La vie devant ses yeux

Greetings again from the darkness. Most rated director Vadim Perelman's "House of Sand and Fog" higher than I, but I believe this is a much better and far more interesting film than his earlier effort. Based on the novel by Laura Kasischke, this is a bit of an eerie mind-bender that maintains an intoxicating look and feel.

Evan Rachel Wood adds to her amazing list of strong performances with pure teen angst, but this time there is an additional depth not seen before. Uma Thurman plays the 15 year senior version of Ms. Woods character and delivers one of her best yet. Also of note is Eva Amurri as Wood's friend Maureen who plays a key role at decision time. Ms. Amurri is also Susan Sarandon's real life daughter.

Can't give away much of this one, but I will say it is a joy to watch scene construction and the back and forth between present and past (or is it present and future) make for a multi-layered film that is engrossing in its delivery. Plus, the Zombies song makes a few appearances ... very cool.

This film is about an intertwining story of a teenage girl involved in a college massacre, and her life 15 years later.

When I watched "The Life Before Her Eyes", I did not enjoy it. I thought it was some kind of supernatural thriller but it was not. The young Diana and the grown up Diana were connected too thinly together. I did not see much connection between the two, apart from disconnected scenes such as the name Emma, or the similar behaviour between Emma and the young Diana. Hence, scenes become disjointed mess. The ending was utterly confusing, and I was left to wonder what I had watched for 90 minutes.

After reading about what really happened in the film on the message boards, I started to appreciate the film better. What I thought was thin connection happened for a reason. I can only say that I am not in the mood to play puzzles or to analyse a film in depth. If I watched it another time I might have enjoyed it more.

The narrative of 'Life Before Her Eyes' switches backwards and forwards between two episodes in the life of Diana McFee. The first is her teenage summer prior to a Colombine-style high school massacre - while the second occurs twenty years later, as her town prepares to remember this tragic event's anniversary. In the high school time-line, Diana (Evan Rachel Wood) hangs out with best friend Maureen (Eva Amurri), alternately discussing future plans and current boyfriends. Their fine performances are captured in radiant dreamlike cinematography which intensifies a sense of foreboding as they approach their fateful encounter with a homicidal armed schoolmate.

In the later sequences, a 30-something Diana (Uma Thurman) is embroiled in another crisis, with her marriage under strain and her daughter exhibiting rebellious tendencies similar to Diana's student behavior. Unfortunately these segments are handicapped by Thurman's lifeless performance. By the end of the film all the loose ends have been neatly resolved, but the climax is ruined by a plot twist which contradicts all the previous character development. Apparently this flawed finale was forced on the producers at Thurman's insistence.

It was a decent movie. I'm a huge fan of Uma & Evan Rachel Wood.... With that being said... The ending made me kind of mad. There's so much more they could've done with that movie.

I had the privilege of seeing this film at its World Premiere this weekend at the Toronto Film Festival. From the very opening sequence, this picture draws you in with its sheer beauty. The cinematography is terrific and at some points even terrifying (in a breath taking way) but what impressed me most was the dialog. Everything seemed so real, which played up every detail to me and made the picture all the more engrossing. Uma Thurman is top notch in this but i believe that Evan Rachel Wood really makes it because honestly, who else could we expect to play the teen angst better than her? The relationship between Eva Amurri's Maureen and Wood's Diana is so realistic in every situation and much of that credit has to go to Emil Stern's adaptation. There are so many themes that run deep throughout this movie, and the ever pressing scare of school shootings makes this hit home really really hard. This is an amazing film that will touch every single emotion and leave you thinking about it for days. Go see this movie whenever you get the chance. It is an intensely beautiful and moving film and most definitely one of the best I have seen so far this year.