The Fragility of Fate

Rating: 10/10 (14 February 2006)

An earlier reviewer is on target for a first viewing. First viewing the film, I did think of Patricia Highsmith, Laurence Harvey, even Dirk Bogarde, and, of course, "A Place in the Sun." Then I saw the movie a second time. The Allen film is much more sharp-witted, more intelligent, and at the same time deeper than the echoes one hears or sees in references that Mr. Allen makes. Mr. Allen touches Shakespeare and Sophocles. Remember opera emerged from an effort to revive Greek drama.
Yet, there are moments that echo Alfred Hitchcock's playful humor and that reveal the humor rather than mere irony masked in much of the dialogue and plot. Humor frequently seems about to erupt into plain view. The second audience that viewed the film with me did laugh and then failed to laugh when the joke turned on them. The third audience was silent.
Every nuance in this exquisite movie shows discernment and balance. Archetypal operatic arias from ancient recordings support but simultaneously overturn the oppression that the story presentsjust as the somber references to dark film turns on itself. With my first viewing, I experienced dread during much of the film until just before the very end. This film seems to emerge from the earlier "Melinda and Melinda." The films make companion pieces.
Is life fair? You must be joking, if you must ask. In the end, maybe the first viewing got it right. Do you laugh or do you cry?