness death) and a recently-out-of-coma funeral-crashing guy (who nearly witnesses death), people might lose interest in the beginning itself. But, it's a beautiful movie which explores love, life and death, and challenges our ideas surrounding death.

Many may find the movie slow, unconventional and hollow... But, it really worked for me. It's sad, funny, quirky and romantic! All the three lead actors, Mia Wasikowska, Henry Hopper and Ryo Kase fit their roles very well. Mia Wasikowska is an incredible young actress who has been part of wonderful movies like 'The Kids Are All Right", 'Jane Eyre' and 'Albert' Nobbs'.

Starting with Beatles' "Two of Us", and with the addition of one of my favourite French songs ("Je ne veux pas travailler") in the background score, it makes me love the movie even more...

I loved the character of the Japanese Kamikaze Ghost, and his character summarizes the movie well.

I don't know about you, but as great as Dennis Hopper was, I was never able to love him. He was so mean and frightening – all those horrid things he put poor Keanu and Sandra through on that bus, the sacrifices that Jack had to make to get him in 24 and that frankly frightful tongue in Super Mario Bros. But, finally, from his loins, comes something I can love – wee little Henry.

He seems to be carved from the finest tree in the Gus Van Sant forest of indie-actors, whilst having a face perfect enough for the inevitable actor-cum-model turn for the odd glossy magazine.

Death, cancer and all that stuff is hard enough to deal with when you're an adult, but when you're abandoned by your parents to make sense of this world and all its harshness, there's really only one place to go and that's off the rails. Finding yet more death in his imaginary friend and his new girlfriend, young Enoch is just a little bit dark and kooky.

And talking of his girlfriend, is there nothing that Mia Wasikowska isn't in these days. Six months ago it was Amy Ryan who seemed to be in every movie in the cinema, film on iTunes and series on TV; but for the past couple of months Mia has been everywhere. I just caught, and fell in love with, her in In Treatment; and here, well she continued to win me over.

I love a film about grief – and this one is beautiful, cute, and has that little Romeo and Juliet vibe. And a little note to the film's stylist – loving your work.

Restless tells the story of two controversial -but somehow the same- teenage characters and their perspectives of dealing with death. Enoch (Henry Hopper) has dropped out school and tries to cope and face his fears by attending funerals. That's how he meets Annabel (Mia Wasikowska), a girl with a terminal disease and a love for life and nature. There's also the ghost of a Japanese kamikaze Hiroshi (Ryo Kase), from WWII and it seems that he is a story inside the story of this film. Sometimes you may think that his part is unnecessary in the plot, although, in the end it turns out that he wasn't so much irrelevant after all.

The film is not as morbid as you might think. There won't be any moment where your heart will feel heavy. Every scene is a walk-through towards realization and the art of getting familiar with the absolute fact such as death and the importance of love and the "now" moment.

The photography is soft and atmospheric and so is the music. Keep in mind that the director (Gus Van Sant) is the one who also directed Good Will Hunting, a brilliant movie. I first saw Mia Wasikowska in Alice in Wonderland, then in Jane Eyre and i believe she's one of the many talented young actresses that'll stand out in the industry. Henry Hopper on the other hand is the son of the late -and great- Dennis Hopper. His filmography is still in its early stages but he seems very promising.

Enoch Brae (Henry Hopper) is a morbid teenager that enjoys attending funerals. He meets the teenager Annabel Cotton (Mia Wasikowska) in a memorial service and they start to see each other. Enoch has lost his parents in a car accident and lives with his aunt Mabel (Jane Adams). His best and only friend is the ghost of the Japanese kamikaze pilot Hiroshi Takahashi (Ryo Kase) and Enoch neither goes to school nor has a car. Annabel is terminal with brain tumor and lives with her sister Elizabeth (Schuyler Fisk) and her mother Rachel (Lusia Strus). She loves to read about birds, especially the water birds. Soon the unlikely couple falls in love with each other improving their lives.

"Restless" is a beautiful, romantic and sad movie about love, life and death. Enoch Brae recalls Harold, from "Harold and Maude", a teenager with a trauma attracted by memorial services. Mia Wasikowska is wonderful in the role of the sweet Annabel, a teenager terminally ill that loves life. The story is sensitive and their romance is heartbreaking. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Inquietos" ("Restless")