Eternal life

Rating: 9/10 (19 May 2008)

This film is just magnificent. It has many different themes and makes that you can find so many different ways to enjoy it. It may be seen as a portrait of a relationship, work and love but most notorious as a portrait of the human mind. In the end is a science fiction film that uses that to make a better study of the mind upon an amazingly original story full of creativity.
That story begins with Craig Schwartz (John Cusack), a great puppeteer who has no luck and no work. Lotte (Cameron Diaz) is his wife who loves pets having many of them in their house. As I write, Craig's abilities as a puppeteer were really good but that wasn't enough to obtain a job so he decides to take a job as filing clerk. When Craig enters for the first time in the 7½ floor of the building where he will work, we start to feel that this is going to be really weird, even that may be a reasonable explanation of why they made a floor between the 7th and the 8th floors is just so bizarre and really hilarious to watch a floor in which the employees cannot stand upright. Maxine (Catherine Keener) works there too and soon will be the love desire of Craig. Also we meet Lester (Orson Bean), the new boss of Craig who only talks about his wet dreams.
So we have this four main characters whose personalities will be different after Craig discover a portal. Here is when the weird story, written by Charlie Kaufman, really begins with this portal that can take you to the mind of John Malkovich so for 15 minutes you can be witness of what this actor do through his eyes. Upon that we have a really interesting view to the different behaviour of Craig, Lotte and Maxine, after they know about the portal. Craig only thinks in the human mind and many philosophical-type questions, Maxine looks this portal just as a business and Lotte is the first one who feels a sort of addiction to that experience finding through Malkovich the man inside her. Here the film is hilarious having a couple, Craig and Lotte, in love with the same woman, Maxine. Lotte and Maxine will find a connection between them but only when Lotte is "inside" Malkovich and because Malkovich is just so innocent well he doesn't care if Maxine call him Lotte. Suddenly the film turns even weirder and more interesting when Malkovich is no longer Malkovich in consequence of having a puppeteer inside his mind. Finally Craig can be near Maxine who is still a very strange character being just taking advantage of the circumstances. The end is nothing but brilliant with the real plans of Lester, Maxine having a "normal" life with Lotte and with the eternal life as a possible thing leaving Malkovich just as another victim and Craig completely lost.
About the cast: Everybody here did just a terrific work. Even that I'm not a fan of John Cusack I loved his performance as a confused puppeteer with a big obsession. The beautiful Cameron Diaz looks really different in the first part of the film and she is just great. I will always recognize Catherine Keener because of the film "Living in Oblivion" and here is terrific in a very strange character. John Malkovich as himself is fantastic, first is just fun but later he end being a victim in this cruel but brilliant conclusion. And my favourite cameo is the one of Charlie Sheen, giving advices to Malkovich about hot lesbian witches; just hilarious as his new look after seven years. Also Sean Penn is in the film, talking in the TV show about the new phase of Malkovich as a puppeteer.
Conclusion: Hilarious, interesting, moving, entertaining and so damn unique. It is fantastic how Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman, more specific the last one, created a unique and bizarre world with those surrealistic and weird situations and, upon that, they created a very human story showing how we find irresistible to prove how does it feels to be someone else, in this case a person with fame, and also how this persons left everything, of course including their own personalities, to get some fame or to be young again. A really interesting portrait of the human mind. So for me "Being John Malkovich" is nothing but another reason to remember the year 1999 as a wonderful year for Cinema. What a great film this is!
Region 4 DVD: Another great single-disc release by Universal Pictures. It contains many extras and a very original menu. Some of the extras are the trailer, four imaginative and funny TV spots, the complete videos of the story of the 7½ and the story of the "new" John Malkovich (in the film both videos are seen on TV), the art of puppeteering, Spike's photo album and some others. The interview with Spike Jonze is definitely unique but actually he doesn't answer any question. Anyway, watching this film on this terrific DVD just left me a lot of desires to get the DVD of "Adaptation" (2002) as soon as I can.