Movies: Last Movie You Watched and Rate It | Cinema at the End of the World Edition

[Sentinel]

Femme Fatale (2002).

Directed by Brian de Palma, who gave us Carrie, Scarface, and The Untouchables. Equal dose eye-candy, noir thriller, plot twists, and ridiculousness. The most beautiful woman in Hollywood at the time (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos) and an equally beautiful man (Antonio Banderas)? Check. Charming shots of Paris? Check. Some nudity and sex sprinkled here and there? Check. Ridiculous plot and ludicrous acting? Check. The film cares, first and foremost, about structure (it’s symmetrical, with lots of events occurring more than once), secondly -- about visuals, thirdly -- about allegories (“second chances,” etc.), and lastly -- about acting. Romijn is not exactly known for her acting chops, and Banderas does not really use his. The good thing is that both can carry a film on sex appeal alone, but the carnal scene between them is pretty underwhelming. We do get to see her in lingerie and even naked in the water, but I still prefer her in blue paint (I suspect James Cameron saw her Mystique and decided to make an entire movie full of blue creatures, hence Avatar). This movie is definitely not meant to be taken seriously, it knows it, and it knows we know it. The twist at the end is a little cheap, but it serves its purpose. A good flick to watch if you don’t care about the realism of the situation. 6/10

 

[Devilsfan992]

Sounds to me like you found it a bit too close to the truth, or you work for FOX.

Huh? It wasn't funny. Plain and simple.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

The Way Back (O'Connor, 2020) - There's something with sports movies and missed opportunities... This one could have been interesting, but it fails to really hit target at both drama and basketball. 4/10

 

[heatnikki]

The Many Saints of Newark: 6/10

Decent performances in this Sopranos prequel. Not much of a coherent story, more like bits and pieces and some nice snippets stuck together.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

House (Nobuhiko Ôbayashi, 1977) - Horror cult classic that is fun to revisit from time to time. Not effective as a horror piece in the slightest (the spectator is made accomplice to the evil aunt and the film is more a delight for the male gaze - with beautiful young girls and a little nudity to boost - than any attempt at fright), the film is a truly unique experience on all other levels and still had an enormous influence on the horror genre (Evil Dead, Inferno, and many more). Bold directing and editing choices make the film a quasi-incoherent mess, which is in tone with the children tale feel of the movie (it's really more a fairy tale with horror themes than a horror film - kind of like Valerie and Her Week of Wonders, but a lot crazier - with the characters named like the seven dwarfs were). Instant distanciation, reflexivity, some amazing set decoration, a very uneven use of its soundtrack (lots of counterpoint use, especially in the first 30 minutes, but some very nice touches too), and bat-shit-crazy effects with absolutely no care for realism will cause quick saturation for the viewer - now you may enjoy the ride, or get exhausted and disengaged even before things get really weird. The director comes straight from TV and advertisement work (I guess it shows), and House is his most reknowned film (he's also responsible for that other version of In the Realm of the Senses). 8/10

(I hope these gif work!)

 

[Sentinel]

A Murder of Crows (1998).

A disbarred lawyer with wild swings in morals and conscience takes credit for a book he didn’t write. The book becomes a smash hit, but the tables turn on him sooner than he suspected. A thriller starring Cuba Gooding Jr., when he was a household name (remember Outbreak? Jerry McGuire?)… except he just is not “goodinough” (sorry, couldn’t resist) to carry a movie on his own. He is a perfect complimentary actor but not a lead. Normally, a thriller with references to Goethe and Milton would be right up my alley, but the execution is mediocre at best. It’s as if Agatha Christie sat down one lazy afternoon and cranked a script out without giving it much thought, and it was picked up by equally lazy TV producers. Verdict: it is enjoyable but lacks intensity and production to be a true mystery thriller masterpiece it aspires to be.

 

[Sentinel]

Bliss (2021). A better name would be “Piss.” The worst thing I saw in a long, long time. Take three parts Matrix, one part Midnight in Paris, and mix it with six parts of shit. The result is an insufferable carnival of wokeness and pseudo-Socialist garbage. The only redeeming thing here is the two lead actors: Owen Wilson and Salma Hayek. These two can still act. But the material they have to work with is absolutely vomit-inducing. Turns out, our world is not real, but imaginary. Everybody around us is a FGP (“Fake Generated People”). The real world is a Mediterranean paradise, where everybody gets 500K UBI and smokes pot. But people there can travel to our world, via a machine called “Brainbox.” The makers of this film would definitely benefit from a machine called “Brainbox.” Cameos from Bill Nye the Science Guy and Slavoy Zizek are nice, but I hope they got paid well, because they must have lost a few brain cells on the set of this dreck.

