fstewart48
Lifetime Total
1+
IMDb Member
11 years
Reviews
Like Someone in Love (2012)
Love it or hate it
Well this seems to be the ultimate 'Marmite' movie, that is, you will either love it or hate it. Personally, I loved it - but then I am willing to invest time and patience in a very languorous, slow-moving movie when it's done in the right way.
A previous reviewer mentioned that he thought that 'Once Upon a Time in Anatolia' was more successful in its use of the slow burn. I felt myself that once that excellent movie moved back to the city it lost that mystical intrigue and bordered on the ponderous.
If I have any criticism of 'Like Someone in Love' it is that I wanted it to go on longer! Most people have mentioned that the abrupt ending comes so unexpectedly and so swiftly that it feels to some like they've been cheated. I can understand that point of view as you want to know how things pan out (and you DON'T) but I don't think Kiarostami is interested in narrative structure in the way that Hollywood would insist upon. His interest lies in identity and concealment and how our behaviour and persona are affected by our relationships with others. And there are not many countries where the real self is more consistently hidden beneath a veneer than Japan.
All in all, I was mesmerised, (partly due to the physical beauty of Rin Takanashi and the fragility of her character. The phone message sequence in the taxi is absolutely heartbreaking.) The look of the film had me transfixed also; the reflections on glass windows and the deliberate physical compartmentalisation of the characters was such a vital part of the film's meaning and was also aesthetically beautiful.
I can't wait to see it again but I know others may feel differently.
A previous reviewer mentioned that he thought that 'Once Upon a Time in Anatolia' was more successful in its use of the slow burn. I felt myself that once that excellent movie moved back to the city it lost that mystical intrigue and bordered on the ponderous.
If I have any criticism of 'Like Someone in Love' it is that I wanted it to go on longer! Most people have mentioned that the abrupt ending comes so unexpectedly and so swiftly that it feels to some like they've been cheated. I can understand that point of view as you want to know how things pan out (and you DON'T) but I don't think Kiarostami is interested in narrative structure in the way that Hollywood would insist upon. His interest lies in identity and concealment and how our behaviour and persona are affected by our relationships with others. And there are not many countries where the real self is more consistently hidden beneath a veneer than Japan.
All in all, I was mesmerised, (partly due to the physical beauty of Rin Takanashi and the fragility of her character. The phone message sequence in the taxi is absolutely heartbreaking.) The look of the film had me transfixed also; the reflections on glass windows and the deliberate physical compartmentalisation of the characters was such a vital part of the film's meaning and was also aesthetically beautiful.
I can't wait to see it again but I know others may feel differently.