This one's a beautiful, tender, quiet romantic drama with a moody atmosphere, set in a tight knit Welsh fishing community. It's a touching story about a man waking up sexually in the middle of his life, and how he, his family, and everyone around him deal with it, which makes it emotional and sentimental without ever getting over the top. The slow burn plays out against a landscape that's as bleak as it is gorgeous, where quiet, closed off men are stuck inside rigid ideas of what masculinity should be. Some people might be reminded of "God's Own Country," but I think both films are lovely in their own way. Jack is a middle aged guy who co-owns a mussel farm with his rough around the edges brother Dyfan, and the tension between the two of them is simmering under the surface right from the start. Dyfan's three sons all help out with the work, while Jack's sulky teenage son Tom keeps skipping out. Jack's been with his wife since they were both 16, and...
This is a very new and different style of film making. A cross between cinema, play and musical setting, the whole arrangement of the film is different. The sets are minimal , modernistic theatre style. I thikn the film is set sometime in future. Even the narration style of the film is very different. Some of the scenes are randomly shown and then we see what happened that followed to that scene. Yes, it does you leave confused at many a times but still makes for a viewing pleasure. The movie has great potential if it is remade as a typical thriller movie with the same story but very different screenplay.After a very artistic start and a very beautiful dance, we are introduced to the 2 lead characters. Ariyoshi seems fragile and passive. He has come here for murder. He murdered his innocence and a man who was using his innocence. He years for love. Kazuki is tough and aggressive and picks up fights with everyone.He acts first and talks later. He is full of pain. The 2 characters are similar but opposite. We see Kazuki trying to protect Ariyoshi in the prison. Soon we see Kazuki murdered with Ariyoshi strangling him and agreeing to his murder. 2 investigators come in and try to find the truth behind the murder. An investigation follows and individually a few characters are analyzed with what could potentially be the motive behind killing.
The visualization of the film is fascinating. There are few scenes with voice overs and not lip synch dialogues. The film is metaphor for evolution and faith. Kazuki feels that death is only thing that will make him happy , so when he gets an opportunity, he uses it to get himself killed. The fights in the film are raw and dynamic. The set for the jail is very very interesting and innovative. While the subject matter isn't easy to take sometimes, it is still commendable effort. Sometimes you might get bored and not care (like I did off and on), but you cannot deny the fact that artistic visuals have been amplified by the director who had to guts to make this film on his own terms. The 2 lead actors do a brilliant job and I would like to see them in other movies as well.
The film is pretty deep. The rocket, pyramid and everything else have deep meanings and it will take some philosophy to decipher it. It would be worthwhile to see this film again with director's commentary. (5/10)
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