 

[Pink Mist]

Manila in the Claws of Light / Maynila sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag (Lino Brocka, 1975)

When Julio moves from the country to the big city of Manila to search for his lost love who has gone missing, he becomes engulfed in the poverty of the city and acquires a thirst for justice when he finds his girlfriend has been forced into prostitution. Heralded as one of the greatest Filipino films of all time, Manila in the Claws of Light has been praised for its stark portrait of poverty in the Philippines during the Marcos dictatorship. The film really reminds me of Italian neo-realism, with its bleak look at poverty in Manila – corrupt foremen stealing wages of low wage employees, homosexual prostitution, shanty towns – before the film bubbles to a violent finish. The film since it has been restored by Scorsese’s World Cinema project in 2013 has been highly praised but I feel like I’m in the minority with this one. I hate the term “poverty porn” to describe films from the third world that are praised by critics and audiences for their depiction of poverty – but this film kind of fits the bill for me with its helpless subject who is inevitably trapped in the poverty of the city and tragedy. By no means do I think its wrong to portray poverty, but in this film there’s just far too much emphasis on it that it becomes overbearing and feels kind of manipulative. Any experience of poverty or exploitation that can be experienced is experienced by the protagonist here. It makes it a bit of a slog to get through and it is fairly boring until the final third of the film. While I appreciate the rawness of the film in terms of both subject matter and aesthetic, it’s a little too oppressive here as it hits you over the head with its themes and makes for a gruelling watch.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Manila in the Claws of Light / Maynila sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag (Lino Brocka, 1975)

When Julio moves from the country to the big city of Manila to search for his lost love who has gone missing, he becomes engulfed in the poverty of the city and acquires a thirst for justice when he finds his girlfriend has been forced into prostitution. Heralded as one of the greatest Filipino films of all time, Manila in the Claws of Light has been praised for its stark portrait of poverty in the Philippines during the Marcos dictatorship. The film really reminds me of Italian neo-realism, with its bleak look at poverty in Manila – corrupt foremen stealing wages of low wage employees, homosexual prostitution, shanty towns – before the film bubbles to a violent finish. The film since it has been restored by Scorsese’s World Cinema project in 2013 has been highly praised but I feel like I’m in the minority with this one. I hate the term “poverty porn” to describe films from the third world that are praised by critics and audiences for their depiction of poverty – but this film kind of fits the bill for me with its helpless subject who is inevitably trapped in the poverty of the city and tragedy. By no means do I think its wrong to portray poverty, but in this film there’s just far too much emphasis on it that it becomes overbearing and feels kind of manipulative. Any experience of poverty or exploitation that can be experienced is experienced by the protagonist here. It makes it a bit of a slog to get through and it is fairly boring until the final third of the film. While I appreciate the rawness of the film in terms of both subject matter and aesthetic, it’s a little too oppressive here as it hits you over the head with its themes and makes for a gruelling watch.

Have you ever read Dostoyevsky's Poor Folk? It pretty much becomes poverty torture porn at a certain point and I'm like 70 percent sure it's meant to be humorous.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

The Matrix Reloaded (Wachowski x2, 2003) – I had this one at 2/10 on IMDB, which seems a bit harsh on rewatch. It's a poor film, which overuses action sequences to get the viewers to put up with some very confused ideas. The first film was based on a misreading of Baudrillard's take on postmodern reality, but it had some ideas of its own and a lot of material to work on in order to make it make sense. This one's added philosophical mumbling on control and countless additions to the rules and fine working of the whole scheme takes it close to some form of fantasy tale (confirmed with Neo's metaphysical powers appearing outside of the matrix, in reality, at the end of the movie), and I hate fantasy. Now out of Platon's cave, the characters are no longer doubting reality (now the world outside the matrix), and the film doesn't have much to add to the thin philosophical proposition the original ran on. Its attempt at further discussing power struggles is even thinner, and it's hard to take its religious angle very seriously (I enjoy the idea that the savior is really part of the control scheme, and that the prophecy was a misdirection provided by the system, but Neo's sudden demonstration of power in reality compromises that reading). It does have that pretty nice car chase scene, but like all of its action sequences, it's way too long (at least it doesn't feel like animation taken from a video game – like the neverending fight with the agents Smith does). 3.5/10


