A fantastic cinematic work

Rating: Null/10 (28 August 2004)

I saw this film recently and was deeply enough enamored by the art direction and a solid plot that I'm up writing this review. I've seen comments/complaints that viewers got tired reading the subtitles and couldn't understand the story. I find it disheartening that a solid film is left under- or unappreciated because some dislike an active role in movie-watching, as there are so many incredible foreign films in languages the average American does not know. People are missing out. As far as not understanding plot, if you pay attention (is this a case where people are unable to read the subtitles fast enough?), there shouldn't be a problem. There are enough mainstream American films with numerous story lines where it didn't seem to be at issue. As a member of the entertainment community, I was delighted to this movie. It was passionate and incredibly beautiful. I'm not sure what expectations viewers went into the theatre with, but all I ever expect is a good story, decent translation, and style. If those are things that you truly value, I believe that you will like this film. Not for who the director is and not for what you think a fight scene (which i felt were perfect - not distracting from an important story)should look like.