Sólo Dios sabe

Solo Dios Sabe is, at its heart, a journey that explores love, romance, spirituality, and fate. The two main characters, a Brazilian-born art teacher from San Diego and a journalist from Mexico City, travel the same road from Tijuana to Mexico City to Sao Paolo, but their fates and spirituality go in different directions, intersecting for a brief moment in the middle of the film.

Alice Braga (as the art teacher) and Diego Luna (as the journalist) are revelations in the way they reveal the complex emotions that result from their journey. The chemistry between them is palpable. It is a joy to watch their journey. The cinematography and music brilliantly set the changing moods and tones of the movie. There are many subtleties throughout the movie that enrich the story, but might be missed on first viewing. The director, Carlos Bolado, is to be commended for delivering such a rich slice of the lives of the two mesmerizing lead characters.

The beginning of the movie is the most interesting part and takes place in Mexico.

The ending of this movie is a cliché, a "disease of the month" type of movie. The moment the leading characters get to Brazil, they begin to get bogged down with problems, and the movie gets to be more and more of a downer.

The movie shows the outer rituals of the condomble religion, but doesn't explain the belief systems and the philosophy behind this combination of African religions and Catholicism. They should have done more research.

It shows scenes of condomble ceremonies, and of an island in Brazil where apparently everyone practices African religions.

Watching this movie is like watching 2 different movies. I recommended with reservations, as the ending is too melodramatic, like a Brazilian TV novela.

What I wouldn't do to give this film a re-write. Extra disappointing due to the great beginning, Solo Dios Sabe degenerates into a mess of superstitious bull after the halfway point and ends on a note so ludicrous, soppy and melodramatic I couldn't believe I was watching the same movie I started with. The film had numerous elements in its favor, such as chemistry between Diego Luna and Alice Braga so palpable I thought the screen would start sparking, a great soundtrack, and beautiful locations. Instead of ending with the heavy-handed religious mumbo jumbo, the film should have kept the focus on being a frothy road movie with maybe some undertones about fate and superstition vs. logic peppered through. I understand the director's entire intent with the film was to make it about religion, but the fact is that it just didn't work, and he threw away so much great stuff from the beginning by doing so.

I just saw "God only knows" yesterday at the SF Int. Film Festival. While it starts off slow and feels like just another weak tale of romance, it picks up later with a strong twist and delivers a heartfelt message. A very strong independent film, with wonderful undertones and beautifully filmed. After the screening, the director Carlos was available for comments and it was clear to me that he had a strong vision for this movie and that it was definitely a piece close to his heart. The use of clocks, water, and living creatures that bind the movie together was an excellent choice. I would love to see this movie again, but that of course requires it to get better distribution.

I had the opportunity to see this movie at a personal screening, and I thought it was terrific. I didn't know much about the film going in, but I found myself very quickly drawn into the narrative and the characters. The film was shot very well, and used a lot of interesting perspectives and angles (along with some great natural backdrops).

I also felt special seeing this movie before it's released - when it's released you should give it a look. It's surprising and moving.

Plus I didn't realize until later where I'd seen the actress before . . . she was the young woman from City of God that the narrator had a crush on! City of God was one of my all-time favorite movies . . .