The Matrix Revolutions (Wachowski x2, 2003) – If the second one felt like it didn't have much to contribute, this one doesn't even try. It only pushes further everything that was weak/wrong about the first sequel, leaving the matrix completely aside to focus on the characters' real settings, attacked by the machine. The film is a very long and very boring post-apocalyptic war against machines, something that's been done way better numerous times. Neo's powers do translate into the real, confirming that this is not science-fiction but only fantasy, and the prophecy ends up being fulfilled, making the religious allusions of the previous films a little cringey. Most of the film happening in the garbage ships of reality, the stylish signature of the matrix is even lost to boring flying calamaris with electricity flashes. 2/10

 

[Sentinel]

The Matrix Reloaded (Wachowski x2, 2003) – I had this one at 2/10 on IMDB, which seems a bit harsh on rewatch. It's a poor film, which overuses action sequences to get the viewers to put up with some very confused ideas. The first film was based on a misreading of Baudrillard's take on postmodern reality, but it had some ideas of its own and a lot of material to work on in order to make it make sense. This one's added philosophical mumbling on control and countless additions to the rules and fine working of the whole scheme takes it close to some form of fantasy tale (confirmed with Neo's metaphysical powers appearing outside of the matrix, in reality, at the end of the movie), and I hate fantasy. Now out of Platon's cave, the characters are no longer doubting reality (now the world outside the matrix), and the film doesn't have much to add to the thin philosophical proposition the original ran on. Its attempt at further discussing power struggles is even thinner, and it's hard to take its religious angle very seriously (I enjoy the idea that the savior is really part of the control scheme, and that the prophecy was a misdirection provided by the system, but Neo's sudden demonstration of power in reality compromises that reading). It does have that pretty nice car chase scene, but like all of its action sequences, it's way too long (at least it doesn't feel like animation taken from a video game – like the neverending fight with the agents Smith does). 3.5/10


The Matrix Revolutions (Wachowski x2, 2003) – If the second one felt like it didn't have much to contribute, this one doesn't even try. It only pushes further everything that was weak/wrong about the first sequel, leaving the matrix completely aside to focus on the characters' real settings, attacked by the machine. The film is a very long and very boring post-apocalyptic war against machines, something that's been done way better numerous times. Neo's powers do translate into the real, confirming that this is not science-fiction but only fantasy, and the prophecy ends up being fulfilled, making the religious allusions of the previous films a little cringey. Most of the film happening in the garbage ships of reality, the stylish signature of the matrix is even lost to boring flying calamaris with electricity flashes. 2/10

We would all be better off pretending none of the sequels ever existed. There was just one Matrix and it ended with Neo getting kissed, defeating Smith, and flying away.

 

[Babe Ruth]

Striking Distance (1993)

A forgettable Bruce Willis' cop story. I had seen this years ago, but it was generic enough that I didn't remember anything about it (other than it's Pittsburgh location).. so it was like watching a new movie for me..
Chock full of standard cop & serial killer memes.. Bruce Willis is a disgraced detective, demoted to patrolling Pittsburgh waterways, where he investigates a series of murders on the low.. playing by his own rules. It's basically an aggregate of every maverick cop movie ever made. Sarah Jessica Parker is a pretty good co-star in it, and there's an underwater fight scene, that's kinda funny.
My opinion, forgettable, but not bad entertainment ~

 

[LeafalCrusader]

Don't Look Up= Don't Waste Your Time

Staring Leo Dicaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep and a dozen other A list celebs phoning it in.

A dramedy about society unable to resolve its differences to stop (or even acknowledge hence the Don't Look Up movement) an approaching asteroid that is about to wipe out all life on earth. It a 2.5 hour long snooze fest that fails at drama, comedy and satire.

2/5

 

[fcpremix88]

Red Rocket 9/10

A middle-aged porn star has shown back up in his small, Texas hometown on a bus, bruised, and with no money. He attempts to reconnect with his estranged wife, find work, and make a new life for himself. However, the more time we spend with our charismatic protagonist, the bigger the picture gets and the more corrosive his presence becomes. This is a film worth reflecting on, as it has more to say than just one character's personal journey. Simon Rex is fantastic as the lead, along with a terrific performance from Suzanna Son. I'd say this is easily one my favorite movies of the year.

I have loved every Sean Baker movie I've seen: Tangerine (8/10), Florida Project (10/10), and now Red Rocket. I love how all of these films give legitimate attention to groups of people who society would typically deem as "trashy." The protagonists would likely be background support or comic relief characters in virtually any other story. These films show the dignity of those living in the more destitute, [purposely] forgotten parts of America. I can personally attest to the authenticity of the Florida Project, hence my genuine love and appreciation for it.

