Upside Down

I like sci fi movies when they are a metaphor of something else. Or maybe they do not pretend to be a metaphor and it is just me who can't avoid to see it that way.

And I like movies when they show who the director is.

When I first start watching the movie, I thought it was a Russian film. And that the worlds were a metaphor from the cold war.

But it didn't go deep into this analogy. But, it did develop the topic that the protagonist was from an inferior world trying to have the privilege to enjoy the superior world. The inferior world is poor. The superior world is rich, developed, and dominates the inferior world, even when this superior/inferior distinction is arbitrary.

And I loved the scenes in the cafe Dos Mundos, with couples dancing a tango "el último café". Yes. The director, Solanas, is argentinean, from the land of tango. And yes, he has this vision of inferior versus superior world. I live in a country from the inferior world. And I know, just like the protagonist, that this is just an arbitrary distinction.

Solanas is like the protagonist. He comes from the inferior world, but now lives with the privileges from the superior world.

This movie made me think about my situation. Working in Latin America for a Multinational company, doing the work just to see how the "superior" world takes the benefits.

Good sci-fi movie for us, the inhabitants from the inferior world...

The story is basically a new version of Romeo & Juliet. Since the movie has really stunning graphics and unique world setting, my eyes were enjoying catching every details scene by scene. Actors/actresses are good that they made the love story so sweet. I just think the story might has a better ending if more budget was allocated to the film making. I think it is a bit too short right now. When you are going to watch this film, I would advise you to keep your mind open to the story. Don't be too picky about the details of the two universes and their technology. Anyway, The story is so romantic and original, it is worth to watch in the cinema. I feel refreshing after watching the film.

This movie looked so promising based on it's trailer. Not to mention the visuals were absolutely gorgeous. It had this fantasy quality about it without looking fake; even though you absolutely know its green screen. Also, the plot premise was such an interesting idea; star-crossed lovers separated by the science of their universe. I was excited to watch it because I thought It'd have an "inception-like" quality. HOWEVER, I was horribly wrong.

The character development was just sort of...there. And no real relationship ever seemed to develop between the characters. It went from WE LOVE EACH OTHER to I DON'T KNOW YOU to WE LOVE EACH OTHER again without anything real happening. The romance has a bad back story and the sudden realizations were too flimsy. Adam was adorable in his endless attempts at trying to get to Eden. But thats all. They were so flat in the end and nothing interesting happened. Not to mention, the excitement factor was a bust and it was clichéd and awfully expressed in the end. It felt like I was watching a poem told with gorgeous figurative language, but lacking any substance, heart, or care. The movie needed a better plot, it needed more events, it needed more character development, and it needed a lot of polishing up. Since it's main point of drama was in the romance and even THAT was awfully put together, all in all, it was flop.

However, it was an okay watch and again, the visuals of such a disorientating world totally threw me off whack. For the next ten minutes after the movie, I felt like things should be floating upward and I should be upside down...it was weird but showed that I actually did get immersed into the world.

My recommendation? GET A BETTER WRITER

The story behind the movie is interesting, it was a pleasure watching. The special effects and imagery as a whole are astonishing, although at certain times "unfinished", "half-rendered". The actors fit well in the story, and it's needless to say they performed good.

Still, I was a bit disappointed when I discovered that at this time the movie is still on post-production and what I've seen was a not a final version. In U.S. the movie will start in December 2012, but producers decided to start returning money in Eastern Europe, falsely thinking that people here have lower standards for special effects and stuff.

Anyway, the idea is good, execution too, and after the movie i expected cookies to float up from the box :)

This film is a love story set in a world where there are two worlds separated by different gravities.

On the surface, "Upside Down" is about a man from down below falling in love with a woman from the world above. In reality, the message is so profound, as it describes class and societal segregation. It shows how the less privileged (the world below) are separated from the privileged (the world above), and the upward social movement is impossible. People from one world pretend he is from another but in vain. People's hopes for a better life are shattered by societal limits. This difficult struggle is happening everyday in the world, where people in a country wants to move higher, or people wanting to move to another better off country in search for a better life. We don't normally think about this, but "Upside Down" brings such a problem to the foreground of the consciousness in a way that stimulates thoughts.

Visuals in "Upside Down" is stunning. From the sombre colour schemes down below, to the beautiful lights above; from the macabre buildings below to the majestic buildings above, every scene is beautifully crafted and presented in a surreal manner. Just the visuals alone make "Upside Down" worth watching. The soundtrack is excellent as well, it adds to the beauty of the scenes.

I enjoyed "Upside Down" a lot. I hope it will reach a wider audience.