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Import from the Netherlands which plays in English no subtitles. SUMMARY: A jazz saxophonist loses his capability to play when he is injured in a shooting at a café where he was playing. He sinks into depression when everyone charges in to take care of him, including his ex-wife. However, he discovers a stone with a telephone number attached. Returning the stone, he meets a young aspiring actress who in one of those film coincidences is listening to his music. Soon the two begin an affair which is fouled by his over-obsessiveness with her which costs them both a job at a restaurant.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I loved this film. I also love the books of Paul Auster, the writer of this movie. It's really mysterious and very well acted especially by Keitel in one of his best performances ever. A very different, intelligently put together film that will leave you thinking about it over and over days after you see it. If you like this then seek out Auster's books and other films he's worked on too.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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24 reviews
29 of 33 people found the following review helpful
A terrific movie--but could have been a great movie
24 Oct 1999
I don't want to give away the ending, but this whole movie takes place on the bridge between life and death. I think it may be Auster's best work since the New York Trilogy. It has all the nested levels of reality that those novels had and which sort of got lost in his later books. It also points up an important paradox in Auster's universe of paradoxes: You can accept a world run by chance without being a cynic. This film is all about paradox. There is a blurring or merging of opposites: The magic stone is both a love potion and Pandora's box; Izzy is both a rotten bastard and Sir Galahad; Celia is both a true hearted girl and Lulu; the movie itself is both romantic and existential, etc. In Auster's world--as in the real world--everything contains a little of its opposite, so that in the end no definition holds up. But this chaotic symmetry is spoiled by the final cut. Celia's dark side is shown in the movie within the movie, a remake of G.W. Pabst's 1928 film Pandora's Box (based on Wedekind's play, like Berg's opera), and these scenes of the movie being made, with Celia as Lulu, are a prominent part of Auster's script. They were shot and were still in the film during postproduction interviews given by Auster and even the film editor. But between then and the time the movie was released for rental, all those Lulu scenes got cut out! I can easily see how this would have happened in the old Hollywood studio system. Some bottom-line weasle would have considered these scenes a distraction from the rest of the movie simply whacked 'em out without consulting the director. But in this case Auster and his producer seem to have had complete control over the project, so I can only conclude that Auster himself must have done the cutting, or at least agreed to it. Why, Paul?! If anybody has any info on this, please write to me. This movie is a good as "Smoke"--better in my opinion--but it could have been great without the cuts.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Highly Enjoyable
26 Oct 2003
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
How do I describe this film? Let's just say it's the end that makes this film (I believe direct to video) most interesting. I have a theory about the life we lead and about each moment of that life. What is real and what isn't? How long a moment last? What may seem a second to the ordinary person, could be a whole lifetime to someone else. Whether it's the first thought in your head or the last thought before you blink out of existence. With that said, you might think that this film explores that. Perhaps, perhaps not. It's what you think that happened. It's what you get out of this picture. This is one of those films that warrants follow on discussions after you see it. Especially for those who may go on to psychological, or better yet, philosophical endeavors. Harvey Keitel plays a man who hasn't had such a pleasant life and he gets shot one day. During his recovery, he has a change of heart. He meets Mira Sorvino. Because he thinks he has met the perfect person things start to change for him and for her. It's gets to be your basic love story. Ah, but there is a twist (or is it really a twist). That is all I am going to say about this film. Rent it, catch it on cable and enjoy this well-made film. It may be slow for some, but I think the pay off (in my opinion only) is worth it.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Mixed emotions...
21 Aug 2001
Everyone acted excellent, but I was a little dissapointed with the ending. I know it's supposed to be abstract and all, but I've seen films which were just as abstract, yet had a more satisfying ending. But I do recommend the film, regardless of the ending. For anyone who has ever been in love with another (and I mean requited and unconditional love), the sincere love scenes will really hit home, and are worth watching. Surprisingly, even though the two fall in love the first day they meet, it is all believable and real, and not contrived at all. Very intense emotions. By the way, if you like Keitel in this one, rent "Holy Smoke".
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