Repeated watching

Rating: 9/10 (31 December 2010)

Nemo Nobody is the last mortal in a world of immortals. At the age of 118 he is on his deathbed and his memory has faded. Nonetheless journalists and academics are interested in his story. But this story is muddled mess of reality, wrong choices, corrected choices, tragedy and dreams. With three loves which one of them did he marry? When their parents divorced did he stay with his father or leave with his mother? Did he die in a car crash? But if yes than how is he still alive? Maybe he is in a coma and everything is but an illusion? Did I give away too much? Not really, since the reality of what really transpired is muddled, confusing and necessitates repetitive rewatches. Even the above storyline does not seem to fit what really transpiring in this thought invoking philosophical movie.
"Mr Nobody" is a cinematographic feat that overtakes any other sci-fi/fantasy outing that 2010 had to offer. In many ways the dreamlike story of Jaco van Dormael is very similar to the breakthrough "Inception", but unlike the more renowned blockbuster it succeeded in every department Nolan failed, while kept up the bar with his American counterpart. This is the absolute cinematographic triumph of film that so many people believe "Inception" was, but just can not help but feel Nolan's movie was inferior on so many levels. In the two that matter the most: 1. "Mr. Nobody" conveys a multi-layered complex message about human existence, something that "Inception" in reality doesn't even attempt. 2. "Mr. Nobody" has a depth of human emotion that was nonexistent in Nolan's work.
At the same time "Mr. Nobody" conveys it's complex story in a way that is enjoyable to watch and surprisingly understandable. As with life it changes from laughter to tragedy from the ordinary to the extraordinary. And everything exposed with such clarity, that confusion is non-existent about the proceedings. That is until the film unfolds in the final act and you are left bewildered as to what actually happened. I must however stress, that this is not a fault, as the complexity, unpredictability and faith in human intelligence that the ending conveyed where a highlight of the movie, as before that I was expecting to be severely disappointed by the straightforward ending, that seemed to be suggested. Nonetheless I fully understanding if the final 5 minutes turn out to be severely disappointing to most and also make the movie not suitable for the wider audience.
The only fault I could find in this movie, which flirts successfully with greatness, concerns the overly romantic, almost childlike love stories concerning Mr. Nobody's life. That said if you accept the most likely version of events (in my opinion) it actually makes a lot of sense...
Any movie auteur will also probably appreciate the clear hommages made in this movie and will recognize scenes from "Harold and Maude", "Space Odyssey 2001" or "The Double Life of Veronica", just to name a few.
A real treat that rekindles my love for cinema and instills admiration for Jaco Van Dormael. Quite possibly the best and most intellectual movie I have seen in 2010 (and I have seen over 500).