Warms up well

Rating: 7/10 (10 March 2005)

This film begins with big Hollywood (hollow wood) glamour, and perhaps more than a bit uncertain in its characters. But it warms up -- gradually but surely with each scene -- into a movie to fall in love with. One falls in love with the boundless freedom and power of these characters' lives. One falls in love with Claire Forlani, as always. And one falls in love with the performances of Hopkins and Pitt, as always.
But what is it about, this film? We must recognize its devices. Forlani's character is engaged to marry the wrong man. Hopkins' character is very rich. Death enters their lives with a profound and sincere interest in Susan (Forlani).
There's no reason to presume that Pitt's character, immortal Death, has never been in a human body before or has never been in love before. Perhaps the last time was three hundred or three thousand years ago. We only know it was not recent -- it's uncommon to him. We know (presumably) that if he has taken on the mortal coil before, it could not have been in the life he chose this time. We know that love is -- this time, or always -- new to him. What can we know about the existence of the character Death? We know that the immortal played by Mr Pitt covets the mortal embrace of life, of Susan Parrish.
The film reminds us how life can be lived, and another loved, to make immortals jealous of our mortality.