No one is good or bad

Rating: 9/10 (15 February 2006)

From the moment I heard of this film, I knew I had to see it. I could hardly wait. Luckily, I didn't have to wait for long; now, two days later, I got to watch it. I must say, as high expectations as I had for the film, I am still thoroughly impressed and very short of in awe. The film offers no escape from the real world; look elsewhere if that is what you seek. It doesn't force it upon us, either; It rather shows us realism as it is. No cynicism, no ideology. Merely an unbiased look at the world of prejudice. The hate, the fear, the mistrust... and more importantly, what it leads to. We are introduced to these people, people of all "races"(ridiculous idea, really, that of races; and quite outdated) and religions, we connect with them and understand them... and then we see them being prejudiced against or them prejudice against others... or both. And we understand. The effects of prejudice. That no one is good or bad; everyone just... is. Everyone does what they believe is right, regardless of persuasion, religion and nationality. The film plays like a TV-series, meaning it changes scene back and forth between all of these characters, which works very much to the film's benefit. The plot is amazing, it develops marvelously and it keeps your interest throughout. The pacing is perfect, I wasn't bored for a second. The cinematography is beautiful. The dialog is real. The acting is astounding, with many of the actors playing against their usual character. There was no performance that I felt was the least bit flawed or poor. This is the first film that has truly 'gotten' to me for a while... well, at least in the two-going-on-three weeks since I watched The Story of Us, and even that doesn't compare in quality(though it may in emotional impact). It shows excellently how much of an impact(and how negative and vicious it is) prejudices have; there's a scene where two characters of different races interact; one is caught in a death-trap and the other attempts to rescue her. And the frightening and disturbing thing is... she's more afraid of him than of the possibility of her imminent death. The film contains much foreboding... many plot developments may at first seem predictable, but most, if not all, will still surprise you. The only thing keeping this from a perfect rating, the one thing that brought it a little down for me is that Asians just don't seem to get the attention that all other nationalities get here; there are people from the Middle East, there are Latinos, there Black people and many, many white... but there are only two or so Asian characters, and they are the only truly stereotypical and thin characters. That derives from the greatness of the rest of the film, which is a grand example of film-making and story-telling. Maybe the film should have been longer, maybe some other characters should have been cut... I don't know. Another, somewhat minor, but still important complaint; the film talks down to its audience a bit too much; it's as if director/writer Paul Haggis expects the viewers to possess no sense of logic. Things are explained in unnecessary detail. These two things bring the film that one step back, prevents it from being completely perfect. Too bad. It was pretty darn close. I recommend this to anyone and everyone... just make sure to be prepared for an unpleasant look at reality... rather than an escape from it. 9/10