Fresh and Exciting

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

It is about a boy, who doesn't speak but falls in love with an older girl. As it turns out, her father was murdered. Now her former boyfriend, who is released on parole, stalks her, but nevertheless rescues her from being raped. Fair enough. She is torn between him, the boy and some others, who try to have sex with her. It is a quite strange but due to that fancy story. The film offers more than just the story, it also uses many different ways to talk to its audience. Listen carefully to the song texts. They might not be the best, but add a sometimes funny, sometimes bitter sphere. This bitterness is more than just a stylistic device, it is one of the central themes, as it deals with guilt and the desire of being loved. See it, but be aware that it is a relatively cheap production, so don't await to much in this term.

This was an interesting film with some very quirky characters.Honda (Luka Petrusic) is a tall, thin 14-year-old boy who usually went everywhere at kind of a gallop, and is a mute. He lives in a house on the beach with his sister named Smokey(Labina Mitevska)--he also has a little hideaway in an old boat that has washed up on the beach.Honda has a rather strange hobby of listening constantly to other people's conversations and other activities, and recording them. Honda can even record people in a car not too distant from where he is, and he even has mobile equipment.One day Honda runs into a beautiful young woman named Helen(Rachel Weisz), quite literally. After making her acquaintance, Honda and her become friends.A young man named Martin,(Alessandro Nivola)out of prison and on parole, with whom Helen was previously involved, is stalking her. Smokey, a sultry nightclub singer, who has a very unusual hairstyle, upon meeting Martin, becomes very interested in him.All four of these people have some psychological issues. Helen - has some obvious sexual problems Martin- is a stalker Smokey- is going to bed with every man she encounters. And Honda with his muteness,eavesdropping and obsession with Helen is also in need of Dr. Freud.We discover as the film progresses, why Honda is mute and what transpired between Martin and Helen in the past.How this all concludes was quite surprising and unexpected to me.8 stars

A typical film which the Festival of Perth company shows at the Sommerville [outdoor/deckchair] Auditorium: But by far one of the best in recent years.Cooky enough to keep people interested, but not over the top so people leave before the film's really started (like what I saw in Lost Highway!).Helen, seemingly innocent, involved herself in something she didn't understand. Got her Daddy killed (Natural Born Killers?) by boyfriend who goes to jail.Honda to the rescue. A Mute who uses all kinds of wonderful instruments to tape all sorts of noises. His rock star nympho sister having sex. Helen and DJ Dave getting into it 500 metres away in a car @ the beach, and most importantly, Helen killing Martin in self defence as he "raped" her. Helen is intrigued by Honda who uses all forms of presents to woo his girl.I really enjoyed this film. It really made me think, which is the reason some of us go to the flicks.VERY small cast and even smaller setting made for great tale to be told. Honda stole the film, my girlfriend thought he was great. Helen stole the film for me. She is the sexiest thing I've seen on screen since Elizabeth Shue in Leaving Las Vegas. Though for all the working out she was portrayed to be doing, when she got her gear off, she had rather less muscular legs than you'd think for an "endorphin junkie"! Minor glitch in an otherwise excellent film...

Michael Winterbottom's latest film is definitely unlike everything his done in the past.Deeply influenced by the atmosphere that haunts the films of K.Kieslowski and D.Lynch,he has managed to create such a marvelous erotic and mysterious sensation that truly compensates for the absence of a significant plot.To be rewarded for that,of course,is the renowned photography director Slawomir Idjiak(3 colours,Gattaca) who created the excellent,and sometimes surrealistic,multi-color frames in which the actors told their story.A definite plus to this fascinating film experience is,of course,Elvis Costello's song "I want you" which is bound to never leave your your mind to rest unless you hear it over and over again!