First impressions...

Rating: 7/10 (20 December 2011)

...before I read any other reviews.
* At the end, the "story", or "plot", is seemingly made understandable. This is what I understood after one viewing and without reading other reviews or googling anything. All is seen through the eyes of a nine years old boy at the moment when he is faced with the choice whether he wants to stay with his father or mother. All happens in those few seconds he is running after the train that is bringing his mother away. Finally he stays with his dad and, of all the possible lives that could be, one finally materializes as true, i.e. life with Anna, the only one of the three girls that would effectively make him happy. In fact we have seen how the Elise and Jean lives would have made him unhappy. As all the reverie ends, time starts to wheel back through all the possible paths, towards the original moment of the train and then forward from that moment to the only life, the one with Anna. As this happens, centenarian Nemo dies and is reborn in a backwards fashion, all the while saying that this has been the best day of his "life", which in fact has been only an imaginary life, made up in the mind of a child.
* There is only one thing that disturbs me, that is: we see Nemo not making it to the train, which would mean he stays with his dad, not his mom. Which would lead to either Jean or Elise, not Anna, whom he would find following his mother. And yet, the final denouement involves Anna. Why? I think there are two possible answers. One: Nemo does not make it to the train, but later decides to join his mother. This would stress the fact that not everything, after all, is left to chance in our life, but we can make effective decisions. Two: Nemo stays with his father, but as things go, this does not prevent him to meet Anna. This would imply that the reverie in Nemo's head is just that, a reverie, and we cannot possibly predict the future. (Note that one of the imagined Nemos says that he can predict the future sometimes).
* This said, it is very possible that I have not got it all and some other things are escaping my interpretation. E.g. a lot is done with colours. Red and blue and yellow (primary colours) are dominant in the different threads. I am not sure how to connect the different colours with the different paths/girls, but Anna seems "to be" red and Jean blue. However I am not sure about Elise/yellow (except that Elise is a blonde).
* Formally this is a very good movie. Acting performances are solid. Leto is excellent. Polley and the child/adolescent actors are also good.
* The imagery is astounding. The direction and photography are top notch. So much so that occasionally Van Dormael seems to go a bit over the top with unnecessary camera movements.
* The score is perfect, melancholy and ironic. I especially liked the use of the song "Mister Sandman", whose lyrics make it clear in the first place that the movie is based on a dream or, rather, on a daydream.
* The special effects are extremely good although they still leave a light, plastic CGI aftertaste. For example when we see those helicopters building the sea, it looks more like the CGI crew are showing off than a compelling scene. If the child is making it all up, why would he need helicopters? A simple wave filling up the sea would be sufficient, I say. However, of all the heavily CGI-ed movies I can think of, this is amongst those that make the best use of this technology by keeping it understated most of the times. I noticed that Inception uses CGI effects in a very similar way, also to portray dream-like situations and landscapes. Nobody, though, does it better because, with few exceptions, is less of a showing off than Nolan's movie. I.e. the CGI aftertaste is there, but does not ruin the overall flavour like it did in Inception (a heavily overrated one, in my opinion).
All in all, I am satisfied by this movie but a bit overwhelmed by the occasionally excessive camera tricks and CGI. I am also still too puzzled by it and think I need another viewing at least. Mr. Nobody succeeds in this, it summons the viewers to put the pieces together, although at times it also spoon-feeds them a bit too much (see the final resolution revealed by old Nemo in a too blatant verbal explanation).
And now on to see what other people think...