Powerful, Numbing

Rating: 10/10 (12 September 2005)

I just saw this at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) to a packed house (with Ang Lee present for today's screening). And I have to say, it absolutely transfixed me and was worth the watch. Out of 24 movies I screened at the TIFF this year, this was the only one I rated a 10/10! Three things really stood out for me making this a stand-out of a film:
1) HONESTY: Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal really pulled this off. I wasn't expecting performances so real and nuanced, and was warmly surprised. Kudos, also, to Mr. Lee for making such a poignant and refreshingly honest film!
2) STORY: Great story-telling. In fact you're not actually being *told* a story. The story unfolds and the viewer watches what happens pulling you in. What a great experience! In fact, I want to experience this story again -- I'm going to look for the short story.
3) NUMBING: In a thought-provoking kind of way. I left the theatre digesting the story even as I sat on the streetcar thinking about the characters. I cared for them, and wondered what could/might happen to them after the screen went black. My mind was playing out scenarios and in that sense, it was numbing, in a thought-provoking, emotionally heavy way.
This is powerful cinema and is definitely worth checking out. It's the best Ang Lee film I've seen to date (I've seen most, but not all of his feature films).