A "bad trip" made into a brilliant film.

Rating: 10/10 (21 February 2010)

I know it's been more than 9 years since it's release. But I only had the chance to see this piece of art yesterday, and haven't quite stopped thinking about it yet. It's one of those movies you'll hardly forget.
Although it doesn't have a great plot or memorable lines, it caught my attention right from the amazing opening credits' shots. A contrast between quietness and movement. The main theme transmits some kind of anxiety, mixed with the feeling of inevitable fate. And that's the best about this movie - the photography and sound, rather than the plot itself.
The story is divided in three parts, metaphorically titled after three of the four Seasons. It picks us up and drops us inside a world of drug abuse and addiction, firstly showing whatever profit it might give ("Summer"), only to enlarge the fall ("Fall", actually) it causes. Finally it ends up in a "Winter", which is, itself, the requiem for a "Spring" dream that never comes. But as I said before, the plot wasn't the greatest thing about this movie, to me. The way they transport you inside the characters' feelings is almost surreal. Every time a character consumes drugs, it's shown in a figurative, somewhat disturbing, way, with a great image/sound conjunction. It's almost like a preparation for what's to come, as they were testing your capacity to perceive it. It reaches it's peak quite close to the end, in the most intense scenes I've ever experienced. The way they represented a "bad trip" after severe pill abuse, almost made me feel like I was the one having the "bad trip" (although I never had such an experience, I can't compare it to anything else). It actually made me want to make it stop and shut my eyes and ears, with the perception that it wouldn't ever stop. The final unfolding, which lasts for about 4 (very long) minutes, is a never-ending stream of sensations, feelings, disturbing images and pitch sounds and music. When this stream finally ends, it's like a breath of fresh air that only lasts for a minute, until we're brought back into the cruel reality in which the plot culminated. The final requiem for each character's dream.
Overall, I cannot say it's a beautiful or even entertaining movie, in its common meaning. It's more like an incredible sensorial experience through the meanders of drug abuse and it's consequences. Does it have a message? Definitely, although not an optimistic one. Does it really matter, in this context? I don't think so. Though, I'm sure I won't forget it soon.