erixal

Although to an unprepared viewer this could seem a cheap movie, with weird acting and poor script, I think that reading it trying to get in the director's mind, with his intention clear, it deserves more respect, and at least 7 out of 10 stars.

Sure, the acting could be defined unrealistic, sometimes almost in bad taste, as some directing choices, like accelerating the appearance on screen of some characters but they also depict very well a kind of spirit of fascist Italy, the so called "Italietta", in which every Italian (officially) was proud to export his democracy and way of life and the cult of the Duce, not realizing (always, officially) that the lack of means and ideologies made him only ridiculous. This, obviously, refers also to the foreign policy of the U.S. nowadays, but i think the movie is best seen not thinking about modern politics, as it is already a nice, light, but yet profound picture of Italy seventy years ago.

Really, i've never watched a movie like this. It is outstanding how it can be perfect in all of its components, from the soundtrack to the plot, from the photography to the casting. Sean Penn can be a great actor, but men, in this movie he makes you scream of appreciation. While the plot -in a weird circle- builds itself up, one beholds this strange stream of consciousness that is 21 grams. The structure of the narration is similar to the one seen in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, with separate stories coming up to form a One, but this time it's outrageously magnificent the work of art that cam out of this technique. I couldn't say more without spoiling the plot, however this movie it's absolutely a must-see, touching, deep, great. The definite movie at all.

I must say that in general I am quite skeptical about Asian movies: I usually find them horrendously boring in the best case, and obnoxiously weird in the worst. In particular the last one, 2046, kept me agonizing in the theater while unconnected images -even though wheel shot and poetical- ran through the screen, so I was pretty scared when I entered the theater this time. Especially after a friend of mine told me it was a dramatic/romantic movie with almost no dialogs. Instead, i was surprised by how charming, touching and pleasant is this movie. The plot is about a guy who enters in empty houses and puts them in order, repairs things, does the washing (manually) and stuff like this. The photography is absolutely awesome and added to the skill of the actors supplies to the almost complete absence of dialogs. We assist to this platonic form of platonic love between the protagonists, while they live their absurd lives as they were the most normal people in the world. The end is a bit mystical and gives a lot of meaning to a movie that could seem nonsense. 9/10