Satria

Without a doubt, this is the worst IMAX flick ever. It's basically a nonstop-rollercoaster-ride (literally not metaphorically, though), which will either make you throw up from motion-sickness (just like one of those stupid aliens featured in this mess) or bore you to death. The sorry excuse for a plot (badly designed Aliens mistaking an amusement park consisting of badly designed rollercoaster rides for the "Earth way of life" or something to that extent) can be called unfunny at best. The animation isn't all that impressive and gets tiresome after five minutes. A must-avoid!

Tom Tykwer's HEAVEN is a beautifully crafted film that is not afraid to wear it's heart on it's sleeve. Based on a brilliantly conceived screenplay by the late great director Kieslowski and his writing partner, it tells the story of a relentless woman bent on revenging her husband's death. This thriller-esque revenge plot quickly evolves into a philosophical meditation about guilt and unconditional love, the latter theme being a favoured subject of director Tykwer (though usually he likes to explore it through his own scripts). Tykwer's breakthrough film "Lola Rennt" (Run, Lola, Run), though mostly remembered for it's fast-paced flashiness and unique style, showed in it's rare quite moments the central characters discussing the nature and strength of their binding love. His next film "Der Krieger und die Kaiserin" (the immediate predecessor to "Heaven") was centered on the unusual and seemingly doomed love of two outsiders.

"Heaven" is quite different from the vastly underrated "Der Krieger..." and the slightly overrated "Lola", though. It is Tykwer's first film not to be shot in his native tongue German. Taking place in Italy and revolving around a British teacher and an Italian policeman the dialogue is in almost equal parts Italian and English. But all linguistic matters aside, even more important is Tykwer's change of style. He courageously refrains from all the audio-visual gimmickry that made his previous efforts such unique experiences - and it pays. The calmness in editing, the unobtrusive score and the absence of excessive video-clip aesthetics give the audience the chance to breathe in the wonderful photography by Tykwer's longtime cinematographer Frank Griebe and the touching, vulnerable performances by the divine Cate Blanchett and the ever talented Giovanni Ribisi (their coupling in "Heaven" strangely echoes their appearances in Sam Raimi's "The Gift", in which Ribisi's character seems to be equally obsessed with Blanchett's character, who plays a widow in both films.)

"Heaven" will definitley not be everbody's cup of tea. Tykwer's unapologetic commitment to heartfelt emotions will not ring true for every viewer. Those who won't buy into the melodramatic parts of the film might call it borderline-sappy or worse. Others might regret that the film doesn't follow it's thriller narrative, dropping it instead for a love story. Also, though the script is carefully constructed, some viewers might have problems with their suspension of disbelief. Not everything happening could be called believable or even logical. And there is some dialogue, that's hard to swallow. So some of you might chuckle instead of shedding tears. But if you're like me you will not care about those storytelling technicalities. You will thank the director for being true and not holding back on emotions. You will enjoy the minimalist realism of Ribisi's acting. And you will hope for the next time you can revel in the pure bliss that is called Cate Blanchett.