Honest, shocking and very interesting

Rating: 8/10 (16 December 2005)

I saw this film last night and I really enjoyed it.
It seemed to me to be a commentary on several things, one being luck and one being morality. Both of these things seemed to dictate quite a lot of the lives of the two main characters. On the one hand, it made it perfectly, brutally honestly clear that one's success in life depends quite a lot upon how lucky one is. While hard-work is necessary, one will not get far without being lucky enough to have a few doors opened to succeed. A beautiful illustration of this is drawn throughout the film using a tennis metaphor.
Another point made seems to be that, no matter how lucky you are, when you go against your conscience, you set yourself up for eventual unhappiness, no matter how lucky you have been.
I agree with the poster who said to go in without knowing much about the film. I've seen some early reviews that spoil quite a few things. Be warned that it is a long film and slow at times -- but worth it.
If I had only a few words to describe it, I would say it was very honest, very shocking, very sad and very beautiful.