Aurora

This would have worked much better as a 20-minute short. Even at that, it would have been *interesting*... but not anything all that special. To clarify where I'm coming from, yes, I like many so-called art-house films, and don't mind long takes per se, but this movie had so many scenes where I was begging for them to end and move on to the next bit of business, because they were so tedious.

More problems: The leads are not particularly charismatic, nor do we ever really care about any of the characters. And overall, this film just doesn't really have much to say. About anything.

Honestly, I cannot really even explain why I sat through the entire length of the film, other than to say I suppose I kept hoping for something to happen. There were no surprises here whatsoever. The only reason I'm leaving this review here is so that other people don't stumble across it and get the impression from some of the other comments that it's worthwhile seeing. In my opinion, it's not.

When I saw the trailer for this film I thought it looked amazing. I thought to myself this looks great, because I really love artistic films, yet when I finished the film I felt disappointed. It wasn't what I thought it was. I thought the dream sequences would be more like Inception and found that it's nothing like Inception at all but completely different.

This film is one what will stay with you after you watch it, and it's simply amazing once it clicks. I don't think most people today can understand films like this particularly western audiences. I absolute hate western audiences which is odd because I'm from here but people over here have no thinking skills when it comes to films like this. The story was breathtaking to me it goes in depth and visualizes what happens when our brains shut down. Where do we go? What kind of people are we when we leave our heads? What goes with us? What can we do?

This movie represents all that and some. The dinner scene was just, one of the best scenes that I've seen in a film in a while. It was so simple yet it was so great, it felt so chaotic. No rules bound to us and what becomes of us?

The visuals were actually really good even thought they weren't special effects, the way they are filmed is hypnotic in a way. The sexual scenes however aren't really meant to be pornographic as most people here would take them. They are meant to be sexual, human nature, what binds us together when we want to feel love, and what can swallow us never letting up it's grip one bit. The best thing about this movie however is that it can mean just about anything, I pondered on an explanation to the film for a few days and realized that it's one of those films that means something different to everyone, but with 2 basic concepts what is it like to be a free soul and can we find love within ourselves?

Fantastic film. Awesome acting. And superb story and visuals. Kudos to Kristina.

Lukas is a young scientist who partakes in an experiment whereby his brain waves are connected to those of a comatose female patient. The goal is to ascertain if data can be transferred from one brain to another. Of course, Lukas cannot know anything about the patient, because that could influence the outcome. Lukas enters the isolation tank, and sinks deeper and deeper into his own subconscious. At some point he enters the subconscious of the patient, who turns out to be named Aurora. They fall for each other and make love multiple times during Lukas's visits.

Lukas chooses not to say anything to the researchers, because he is violating protocol (he's only there to observe, not to make contact) and that would consequently endanger his future visits to Aurora. His affair with the comatose woman not only endangers the experiment, but also his private life, as his obsession with Aurora grows.

Vanishing Waves is one of those sci-fi movies that take place in the landscape of the subconscious, just like Dreamscape, The Cell and Inception. Director Krystina Buozyte makes that landscape quite beautiful and convincing, with lyrical photography, striking locations and surreal visual effects. Technically this film is quite good.

But I have a big problem with the main character Lukas, who is not someone to root for. Once he has met Aurora, no one in the real world can match up to her. So he abuses his girlfriend and sexually attacks a prostitute. Is that really necessary for Buozyte to make the point that an immature man might become obsessed with what is in essence a dream woman? Maybe, but the result is a protagonist who the viewer cannot identify with and whose predicament leaves you cold. A film with way too little plot to fill a runtime of two hours should not keep its viewers at a distance like this.

Also problematic are the supporting actors, more specific: everyone in the laboratory. They all speak English, but so poorly it sounds like they are reading their lines phonetically.

If you like stark art-house sci-fi, this film has aged well imho, 10 years down the line. A cross between Dreamscape and maybe Darren Aronofsky's Pi. I only stumbled across it as Vespers is available now, and this film sounded compelling and strange.

The pacing is slow, and a lot rides on the main male actor (there is a nice device where he has to shave his head to connect via a neural net). There are waves a plenty, he submerges in a sort of isolation tank (viva "Altered States") and then quite literally floats into the mind of a comatose patient.

