After Fall, Winter

If Fall was a romantic exploration of a love was that was not meant to be, this sequel from filmmaker/actor Schaeffer is a deeper and darker trip down the rabbit hole that may leave you thinking, in the words of The Who, "love ain't for keeping". Schaeffer takes his own character forward in time where we see him living in dejected squalor. Hope comes in the form of an invitation from friends to travel to Paris France where he once again finds love with an unlikely mate. From there, Schaeffer finds truth, humor, pain and passion by digging deep into the psychology and sexuality of his characters. It's a stunning, masterful film and one that will be with me and even haunt me for a long time.

This is a love story about two broken people (Michael stated that all people are broken)trying to find repair (salvation, redemption, purpose, etc.) through love. However, the damages that Michael and Sophie bring into the relationship makes it difficult for them to develop a relationship.

Michael is a masochist and Sophie is a dominatrix by profession who caters to masochistic men. You would thus think they were soul mates. However, Sophie only role plays her sadistic posture in her work and is not truly a dominatrix personally. Michael is a failure with many redeeming qualities and his masochism mollifies his failures and subsequent depression. Both enter the relationship hiding something from each other, and this serves as an invisible barrier to their love.

For the first time in her life, Sophie overcomes her anxiety over intimate love and finds herself falling in love, following Michael's lead in his dependent need for her.

However, Michael reveals himself as a pathetic failure who deceived her and she leaves him with disastrous consequences.

The movie's ending is disappointing since the potential for developing a love relationship could have been actualized with time and proper honest communication.

The movie is extremely well done in all aspects except the ending. The ending could have easily been revised in different ways to make a fulfilling story.

Manuel Bonnet as Michael and Lizzie Brocheré as Sophie were both superb. For me, Brocheré's performance ranks with that of Giulietta Massina in "La Strada" as one of the best female performances.

Mix the raw emotion and psychological disturbance of Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club with a story of romance and love and this is what you get. A Romeo and Juliet for the minds who grew up reading A Clockwork Orange and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest while going through their educational careers being numbed by the despair of the writing and music of Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins, or Stabbing Westward, to I'm a Barbie Girl and Marilyn Manson. With unemployment and fiscal trouble running rampant and mass shootings on the television daily, this is a story of love that can speak to a generation who may never have known what the words "I love you" meant. This was truly an original film and I will be looking out for this writer in the future.

So honestly I thought this movie was refreshing. It is shocking to watch sometimes because of the violent sexual nature, but well worth it. The characters were well acted and believable. The story was well developed. I was never bored or disappointed. As a psychologist, I felt the character's issues were well written and accurately depicted throughout the film. I hate movies that are too "Hollywood" with the same old boring themes. This was a nice change from the typical romantic films. I don't know enough about S&M to judge the validity there, but I felt that this movie was very moving. It dives deep into human vulnerability. If you are looking for something different and interesting then I highly recommend it! It's a movie to watch when you're feeling melancholy.

The film captured my interest one morning before work, as do all films set in Paris. I love film noir which this has some traits of, even though I can't relate to a down and out writer, who likes to be tied up and spanked, but it is counter-culture for sure. The female lead was much better in her portrayal of the dominatrix with a soft spot for a terminally ill child she cared for in a hospice? The plot was all over the place with the introduction of her mother who was mentally ill and beaten by her husband. However, this could have been a good movie if there was some shred of redemption or salvation at it's end. Terrible ending, with no satisfaction for having wasted 90 minutes of my life!