All atmosphere, no actual plot

Rating: 3/10 (29 May 2017)

The first half 90 minutes or so of this movie, I loved... the intrigue and atmosphere are terrific. . . Then I started to realise that the various movie threads were not going to link up. And they don't. There was no plot; it is just a series of very artistic and atmospheric scenes without any attempt to tie them up. You can convince yourself that it is pure art, like the Tracy Enim "Unmade Bed", but this is not my idea of a movie. I guess it was critically and financially successful; the reviews are rave, but I feel a bit sad for a director who can do all that, but is just not quite clever enough to think of a plot to match. This is my spoiler-free analogy: The director seems like a concert pianist; all dressed up walking on to stage wearing a glamorous suit with long tails flowing behind him. He gracefully walks up to a 15 foot grand piano... sits down... pauses pregnantly with hands above the keys. It is all brilliant; except he can't actually play any tunes. So he sits there hands all poised for a few minutes. We all clap and he walks of again bowing prodigiously. King's new cloths once again. Go on all you 10/10 reviewers. Admit it... it was rubbish wasn't it !!! :-)