Okay, now... I watched this last night on Rai2, dubbed in Italian. Before doing so, I had a peek at the IMDb reviews and was almost gonna skip. However, I did not. And made it till the end, which I'm glad I did.
Is it because this was a gem? No. Far from being a gem. But it HAS the elements there, the very ones that CAN make a movie a gem. Let's break it down a bit:
The camera work in the opening scene was great. It captured me. Had the film opened in a more traditional way, I could have stopped right there. But there was finesse in how the whole deal was handled, which made me take the bait.
I can totally understand that, half an hour into the film, most people can feel scammed and quit in despair. Because, yes, the construction of the scenes look more like rehearsals shot with a bunch of stand-ins rather than the actual actors. With the exception of the lead, almost every character was miscast. Seriously. I don't recall ever watching a film that made me think that way.
Problematic on every single level BUT still watchable because you see it there - whoever penned the script, whoever directed it, they had in mind some kind of surrealistic, character-driven puzzle in which the pieces are moving in unexpected directions.
But the execution is so poor in terms of finding the correct locations, casting the right people and handling the loose ends of the plot that, you get to watch how they are "describing" the movie in their mind, rather than watching an actual, finished work.
The alter ego of the lead character does play a role in what goes on. However the guy playing opposite her does not look at all like what the part requires.
Normally, such an attempt at a movie should not deserve more than a 6. But seeing that most reviewers on here are missing the point and judging the whole effort only by the failures, I feel like elevating it a bit, hence the 7.
That said - I totally understand why someone would rate this with a 1. Yeah, it does suck so bad when you take the angle of perfection. But I believe intentions also matter, and that it was more of a low budget than a lack of creative effort that made this one go down.
Work on the same script for a day, cast an A-lister as the evil guy, and some better known character actors for the supporting cast, see to it that you have visually striking locations key scenes (like where the guy offers her cake) and you end up with a "critically acclaimed" piece of art.
It's a very fine balance and the effort does deserve some admiration.
Is it because this was a gem? No. Far from being a gem. But it HAS the elements there, the very ones that CAN make a movie a gem. Let's break it down a bit:
The camera work in the opening scene was great. It captured me. Had the film opened in a more traditional way, I could have stopped right there. But there was finesse in how the whole deal was handled, which made me take the bait.
I can totally understand that, half an hour into the film, most people can feel scammed and quit in despair. Because, yes, the construction of the scenes look more like rehearsals shot with a bunch of stand-ins rather than the actual actors. With the exception of the lead, almost every character was miscast. Seriously. I don't recall ever watching a film that made me think that way.
Problematic on every single level BUT still watchable because you see it there - whoever penned the script, whoever directed it, they had in mind some kind of surrealistic, character-driven puzzle in which the pieces are moving in unexpected directions.
But the execution is so poor in terms of finding the correct locations, casting the right people and handling the loose ends of the plot that, you get to watch how they are "describing" the movie in their mind, rather than watching an actual, finished work.
The alter ego of the lead character does play a role in what goes on. However the guy playing opposite her does not look at all like what the part requires.
Normally, such an attempt at a movie should not deserve more than a 6. But seeing that most reviewers on here are missing the point and judging the whole effort only by the failures, I feel like elevating it a bit, hence the 7.
That said - I totally understand why someone would rate this with a 1. Yeah, it does suck so bad when you take the angle of perfection. But I believe intentions also matter, and that it was more of a low budget than a lack of creative effort that made this one go down.
Work on the same script for a day, cast an A-lister as the evil guy, and some better known character actors for the supporting cast, see to it that you have visually striking locations key scenes (like where the guy offers her cake) and you end up with a "critically acclaimed" piece of art.
It's a very fine balance and the effort does deserve some admiration.