 

[fcpremix88]

These are the four documentaries I've seen so far that came out this year:

Procession 10/10
Six middle aged men from the Midwest share a lawyer. All of them are pursuing some form of legal justice against the Catholic priests who sexually abused them as boys. The documentary pairs these men with a drama therapist, who encourages them to write scripts, build sets, and act out scenes in an effort to heal from the trauma they experienced. The emotional vulnerability and willingness to help each other is profound. I've never seen anything like this documentary, and I feel it's the best of the year.

The Rescue 8/10
A boys' soccer team gets trapped in a flooded cave in Thailand, and the weather patterns are only going to worsen the situation. Time is limited and the entire world works together in an effort to rescue the boys and their coach. From Thailand's version of the Navy Seals, multiple countries militaries and volunteer groups, and a couple of middle-aged British men who cave dive as a hobby. This documentary felt overwhelming at times due to how pure the goal was and how much collaboration occurred between all these groups. Even if you know the story and how it ends, this is a great watch.

Julia 6/10
Really enjoyable documentary showing the life of Julia Childs. I didn't really know much about her, as she was a bit before my time. My older sister really likes her, and now I see why. It's interesting to see how she was able to overcome sexism during her time in France and get on television in the US. It's also interesting seeing how she was capable of changing and bettering herself as she grew older - not allowing her flaws to define her. Also, this documentary is full of food porn and it's delightful.

The Alpinist 6/10
Marc-Andre Leclerc is a free solo climber from humble beginnings in Canada. He lives off the grid and generally avoids any attention. At times the documentary feels like its chasing down its own subject due to Leclerc's personal belief in the purity of climbing. The views are both beautiful and terrifying, as is the harsh world of rock climbing. Worth a watch if you want to see an eccentric talent doing something he loves with a purity you rarely see in adults.

 

[Puck]

The Matrix Resurrections, Directed by Lana Wachowski, 6.0 (in a generous mood)

From IMDB: Return to a world of two realities: one, everyday life; the other, what lies behind it. To find out if his reality is a construct, to truly know himself, Mr. Anderson will have to choose to follow the white rabbit once more.

The 4th installment is a bit better than the two sequels (Matrix 2 &3) but not as good as the first Matrix. The first Matrix movie is a classic and should have been left alone IMHO. Matrix 4 is ok but nothing major comes out of it. The CGI effects and fight choreography in the first movie were breakthroughs and considered transformational. By 2021 the same thing is a bit more dull, nothing new to report. The new film gives us long dialogue, speeches, sermons to explain the plotline to us and to develop the new universe, but it comes out garbled and confusing. Neo has taken a step back and is just older, it's Trinity that seems to have evolved/developed more (that's not a complaint, just a statement).

I have not seen the new SpiderMan movie yet but it is crushing it at the box office. So if you are into a sci-fi flick this week, I'd suggest Spidey rather than Matrix. The Matrix is also simultaneously streaming on HBO Max.

 

[kihei]

The Trouble with Being Born (2021) Directed by Sandra Wollner 7C

Here's a situatiion I'll bet you have never considered before this moment: Can one have an inappropriate relationship with an underage android? Elli is a ten-year-old android who has been programmed by Papa to presumably replace a daughter who either died or wandered off and was never found. There are numerous quite specific suggestions that their relationship has crossed a very dicey sexual line. Later, Elli, perhaps confused by her fake memories, wanders off again and is this time "rescued" by a man who gives Elli to his aged mother who transforms her into a boy representing a long dead brother. Elli has now two small sets of artificial memories, and sometimes she/he/it gets his/hers/its wires crossed. The Trouble with Being Born is disturbing and unsettling as hell, but one thing it is not is futuruistic porn. In fact, there is a lot going on here. The movie is both about the exploitation of the innocent as well as about the ethical dilemmas that will arise as AI becomes more sophisticated and more human. How people cling to memories that shape their reality for better or worse is another idea that gets developed in the film. In its own way, the second half of the film is at least as unsettling as the first half if only because the manipulation of grief involved is less taboo and more ordinary, though not more justifiable. The Trouble with Being Born is ultimately more thoughtful than provacative, but caveat emptor on this one.

subtitles

MUBI

Sidenote: According to interviews with the director, a subtle mask protects the young actress' identity. The more controversial scenes that she was in were the result of clever editing and special effects. A great deal of care was taken by the director to insure she was not traumatized by her experience.

