I sought out this film based solely on the wonderful reviews and comments left by fellow IMDb members, going so far as to pay a top premium to obtain a previously owned VHS. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement.
It's not that this isn't a decent film; in its proper context it's actually not too bad. But to slurp on the adjectives that reviewers have generously heaped onto this flick is more than a touch disingenuous. Perhaps it's real admiration on their parts, I'd rather not speculate. All I can say is - it's decent.
Made along the lines of "Baron Munchausen" in its quirkiness and mixed metaphors, The Navigator tries to balance stark realism and half-imagined visions. Taking us from a plague infested 14th Century village to a modern 20th Century city via one of childhood's best fantasies: Digging a hole to the other side of the world.
But there's so much clutter and unresolved thematic elements that it's extremely difficult to appreciate what is, or isn't, occurring on screen. Look, I'm not a pedestrian film-goer waiting, or expecting, to be spoon fed a story. But confusing will always be confusing and claiming pseudo-intellectual superiority because it *is* that confusing doesn't make it 'special by default'.
Believe me, I appreciate the original idea, that's a big plus for Navigator. And thumbs-up for giving us the ultra-realistic world inhabited by the characters. Their filthy blandness stands out from the all too common "clean & crisp" that Hollywood mistakes for life in the middle ages. (Just how many times can you populate a giant castle with outlandish costumes borrowed from the yokels-n-yahoos who regularly attend the Medieval Festival?) These truths speak to the sincerity, honesty, and originality of the filmmakers.
But the approach taken by a young Vincent Ward is just too disjointed to be considered a good film. Decent pretty much sums it up. However, it does give us a true peek into the future in another way: The Navigator is a proving ground for a filmmaker who will, in ten years, hit his stride with the amazing and genuinely stunning achievement --- "What Dreams May Come".
It's not that this isn't a decent film; in its proper context it's actually not too bad. But to slurp on the adjectives that reviewers have generously heaped onto this flick is more than a touch disingenuous. Perhaps it's real admiration on their parts, I'd rather not speculate. All I can say is - it's decent.
Made along the lines of "Baron Munchausen" in its quirkiness and mixed metaphors, The Navigator tries to balance stark realism and half-imagined visions. Taking us from a plague infested 14th Century village to a modern 20th Century city via one of childhood's best fantasies: Digging a hole to the other side of the world.
But there's so much clutter and unresolved thematic elements that it's extremely difficult to appreciate what is, or isn't, occurring on screen. Look, I'm not a pedestrian film-goer waiting, or expecting, to be spoon fed a story. But confusing will always be confusing and claiming pseudo-intellectual superiority because it *is* that confusing doesn't make it 'special by default'.
Believe me, I appreciate the original idea, that's a big plus for Navigator. And thumbs-up for giving us the ultra-realistic world inhabited by the characters. Their filthy blandness stands out from the all too common "clean & crisp" that Hollywood mistakes for life in the middle ages. (Just how many times can you populate a giant castle with outlandish costumes borrowed from the yokels-n-yahoos who regularly attend the Medieval Festival?) These truths speak to the sincerity, honesty, and originality of the filmmakers.
But the approach taken by a young Vincent Ward is just too disjointed to be considered a good film. Decent pretty much sums it up. However, it does give us a true peek into the future in another way: The Navigator is a proving ground for a filmmaker who will, in ten years, hit his stride with the amazing and genuinely stunning achievement --- "What Dreams May Come".