I caught this on City TV last night (Feb 16th, 2008) when flipping through the channels, and even though I had missed the first 30 minutes of this film, I was compelled to stop on that channel and watch it! I found the plot to be riveting, I couldn't turn away!
***Please be warned my review contains spoilers - If you haven't seen the film yet, please stop reading now***
I was drawn in by several factors - the disintegration of Julie & Henry's relationship; the illness and impending death of their son; the mystical, magical "healer" character; the ensuing relationship between Julie & Alexei. I was so fascinated by all of these concepts unraveling at once!
I kind of disliked how Alexei abruptly left, when he found he couldn't heal the boy. It begged so many questions, such as "Is it just THAT boy he cannot heal? Or has he totally lost his powers?", and "What made him lose his powers? Giving in to his desire for sex & love? Or did he lose his powers when he impregnated Julie? Did his healing 'force' leave his body through ejaculation?"
Also, when the film cuts to the final scene, where Julie's pregnancy is obviously going along nicely, and even though their son's death is imminent, they appear to be a reunited, happy family again. Nothing was shown to describe how the family got back to this state again.. it begged more questions, such as "When & How did Julie & Henry get so friendly with each other again?" and "How did they let go of all of the bad feelings and bad blood between them, and become so loving again?" and "Is the baby going to have Alexei's healing powers?"
But, even though I seem to prefer a film that "spells it all out" for me, I loved this film BECAUSE it begged all of those questions, BECAUSE it left me pondering, wondering, thinking, worrying... It truly IS a thought-provoking film and I love when I can watch a film and still be affected by it, and still be thinking about it, days later. This film is definitely one of those films!
***Please be warned my review contains spoilers - If you haven't seen the film yet, please stop reading now***
I was drawn in by several factors - the disintegration of Julie & Henry's relationship; the illness and impending death of their son; the mystical, magical "healer" character; the ensuing relationship between Julie & Alexei. I was so fascinated by all of these concepts unraveling at once!
I kind of disliked how Alexei abruptly left, when he found he couldn't heal the boy. It begged so many questions, such as "Is it just THAT boy he cannot heal? Or has he totally lost his powers?", and "What made him lose his powers? Giving in to his desire for sex & love? Or did he lose his powers when he impregnated Julie? Did his healing 'force' leave his body through ejaculation?"
Also, when the film cuts to the final scene, where Julie's pregnancy is obviously going along nicely, and even though their son's death is imminent, they appear to be a reunited, happy family again. Nothing was shown to describe how the family got back to this state again.. it begged more questions, such as "When & How did Julie & Henry get so friendly with each other again?" and "How did they let go of all of the bad feelings and bad blood between them, and become so loving again?" and "Is the baby going to have Alexei's healing powers?"
But, even though I seem to prefer a film that "spells it all out" for me, I loved this film BECAUSE it begged all of those questions, BECAUSE it left me pondering, wondering, thinking, worrying... It truly IS a thought-provoking film and I love when I can watch a film and still be affected by it, and still be thinking about it, days later. This film is definitely one of those films!