The line "Can one have an inappropriate relationship with an underaged android?" belongs to John Anderson writing in the Australian Financial Review.

 

[Pink Mist]

The 39 Steps (Alfred Hitchcock, 1935)

Leaving the theatre one evening after a fight broke out and gunshots were fired, Richard Hannay (Robert Donat) takes a frightened foreign woman to his apartment. However, that foreign woman is a spy uncovering a conspiracy against Britain and when he wakes up to her dead in his apartment, Hannay becomes entangled in the conspiracy which leads him to the Scottish moors. The 39 Steps is an early career Hitchcock film considered by some to be his first masterpiece. I agree with them. The 39 Steps is a superb spy thriller with a tight script and a slick pace to it. It is never boring or drags at any point and the film drips with noirish atmosphere in foggy Scottish Highlands and the streets of London. Donat is excellent in his role, and the script interjects some comedy into his role which Donat handles well – the humour in this is really good and among Hitchcock’s more comedic scripts (at least from what I’ve seen of Hitchcock). The film lacks a little bit of that flair Hitchcock would become known for later in his career, but it is a captivating film that is among his best work.

 

[Puck]

A tech writer has found a few positives emanating from the new Matrix flick.

‘The Matrix: Resurrections’ is a bad movie, but it has a good take on tech – TechCrunch

 

[Tasty Biscuits]

Adam McKay has always struck me as someone who thinks he's waaaay more clever and talented than he actually is. I haven't seen his latest but he never shows restraint for what are ultimately really simple movies and writing that aren't nearly as witty as he appears to think they are. Bubblegum to the max without ever the consciousness of how bubblegum it is. Bubblegum can have style but he's too enamored with himself to see it. At least from what I can tell. I don't know the man, just his movies. And I think his early raunchy stuff is actually kind of worth a shit (though it always ends up petering out within 50-60% of its runtime). His transition has been awful though, IMO.

Funnily enough, the earlier stuff is more effective satire by way of being more restrained in that aspect. The Nascar fan contingent unironically loves Talladega Nights, despite being the butt of the joke. Now that's well-executed satire.

There was a bit McKay wrote earlier in the 90s at Second City. Mid-show, cast member Scott Adsit abruptly interrupted a sketch with news that Clinton had died. The show stopped and everything. He sold it so well for so long that the audience was buying in and visibly concerned. He said they were wheeling out a TV to cut to a live news feed. They brought out a TV and turned it on and a bunch of football bloopers started playing. They kept trying to fix it and more bloopers kept playing. Audience eventually caught on and were very upset about the whole thing.

All that to say, I think he's capable of coming up with inventive ideas and taking big swings. I'd actually argue his more recent stuff is safer than the earlier material. Anyone can bluntly, loudly say "X is bad and must change, it is Y's fault, etc. etc." It is riskier to apply a more subtle approach, but that is what distinguishes great filmmakers from the rest.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Zombi Child (Bonello, 2019) – Bonello is someone I respect a lot. Even when his films aren't really working for me, I still end up enjoying his take on the material. This is such a case. The film is an adaptation of the “true story” of Clairvius Narcisse, a man who got zombified, buried alive, and unearthed to be used as a slave – a case taken from Canadian anthropologist Wade Davis' book, The Serpent and the Rainbow, that we all know from Wes Craven's movie. Maybe part of what didn't work for me is that Bonello really uses that only as backdrop to the granddaughter's contemporary story, but it still covers a good chunk of the movie, with the roaming of the escaped zombi in the night (mostly a surprisingly poor nuit américaine – day-for-night – a technic I just can't stand). The film is really a lot more about the coexistence of cultures in France today (you can even read a little reactionary position through all this) and the diffusion/dissemination of meaning through these cultures, starting with the understanding of what a zombie is (the Romerian zombie makes a brief and fun appearance in a dream). The film's play on genre isn't really successful, the slow burn horror structure being ruined by a very underwhelming payoff, but its serious take on the Haitian zombi is still somewhat of a breath of fresh air. 5/10

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Night Hunter (Raymond, 2018) - Pretty good cast in a minor movie that had everything to be a very dark crime drama but only turned out very bland and predictable. 3/10

 

[kihei]

