Shattered Image

source: Shattered Image

I think a crucial point in developing an individual taste for cinema is to be able to unwaveringly focus on the things that we feel personally matter. To coast without distraction through the small handicaps that hamper and limit a film in pursuit of the spark of creative vision (assuming one such that matters to us exists). This is to be able to enjoy Argento for who he is rather than in spite of his storytelling deficiencies. One such thing we have here. A package that looks from a distance as straight-to-video fodder as vehicle for an almost recognizable name, acting that is ho-hum, stilted dialogue. The reward for a casual watcher catching this on latenight TV might be simply to cope a smile at William Baldwin playing actor. I come to this for the filmmaker though with his potent notions about convergent realities and fictions passing as real, as part of my quest on Raoul Ruiz. Coming from two films he did back in France, both crushingly dry and tedious, for his American debut he reverts back to the heady magic he weaved in his 80's stuff. Soaking in colors, strange portents, frames that become real; a reality hung askew from which we are transported back and forth into the folds of the imaginative mind. The scaffold: two women (played by Anna Parillaud) as figments of the one damaged mind, each in her separate reality dreaming up the other. Transitions between the two worlds, mostly through sex or objects as mirrors (an acquarium, a painting, even -rather painfully obvious- the frame of what we're watching shattering into shards). So there is one subconscious where all the hurt is arranged into a wish-fulfillment fantasy (the woman plays a contract killer paid to kill men, eventually discovers the target she falls in love with to be innocent), and the conscious mind in the other plane trying to cope with the anxieties of a situation real or imagined (as seeping back from the dream and flowing into it). It is all about this cinematic flow of a nightmare that renews itself - a half-way intelligent device, perhaps squandered under the auspice of something for latenight cable. Then there is the ending, no doubt imposed upon Ruiz by producers demanding some solid ground for their audience. It all makes sense eventually, what was real and what not. Again we may disregard this.

One of the the things you can do as a new director is to get a great Director of Photography. He can help you avoid mistakes and save your butt. Raoul Ruiz is not a new director, he has over 90 films to his credit, but he is fairly new to the United States. This is supposed to be his "official" debut film. So, he gets Robby Müller to do the cinematography. Great choice, as directors like Wim Wenders (13 times, including Paris Texas) and Jim Jarmunch (Ghost Dog, Way of the Samauri) like to use him on their pictures. Unfortunately, the great cinematography and a sexy star, Anne Parillaud (La Femme Nikita, Innocent Blood), can't make up for lousy music and bad "B" movie dialog, even if the story is somewhat interesting. Yes, I hung in there to see what happens, and, no, I am still not sure. It did have Graham Greene (Die Hard with a Vengeance, The Green Mile) and that made it more palatable through the bad parts. Don't rent, but you may want to catch it on cable.

I and a friend saw this at a premier in San Jose, and spent most of the time wondering why we were there, and wondering if it could possibly get worse. The acting wasn't particularly heinous, but the story was so over... over... over-everything, nothing could save it. At first it was quite confusing and disjointed -- I figured the director was skillfully weaving a complex thriller. But as time dragged on, I realized that there was nothing but the superficial disjointness that was comically apparent. It was a truly Bad movie because it left us with nothing more than a profound regret for the time wasted. We had passes to the show -- the only thing worse than our experience would have been to have to pay for it.

In New York, Jessie Markham (Anne Parillaud) is raped by a man with mask and now she is recovering from the rape and an attempted suicide. However her mind is confused and she lives two realities. In one life, she is a newly wed with Brian (William Baldwin) spending honeymoon in Jamaica with the guest Paula (Lisanne Falk) snooping around the couple. In the other life, she is a hit woman that executes men and Laura (Lisanne Falk) is her client that wants Brian killed. Which life is real? "Shattered Image" is a film about a raped woman that has become paranoid with a confused mind and she lives two women with opposite personalities. The promising storyline is wasted by a messy screenplay and the viewer ends the film without solving the mystery and knowing who Jessie is. My vote is five. Title (Brazil): "A Imagem de um Pesadelo" ("The Image of a Nightmare")

This is one of those movies. Despite the agony, I hung in there for 40 minutes, but I could take no more. I guess everyone has their limits. This movie was incredibly bad! What were the people who made this movie thinking?

Why I spent nearly two hours watching this terrible film, I don't know. I guess it's just because I kept telling myself, "it's got to get better, it's got to get better." Well, it didn't; even the * love scenes are boring. Where to begin? Let's start with the acting. I liked Anne Parillaud in "La Femme Nikita." I suppose her face was just as inexpressive there, but at least it was an action film and her body was expressive, spending a lot of time doing gymnastics and hand to hand combat. In this film she sleepwalks through her role, or roles (we can never be sure). Perhaps she took an excessive dose of Botox, because her facial muscles seem paralyzed. William Baldwin is slightly more expressive; at least he is able to manage a smirk, but that is his only facial expression. I must acknowledge that the idea behind the film is a clever one, and perhaps in the hands of Hitchcock or Chabrol, a good thriller might have been made. Instead, in the hands of the monumentally untalented Mr. Ruiz, we get a somnolent film that proceeds at a snail's pace and borders on incomprehensibility. Many have said that the film is a ripoff of, or parody of, or tribute to Hitchcock. There is some truth to this, but I think the film whose central idea it really steals is "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari," which debuted in 1919! At least the Caligari-like twist at the end gave the film a sense of wry humor, and for this I'll rate it one point higher than I otherwise would. 4/10

This is the third Raoul Ruiz film I have watched recently (after "Three Lives and Only One Death" and "Genealogies of a Crime"), and it is easily the best of the three. Why? Because it's less talky and pseudo-philosophical, more colorful and cinematic. Imaginatively directed and sprinkled with all sorts of quirky visual surprises (some of which are directly linked to its title) and surreal ideas (a painting that gets different every time you look at it), it captures the netherworld between dream and reality better than any "Nightmare on Elm Street" movie. And if all the pieces of the puzzle don't fit together at the end (though a second viewing will help you clear up a few details), at least you can feel the director's joy in assembling them anyway. (***)

I really wanted this film to be a "keeper" since I have always been a fan of French actress Anne Parilaud. I usually love the movies she's in (Map Of The Human Heart, La Femme Nikita, Frankie Starlight, Innocent Blood, etc.) but this one did not do anything for me. The story is just poorly done, too far-fetched and in-cohesive. It's also too boring and after awhile, I found I didn't care whether I finished it or not, although I did. I wasn't rewarded, either, because it was a dumb story. Both she and the other lead, played by William Baldwin, played two different characters and none of them were believable.

...15 minutes into this snoozer, I wanted to get my $ back. Baldwin is just too cute, and he is unbelievable as an actor, much less his attempted character. His co-star needs to eat more, get her hair done, and take more acting lessons. I was lost in flashbacks, dreams, the slow pace, and the boring dialog. I'd give this dreamdozer 1 star.