How European can you get? Set in Turin, Italy, adapted from a screenplay by the late Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski (Three Colours Trilogy, this was meant to be the first in a new trilogy of Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory), directed by German Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) and starring one of, er, Australia�s best actors, Cate Blanchett. Perfect ingredients, and the results are as amazing as you might imagine.
Phillipa Paccard (Blanchett), an English teacher in Turin, attempts to take revenge for her husband�s death on the leader of a local drug gang who also happens to be a powerful businessman. However, the bomb she plants instead kills four innocent people, two children amongst the number. Once captured the police wrongly believe her to be acting as a member of a terrorist organisation. One member of the force however is on her side, Fillipo (Ribisi), a recent recruit, living under the shadow of his father�s reputation, believes he has fallen in love with Paccard and, believing her story, facilitates her escape so she can exact the revenge she intended. However, once together, their intense relationship forces them to flee the city, away from capture.
The opening set piece is tense and flawlessly brilliant yet is unreliable as an indicator of what is to follow. Far from the intense action of Run Lola Run, Tykwer here crafts a different kind of intensity, that of the relationships between the characters, which are deeply emotive and perfectly executed, with the performances utterly faultless. It is filmed lovingly, beautifully, almost poetically, with tremendous drifting views over Turin and the surrounding, breathtaking scenery. The chemistry between Blanchett and Ribisi is really convincing; less in the dialogue, more in the deep, lingering glances. At one point they both shave their heads making them even look rather similar. The score too is wonderfully fitting, all stark piano, and subtle strings.
What is taken away from this film is the forceful, overriding and transcendental power of love, which comes across in far from the cloying, sentimental way it might have in other hands. Here it is almost like a fairytale in the way that their plans work out perfectly to enable the couple to avoid re-capture and their behaviours are fully understood and accepted by their loved ones. The conclusion too is truly beautiful, enough to forgive any small faults along the way. Excellent. |