CODA: Fishy smelling daughter who can hear is part of an eccentric family who are deaf. Teen high school problems, too. Plus, she has a great voice. Secretly likes a guy in school. Lots of yucks, even a fart gag. Beyond that I can't tell you. Ten minutes, that's how long I lasted. I hate Sundance movies. It's really bad. I have seeen around 20 to 25 of Sundance award winners over the years. I'm three for the 21st century (You Can Count on Me and Maria Full of Grace, both average to low 6s. and Primer, the lone 7). Everything else I have mostly despised, usually with a degree of toxic enthusiasm. Sundance movies are filled with eccentric characters, usually in dysfunctional families, members of which say and do weird things and are shoved into highly contrived situations by a director who has his thumb up his ass and thinks it is on the pulse of the nation. CODA is supposed to be an Oscar contender. Silly me, I thought it was a rejected sit-com pilot. But if you are tired and looking for something that wou't challenge the intellect of a decomposing beaver, by all means give this feel-good turkey a try.

 

[Puck]

CODA: Fishy smelling daughter who can hear is part of an eccentric family who are deaf. Teen high school problems, too. Plus, she has a great voice. Secretly likes a guy in school. Lots of yucks, even a fart gag. Beyond that I can't tell you. Ten minutes, that's how long I lasted. I hate Sundance movies. It's really bad. I have seeen around 20 to 25 of Sundance award winners over the years. I'm three for the 20th century (You Can Count on Me and Maria Full of Grace, both average to low 6s. and Primer, the lone 7). Everything else I have mostly despised, usually with a degree of toxic enthusiasm. Sundance movies are filled with eccentric characters, usually in dysfunctional families, members of which say and do weird things and are shoved into highly contrived situations by a director who has his thumb up his ass and thinks it is on the pulse of the nation. CODA is supposed to be an Oscar contender. Silly me, I thought it was a rejected sit-com pilot. But if you are tired and looking for something that wou't challenge the intellect of a decomposing beaver, by all means give this cancerous feel-good turkey a try.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

*example of what is meant below by "faked" - this image, largely used in the promotion of the film is altered into a nude scene in the film, the bathingsuit being digitally removed.

The Trouble With Being Born (Wollner, 2020) – The film starts with a symbolic birth, an awakening underlying Elli's senses of hearing, smell and sight. It also starts with a trick on the spectator, who is lead to believe things are presented through a subjective camera (through Elli's eyes, with robotic sound distortion when she awakes – her father even looking at us when we emerge from the forest), right until the young girl appears on screen coming from left frame. Now this is an absolutely brilliant and subtle use of reflexivity. Since it wasn't really Elli waking up, it must have been the narrative apparatus, and the father really wasn't welcoming his android daughter but the camera. The opening that seemed to humanize her is thus presented as a trick on our senses and expectations, and she is right away labeled as a narrator that shouldn't be trusted. I think I could write a whole essay on this film. It might even write itself if you go through its relationship to Ciroan's own Trouble With Being Born. The philosopher proposes ideas that strangely applies to the existence of an android (or at least to this specific android): being alive as an expression that doesn't apply to anybody, or that everything I do and everything I think constitutes myself and is also a disgrace to my self, or again, following Buddha, that birth is the source of all infirmities and disasters, etc. (and that's pretty much stuff taken randomly from the first few pages). Lots of food for thought here. Some French critics also proposed a very interesting intertext through the use of the No Other Love song, which is built on a melody by Chopin that Gainsbourg also used for his controversial Lemon Incest. An incest that is only implied in the film, through visual and narrative (but easy to read) hints, but the spectator's already been warned not to trust those. But again, is it incest or only a representation of it for the father? There's another point of tension between sign and referent, pointed at by the question relayed by kihei about the possibility of having inappropriate relationships with an underaged android. Is the object to be considered as what it is (machinery) or what it represents (a young girl)? There's a beautiful scene where the android looks – as a mirror of us looking at her – emotionless subsequently to two different pieces of machinery, one with representation (the TV on which an animated grandmother is drowning) and one without (some kitchen instrument I couldn't understand). The reflection can be pushed further and consider the film itself, should the young actress and the (faked*) nude scenes be considered for what she is (a young girl) or what she represents (machinery)? The association between the young android and the narrative apparatus becomes meaningful at the very end. The film tells two stories of loss and grief in which the android fulfills a role of replacement. The android ends up confusing these stories and merging them, and the film leads the spectator to do the same and to think he understood real Elli's faith in association to real Emil's end (which he only understood through another merge, with fake Emil's end). So much material and ideas to play with, and no important weaknesses, a pretty nice little film. 9/10

A 1000 thanks to @kihei for bringing this one to my attention. A ballsy film with a little controversy, couldn't ignore it.