When I started watching "The Air I Breathe", I knew nothing about it, let alone about the Chinese proverb that life consists of happiness, pleasure, sorrow and love. The movie truly impressed me. On the one hand, it's another entry into the pantheon of films about several different people who share a common bond, whether or not they meet each other (others in this category are "Syriana" and "Babel"). But beyond that, it also looks at how these different individuals try to become better people through their experiences.
The common bond is thug Fingers (Andy Garcia), who always aims to get his way; his name derives from what he likes to do to people who don't pay him back. And there are the other characters. There is Happiness (Forest Whitaker), who accidentally gets in debt to Fingers; Pleasure (Brendan Fraser), who can foresee the future of people whom he meets; Sorrow (Sarah Michelle Gellar), a pop singer indebted to Fingers to the point where her manager sells him her contract; and Love (Kevin Bacon), a physician whose unknown links to the other characters might help him in life.
While I didn't understand the title, I should say that I liked the movie. All the cast members turn in very good performances. To be certain, it looked for some years early in the careers of Brendan Fraser and Sarah Michelle Gellar as though neither of them would ever star in anything serious, but they have both shown themselves to be capable in dramatic roles (aside from this one, he starred in "Crash" and she starred in "Southland Tales").
There's also something about the characters' names. Happiness goes through a very unhappy situation, while Pleasure's ability to see people's futures deprives him of the ability to experience pleasure. But whereas Sorrow has seen plenty of sorrow in her life, her current experiences might lead things in a different direction. Similarly, Love's life has lacked love, but things might be about to change.
Anyway, this is one that I recommend. I'm eager to see Jieho Lee's next movie. Also starring Emile Hirsch, Julie Delpy, Will Maier, Clark Gregg, Cecilia Suarez, John Cho, Kelly Hu, Jason Dolley, Todd Stashwick and Jon Bernthal.
The common bond is thug Fingers (Andy Garcia), who always aims to get his way; his name derives from what he likes to do to people who don't pay him back. And there are the other characters. There is Happiness (Forest Whitaker), who accidentally gets in debt to Fingers; Pleasure (Brendan Fraser), who can foresee the future of people whom he meets; Sorrow (Sarah Michelle Gellar), a pop singer indebted to Fingers to the point where her manager sells him her contract; and Love (Kevin Bacon), a physician whose unknown links to the other characters might help him in life.
While I didn't understand the title, I should say that I liked the movie. All the cast members turn in very good performances. To be certain, it looked for some years early in the careers of Brendan Fraser and Sarah Michelle Gellar as though neither of them would ever star in anything serious, but they have both shown themselves to be capable in dramatic roles (aside from this one, he starred in "Crash" and she starred in "Southland Tales").
There's also something about the characters' names. Happiness goes through a very unhappy situation, while Pleasure's ability to see people's futures deprives him of the ability to experience pleasure. But whereas Sorrow has seen plenty of sorrow in her life, her current experiences might lead things in a different direction. Similarly, Love's life has lacked love, but things might be about to change.
Anyway, this is one that I recommend. I'm eager to see Jieho Lee's next movie. Also starring Emile Hirsch, Julie Delpy, Will Maier, Clark Gregg, Cecilia Suarez, John Cho, Kelly Hu, Jason Dolley, Todd Stashwick and Jon Bernthal.