Oh heaven, oh bliss...

Rating: 10/10 (12 August 1999)

My parents forbade me from seeing this movie at a very early age (it is the only movie I'm not allowed to see), so I was always under the impression that it was a gratuitous orgy of sex and violence. It wasn't until one of my friends loaned me his copy that I realized neither of them could have actually seen it. To deny me a film like this, but to recommend such trash as "I Spit on Your Grave" and "From Dusk Till Dawn" is a sin. This is the most brilliant film I have ever seen. I had always enjoyed Kubrick's work, but it wasn't until the infamous "Singin' in the Rain" scene that I realized just how incredibly deep and meticulous Kubrick's direction is. Certainly not for every taste, this film balances carefully choreographed violence with deep philosophical, theological and satirical commentary that left me speechless and opened my still young eyes to the wonderful world of cinema as an art form.