Great movie, squeamish beware!

Rating: 9/10 (26 January 2007)

As opposed to some of the other reviewers, I found this film to be fascinating and enigmatic. It's surreal plot and philosophical dialogue, while certainly over-dramatic and at times outright ridiculous, leave the audience with a sense of the powerful emotions involved. On the outset, the plot seems crass and absurd, but when you look deeper into the characters you see a powerful movie that depicts the gamete of human emotions in a vivid and incredible way.
I found some of the material to be a bit unnecessarily depictive, but at the same time I'm not really sure if this could have avoided due to the graphic nature of the story. If this movie is lacking anywhere, it has to be in it's continuity. At times the transitions seem forced and the tension loses momentum briefly, but I think this is made up for in overall effect.
This movie isn't for the squeamish, as it depicts violence and sex quite boldly, yet it's subtle commentary on the nature of sin, repentance, and justice is quite compelling. Definitely worth watching at least once as long as you can handle the disturbing material.