The Wednesday, January 13, 2010 was released on a movie screen, a movie that will put 13 years in the making. And yet. Three weeks later, the film disappeared from theaters, while Le Petit Nicolas (released 30/09/09), 2012 (11/11/09), Alvin and the Chipmunks 2 (23 / 10/09) or Twilight 2 (18/11/09) compete again on view at Kinepolis.
This film is Mr. Nobody, the latest film by Jaco Van Dormael , director of Toto the Hero (1991) and Eighth Day (1995). However strong a budget of more than 33 million euros, helped by an international cast and quite prestigious Jared Leto (Lord Of War , Alexander, Requiem For A Dream , American Psycho , etc..) Diane Kruger ( Inglourious Basterds , Treasure , Goodbye Bafana, Merry Christmas , Trojan, etc..) Linh-Dan Pham ( Pigalle Night , Pars Vite Reviens Tard and , The Beat That My Heart Skipped , etc..) Rhys Ifan ( Rocked , Elizabeth: The Golden Age , Vanity Fair, Human Nature, etc..), Etc.., Mr. Nobody does frankly has not met with success in theaters, nor critical success.
Still on course during its first week in theaters, with the 9 th site Box Office, the fall from the second week (13 th place), to clear the board in the third week, the fault to criticism too chilly: Le Nouvel Observateur sees "(...) a fiction sterile branches, weighed down by a script which construction maze can not hide the poverty of inspiration" where "The fussiness of the The plot, the erection of noggin formal [which] in fact leads to a scattering of shots on a checkered tablecloth " irritates Liberation while Le Journal du Dimanche that saddened" The friendly author Toto the hero of and Eighth Day lost [e] unfortunately a theme of science fiction too big for him ". For its part, the Inrockuptibles Grumpy Smurf is having a heart to joy "But to run twelve rabbits at once, Mr. Nobody comes out cold and repulsive intelligibility, visually ugly cacophony ultrabricolée" . Note that the general criticism that Van Dormael is that of having a work too accomplished, too serious, too in its multiple readings and themes. We understand better why Mr. Nobody has been tackled by the dismally small Nicolas at the entrance of the cinema ...
Yet some were right: First boasts a "journey [that] would be a thousand times with your eyes closed for live in every detail " where " The viewer can only marvel at the dizzying odyssey human enhanced by a beautiful photograph of Christopher Beaucarne ", according to L'Ecran Fantastique while Chronic'art tempers and notes that "it is always possible to reproach him for his tendency Shaker : some philosophical crumbs (the preferred choice of Descartes to Spinoza necessitarianism), a dollop of butterfly effect (pumping theories of meteorologist Edward Lorenz), and especially a zest Michel Gondry, who with his Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind had already laid the groundwork for a film with the power to make life reversible. And when the viewer -depleted Minotaur in the maze of the film shows the despair at this narrative maze, Jaco Van Dormael know catch up, start it again. But deep down, who really wants to find exit? "
Because yes, the film may seem complex, with its multiplicity of stories. Because the basic theme of all these stories is the choice:
"As long as you do not choose, Everything Remains Possible" . And "everything", "everything", not "both". By not choosing nothing, we all chose . Mr. Nobody Mr. Everybody is because the film does not want a simple movie about the Butterfly Effect (even if it refers several times), for which an action A gives a result X, and a B share would result Y, or a simple film about "what if? ". No, here, the choice to open on other choices a, b, c , and choice of alternatives B d, e, f . Binary logic is broken and it faces Infinity Opportunity lives. Two parents, three women, but in the end, perhaps more than 6 lives pass before our eyes, some short, some long for just one scene, and others who keep us in suspense throughout the film 2:20.
And the hard choice that Nemo is facing far more serious consequences than a chocolate eclair or a putt, it's this:
From this arises only choice the rest of the film, and a patchwork of lives possible. And a quilt is not a fan. Lives are not exposed side by side, the film is not linear. The lives mingle, intertwine, operate by reflection or contradictions. If, for Stendhal, "a novel is a mirror we walk along a highway ", Van Dormael's film is a diamond, which presents several reflections, several facets of that highway, and, always, everywhere, the central character of Nemo Nobody. Note that NEMO is an anagram of the Greek word EMON ( τὁ ἐμόν ) meaning "my fate" as the film, Nemo is found to be master of its creator, or rather of his spells. For, without revealing the final key to the film, much of Mr. Nobody is above all fantasy, rather than be lived. So, where criticism sees the snapshot, I see above all the ideal life as a parody of well known produce the human spirit.
Jaco Van Dormael was not limited in writing, it is given to their heart and perfected his screenplay for 7 years, endowed it with delicious details . For Mr. Nobody is a movie diehard . The boom extends from prehistoric time (during a short scene for comparison) in 2092, where Nemo Nobody, aged 118 years and the last mortal in a world now immortal recounts his past, his past, to a psychologist. We are also gratified few scenes of Science Fiction, special effects done surprisingly well during the imaging of the story written by one of Nemo adolescents dissertations internal character, short documentaries about the weather, the dispersion The feeling of love with Nemo presenter-narrator of the dialogue within a coma (rare in cinema) who commented that surrounds him, what he hears, what he feels (and, without discussing open, open debate on the treatment of patients in vegetative state), and even ultimate refinement of a personal mythology : Life before Life, when the "yet-unborn" know nothing of the world, life, and that the Angels of Oblivion, before birth, descend to lay a finger on her lips for that omniscient either forgotten, or the End of Time (which is not the End Times). It is a philosophical tale, and also an ode to the imagination and powers of the mind.
There is no talking, Mr. Nobody is a movie neat, meticulous, licked . In are also proof camera movements, plans, and especially the use of special effects. Technology is not serving the show, but the technique , she plans to produce sequences, albeit artificial, but darn amazing to image of the scene where the camera follows, back and slightly right, Nemo, who will position themselves in the mirror. Classical position of the camera for now, to avoid, of course, that this is reflected in the mirror. But the camera moves again, and is positioned in front of Nemo, turning her back and filming and its reflection, without provided that the camera appears on the image. So it is back to the character, yet his face was in the foreground, since the reflection film. Nemo then turns and leaves the bathroom, and the camera, seamless, advanced and follows, as if this time it was not in front of the ice to film the reflection, but directly in front of Nemo himself.
And all like to complete a work already complete, is happily sprinkled cleverly chosen and placed songs: Where Is My Mind Pixies, Mister Sandman the Chordettes, Everyday by Buddy Holly Day Dream Wallace Collection, and others, stand alongside the opera, the lyrical compositions and a bit mysterious to the late Pierre Van Dormael, brother of the director.
drawer is a film: there is everything. Of all kinds, all colors (we moved, we laugh, we empathize, we disagree, we learn ...), of all times ... It's a complete film. Yes, it can be complicated in appearance, yes, it may be inaccessible for a certain audience lambda, but one can not but recognize the talent of thinking, writing, control, camera ... Mr. Nobody is in every way commendable.
Unfortunately, his destiny seems mapped out to be the same as the wonderful The Fountain, the third film prodigy Darren Aronofsky (Pi , Requiem For A Dream, The Wrestler ): unknown film a vast majority lack of success and despite a few minor awards at various festivals, turnip pretentious for some and a masterpiece cult for a minority of fans. Choose your side.
