Comment

Community comment are the opinions of contributing users. These comment do not represent the opinions of West Vancouver Memorial Library.
Feb 03, 2018Curiouskind rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
It starts in almost total darkness with dynamic, sometimes nebulous, and prism-like qualities of dispersed wavelengths that appear to originate from spots of unfocused, diffused light, or references to light, which moves around as James (Dan Stevens) scans his surroundings; it's accompanied by a simple and radial musical score, staggered breaths as his vision begins to clarify to reveal more and more of his surroundings, a kind of miracle that occurs within the first 5 minutes of the film. This story is written by Ido Fluk and Sharon Mashihi, and directed by Ido Fluk, and unfortunately, not much is written about either online when I searched; the miracle is kind of spot-on in many ways because as the story unfolds, the intensity continues to build, the dialogue and interactions are fluid, jagged, devastating, effortless, even frightening in its weaving of the story [exhale], and, something else happens that makes this film, story, and experience different, in the likes of films like Baumbach's 'The Squid and the Whale,' Ang Lee's 'Brokeback Mountain,' Denzel Washington's 'Fences,' and Cuaron's 'Y Tu Mama Tambien,' and yet different somehow. Unfortunately, it's difficult to discuss this film without giving something away, and it deserves an unadulterated and undistracted viewing, at least for its initial viewing; I did find myself holding my breath at certain parts of the film, deserved credit to the strength of the cast, crew, and storyline. Notable scenes are the different applications of James' gratitude prayer, the dance scenes, and the sometimes slashing conversations with Bob (Oliver Platt), James' confidant, particularly at the cafe, ugh, among so many others; so often, we hear that the loss of one sense heightens the sensitivity of the others, and this film will provide you a perspective into their realm. And if you want to stay with the themes of the film, I would say, skip the bonus commentary where they talk about the technical details for another time, however, it's probably beneficial, even essential viewing for aspiring filmmakers. An arresting conclusion. Shhhh, shhhhhh.