Interesting Window to the Mind of the Other

Rating: 9/10 (5 December 2004)

The previous comment with regard to this movie focused on the fact that this was a very cold film with little payoff. I very much agree and it is for those reasons that I will say I was very impressed.
There are very few films in the world of cinema that actually depict the world of life in terms of potentiality, and this film very much chronicled the lives of four very miserable people who had no idea what they wanted. They were so wrapped up in their own convoluted minds that they virtually destroyed themselves. "Know thyself" and "nothing in excess" are perfect words to keep in mind while watching this movie, for this film reaches into some of the deepest areas of the human psyche and maps the territory of existential crisis.
Sophocles dealt with themes of self destruction and utter blindness to others in his works in the Theban trilogy as did Shakespeare with "Hamlet." I am not going to say that this film comes even close to the work of the men I just mentioned, but this film does indeed provide a look into the side of life that most people do not want to acknowledge. Most people want to go to a movie where they will be thrust into the middle of a horrible situation, only to be taken to the light at the end of the tunnel. The cold hard truth of the matter is that many people in this world are not so lucky as to experience that light by simply going to a movie theater. Many people in this world are as cold and desolate as the characters in this film and I believe that is where the gold rests in this project. It is not one for the ages, but I am thankful that it was created if for no other reason to represent the side of life that most people choose to ignore. There was indeed a great deal of payoff in this film. Many people just don't want to believe that a story like this could mean something in the end. There is no light without darkness, and perhaps this film will serve the purpose of adjusting eyes accustomed to artificial light to take a walk in the darkness that exists in reality.