There's a sort of mystery to her, and he becomes both watcher and participant, as he dives into her memories. A lot of sense indulgence, including an orgy where I think some subtle body/image morphing went on. Food, sex, near-drowning experiences. Is it just me, or will Existentialists defeat the attack of AI ;>

Some of the research lab camaraderie fell a bit flat, but the polyglot world of different languages was a nice touch. The role of the watchful psychiatrist came with a lot of tension, in how the camera pitted him vs the lead. But I found that relationship a little unsatisfactory by the end.

That and I could have sworn the first scene played a trick on us, but maybe was a flash forward burst of cinematic consciousness?

Overall the set decor and low-budget high-idea meld worked for me. Really the pace was no problem, maybe at the end there is chase that goes on too long, but I think it was some footage/lighting that the director was happy with.

I am referencing the Pink Floyd song with my review title, as it has a weird accidental synchronicity with the film, or so I can convince myself.

There were a lot of neuro-scientists credited in the closing titles, I am curious to maybe read up on them in terms of this film, or better yet their own research. The idea from this film perhaps crossed with "The Diving Bell and the Buttefly" (a great film with a mild parallel here) - that might make a fascinating new movie, or better yet documentary on some breakthrough in neuroscience.

Something about thinking about thinking, and the mind unfolded from the brain's fissures....that can be uncomfortably numbing.

This film is a simple step towards more complicated matters, so bumping it up to an 8.

Stanley Kubrick meets Gaspar Noe in Lithuanian director Kristina Buozyte's third feature, co-written with Bruno Samper, a visually stunning, sexy sci-fi romantic thriller that's winning awards and taking festivals by storm. Here, at Fantastic Fest, "Vanishing Waves" took four of the five jury trophies in the Fantastic Features category: Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, and Actress (Jurga Jutaite).

Don't arrive late because a brief opening narration sets up the story's premise. In a line, scientists discover a way to wire the "inactive" brain of a comatose patient (Aurora, portrayed by Jurga Jutaite) with that of a healthy subject (Marius Jampolskis as Lukas) as a way of peering into the secret workings of the coma victim's mind. Of course, things don't necessarily go as planned. Fans of 9 Songs and Anatomy of Hell will appreciate the continual forays into what some might call a soft porn ballet as the neurological experiments progress.

More than anything, the movie is a sci-fi conundrum interspersed with an erotically-charged, luscious program of modern dance. Jutaite and Jampolskis are absolutely wedded to these performances. Emotions are delicately underplayed, with the focus on the on screen pas-de-deux. There's very little dialogue as the script favors feelings and thoughts over actions and reactions.

The lush look of the film is its overarching achievement. It opens with a ONEr -- a single long take that immediately establishes this as a cinematographic showcase. Director of Photography Feliksas Abrukauskas helps craft a motion picture that would be gorgeous to watch even without any plot at all. "Vanishing Waves" has, unquestionably, some of the most beautiful cinematography of any film I've seen all year.

The regular but judicious use of single takes and long tracking shots enhance the fluidity of the action and keep the characters constantly in motion within the frame. There are no shaky hand-held images here -- this is a study in the effective use of Steadicam in telling a story beyond the limits of the scripted page. Editor Suzanne Fenn trusts the viewer's eye will know when to take a rest from this delicious assault on the senses and keeps cuts to a minimum.

Aurora and Lukas are bathed in light, viewed in oversaturated images almost devoid of color. The film is filled with the blacks and grays and whites so ubiquitous in the science fiction genre. The monochromatic clinic set is black and white. Shots in Lukas' house utilize a cold color palette dominated by pastel blues. The only primary colors on display owe their appearance to the occasional food-centric dream sequence.

Peter Von Poehl's sweeping original score rests on a continuous humming that echoes the electronic drone of the medical equipment as well as the imagined workings of the human brain. It's magnificently integrated into the narrative.

"Vanishing Waves" is simply gorgeous to behold. The premise is elegant but the execution of the dream sequences will sweep you off your brain. This is a singular cinematic experience to savor like an all-night gourmet meal or foray into sexual experimentation. Or both at once.