Even struggling with the notion as I am right now, I would put this on the same shelf as Mother! and Black Swan. This is by far the most ambitious piece of work of Charlie Kaufman. Sometimes, there are so many things happening on the screen, and they are all so subtle and transmit so many different messages, the spectator may get lost. The movie reminds you on key moments that this is a movie you are seeing, not real memories or happenings. It takes some time to criticise itself on screen during the play, acknowledging it's own limitations as media while, at the same time, building up characters and the story. Whoever is unfamiliar with most of the film criticism language may not realise that and this part gets lost. However, this won't stop the spectator from creating theories as to what the fudge is going on, which is so by design. The plot is so simple and the key to its full comprehension is at the title, bear that in mind. However, we as creatures are not simple. Our minds are complex palaces of memories, feelings, imagination and dreams. The movie depicts this Mind Palace perfectly, going back and forth in time and space, through reality and dream, feelings and reason, on the most perfect pace I've seen so far on screen (let alone David Lynch's Mulholland Drive). What is memory and what is imagination is a question that will stick with you until the end, and the answer is not pleasing to understand, although simple. So, to sum it up, this is certainly not the average Joe's cup of tea. If you don't want to dive into the abyss of mind, get away from this. But if you decide to take a leap into this void, relax and stop struggling is the movie's main message, which, by itself, may be the hardest thing to do in this life...
Review by ttofanoBlockedParent2020-09-09T19:53:05Z
Even struggling with the notion as I am right now, I would put this on the same shelf as Mother! and Black Swan. This is by far the most ambitious piece of work of Charlie Kaufman. Sometimes, there are so many things happening on the screen, and they are all so subtle and transmit so many different messages, the spectator may get lost. The movie reminds you on key moments that this is a movie you are seeing, not real memories or happenings. It takes some time to criticise itself on screen during the play, acknowledging it's own limitations as media while, at the same time, building up characters and the story. Whoever is unfamiliar with most of the film criticism language may not realise that and this part gets lost. However, this won't stop the spectator from creating theories as to what the fudge is going on, which is so by design.
The plot is so simple and the key to its full comprehension is at the title, bear that in mind. However, we as creatures are not simple. Our minds are complex palaces of memories, feelings, imagination and dreams. The movie depicts this Mind Palace perfectly, going back and forth in time and space, through reality and dream, feelings and reason, on the most perfect pace I've seen so far on screen (let alone David Lynch's Mulholland Drive). What is memory and what is imagination is a question that will stick with you until the end, and the answer is not pleasing to understand, although simple.
So, to sum it up, this is certainly not the average Joe's cup of tea. If you don't want to dive into the abyss of mind, get away from this. But if you decide to take a leap into this void, relax and stop struggling is the movie's main message, which, by itself, may be the hardest thing to do in this life...