diligentheart

This movie is visually stunning and very well acted by the WHOLE cast. I think it is better seen at home where you can go back and watch portions over again, because in some scenes you must hear every word and pay attention to body language and expression quite closely or the plot can easily lose you. Bad acting or directing would have made this movie impossible to understand, because the writing is extremely subtle. I think the directing and acting is amazing because of what it conveys without language. (Some of the negative reviews were written by people who did not pay attention to key things are explained in few or no words, once, and once only, or to things that were shown only through non-verbal language. You must look and listen the whole time.) It does have the tragic-amazingly-coincidental stuff going on, but so what? It is entertainment, for goodness sakes, not a documentary! Apparently someone who was involved in making it is embarrassed, because it is impossible to get it on DVD in American format, which is a real shame. I love this movie, and am very sad not to be able to watch it since my VHS player broke. It always absorbs me and lets me forget about my own life for a few hours. I like to watch it once or twice a year, and enjoy sharing it with friends who have not seen it. It has been enjoyed by many people I know, but some did say that my pointing out key scenes was necessary for them to follow the plot. A few friends really did not like it, but none of those particular friends like tragic drama in general. I will continue to look for it on DVD every several months, and I will be looking to fix or replace my VHS player just so I can watch this and one other movie that I also love and can't get on DVD.