Vanishing Waves

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.

Some scientists start working on an experiment to see if they can transfer some, any brain activity from a comatose patient, to a healthy subject. Lukas is the recipient, some scientist who's married. The experiment works. While under, he rescues a girl from the water and saves her life. In additional sessions, they establish a passionate relationship. Lukas looks forward to the sessions. It puts a strain on his relationship. More importantly, he isn't at all forthcoming about what he experiences. He just tells the team that he senses a presence. Things start getting weird and eventually go downhill for the relationship. Another man shows up in in this other-world. He represents a threat to Lukas and the girl. Eventually Lukas confronts him but that will also prove the undoing of his relationship with the girl. At some point he actually visits the comatose girl in real life and learns that she and a man were involved in a car accident but the man didn't make it. When the researchers decide to put an end to the experiment because for a moment, Lukas died during a session and had to revive him, Lukas comes clean about what has happened. And he demands one last session. He thinks he can save/cure the girl.

Vanishing Waves is interesting, stylish, and erotic. But it's long, slow, and tedious. It's one of those movies where very little is said, where characters establish romantic relationships without talking to each other. Instead we get lots of annoying high-pitched sounds. The movie is directed with confidence and style but given that most scenes last about 4 times as long as they should, the style ends up getting in the way of the movie. Acting is brutally stiff, I don't know if it has to do with the language--Lithaunian--maybe it's a cold and stiff language and hence the people are too. I started forwarding during a couple of scenes that wouldn't end. There's a ridiculous scene of the guy running naked after the girl but has a hard time catching her. The scene lasts maybe 10 minutes. At some point with the appearance of the other man, I started getting interested in the story and the turns which it might take, but didn't. The concept is good, not original, but surely something more could have been done here. But I enjoyed the ending. I give the movie 4 stars for Jurga Jutaite's stunning body and one more star for the concept and style. This movie could have been much stronger had the director shown a bit more moderation and had they written some more dialogue.

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.

A sci-fi film from Lithuania that was fascinating in itself for me, who had never seen a film from Lithuanian cinema before. The film is a combination of the director's influences from Tarkovsky, Lynch and Kubrick.

Creating a parallel world and communicating with someone who is in a coma is not a new topic, but in this film the focus is on the physical aspects and the body is especially important in this film. The weakness of the script and the problem of the story are quite evident and watching the movie until the end was boring and predictable for me. Weakness in the characterization of Lucas's character can also be seen.

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.