Directed by:
Giuseppe TornatoreScreenplay:
Giuseppe TornatoreCinematography:
Fabio ZamarionComposer:
Ennio MorriconeCast:
Geoffrey Rush, Jim Sturgess, Sylvia Hoeks, Donald Sutherland, Philip Jackson, Dermot Crowley, Kiruna Stamell, Liya Kebede, Caterina Capodilista, Gen Seto (more)VOD (2)
Plots(1)
Virgil Oldman is a solitary, cultured man whose reluctance to engage with others, especially women, is matched only by the dogged obsessiveness with which he practices his profession of antiques dealer. He's never been close to another human being, not even Robert, his only friend – a young, skillful restorer of mechanical devices from every era. The day he turns sixty-three, Virgil receives a phone call from a young woman who asks him to handle the disposal of some family works of art. But when the time comes for his first site visit, the girl fails to appear, nor, for various reasons, is she present for the taking of the inventory or for the transportation and restoration of the pieces.
More than once Virgil is tempted to bow out of what appears to be nothing but a bothersome mess, but on each occasion, the mysterious young woman, locked in her own obsessional world, convinces him to continue. And with this, the old antique dealer's life begins to take an unexpected turn. It is Robert who shows him, step-by-step, how to win the heart of a young woman who is afraid of the world and, caught in the middle of this puzzling game of chess, Virgil soon finds himself enveloped by a passion that will transform his grey existence forever. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (10)
Like his hero, Tornatore is a bit of a museum exhibit, to whom the information age must seem like a deceitfully wounding enemy and film as an intimate room of certainty. Emotionally, the film stopped affecting me (intentionally) in the excessive second third, and whilst the twist is well thought out and well prepared, the conclusion is unnecessarily long and literal. Excellent actors (the duets of Rush - Sturgess / Rush - Sutherland are decorative), visually, it’s a great splendor (the reference to Sorrentino is not accidental - he and Tornatore still believe in the power of unnecessary gestures), and the musical background is perhaps too sentimental. A pleasant museum of nostalgia, folly and defensive detachment from reality. I liked the motifs of the thirteenth room, the automaton, and the truthful dwarf the most in this somewhat mechanical metaphor of uncertainty, creativity, and destructiveness of emotion.
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What a phenomenal film fake. It's not about the finale or the structure of the screenplay, whose twist is predictable from halfway through. Focus on the captivating camera, life the themes and truths, Geoffrey Rush's performance, and the pure emotions. A film about love with all its positives and negatives, it only matters whether it works out or not. And at the same time, it points out that nothing may be as it initially seems. Absolutely complex, a masterpiece.
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I am sincerely sorry for the staff of that dive of a Prague beer bar Pivnice U Milosrdných; I can just see how tourists look in there curiously and then wonder “where has that sumptuous, stylish interior from that great but really depressing movie gotten to?" And I hope that Polanski sees it (the movie, not the beer) to learn in just half an hour what an adaptation of Club Dumas should look like.
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It's a shame about the predictability in the last half hour, because there's really only one possible conclusion after the room (room with a capital R) is revealed. The first ninety minutes, however, are brilliant in terms of building the mysterious atmosphere, aided of course by Morricone's strangely minimalist yet perfectly fitting soundtrack. Despite the final predictability, however, this is an interesting contribution to the genre that mystery drama lovers should definitely not miss.
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I wasn't attracted to the film at first (art, drama, romance are not my thing), but Giuseppe Tornatore is awesome, and there is little that disappoints in his direction. The film has charming sets, antiques and furniture, decent actors and although it’s slower, the final twist is unbeatable. 80%
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