I Am Love

The perverse flaws of this film are matched only by its characters' general incompetence at being human. The film debases liberty by suggesting that it consists only in the kinds of personal expression that stem from egoism.

The film text itself contains this sentiment. At one point a brother denies that a gift to his sister is generous by claiming that his motive is selfish: he is happy when he sees his sister happy. Too bad this voice from beyond, the bearer of this genuine insight about ethics, must be slaughtered for the others to be capable of self-respect.

If the film strives to affirm the value of living for oneself, it fails because it portrays autonomy as based in ridiculous violence. If it suggests that love and desire are only possible in constraint, then it's completely corrupt because it fails to differentiate the two. If instead it wishes to punish us for being capable of these tendencies, if it seeks to reveal the logic of our own deeply destructive habits, then it succeeds marvelously but the message must be dredged up with more effort than it would take to have fun being a member of the Recchi family.

Shutter Island

An all around disastrous failure. Oh god. Someone should put all the outstanding prints of this film on an island near Boston and then invite Leo's imaginary arsonist enemy to set them all on fire.

Neither a compelling drama nor a successful psychological thriller, this film tries and fails to develop any legitimate suspense. Lightening? Scary music? Low angle pans in the woods? It verges on farce. Minutes in I found myself wishing the film could have been re-written as a send off or dark comedy. It probably would still have been a failure, but at least I wouldn't have been the only one laughing at the tear-stained face of a man momentarily tricked by his psychiatrist into believe that his delusions were real.

A Serious Man

It's not exactly clear what this film sets out to accomplish. Dark comedy? Maybe. But its protagonist's breathless search for answers, and his confusion about suffering, fate and free will makes it a tragedy.

And as a tragedy I think it's a wonderful film. Aside from the Rabbis, no character is spared imminent pain, suffering, or death. The agent of catastrophe appears natural in all cases (tornado, disease), but in fact the implication is that individual deceit or moral failing is responsible.

The reference here is thus not the Job story, but rather classical Greek theatre, where characters witlessly play a role in their own undoing. In this light, the film is an elegant culmination of the era of Jewish anxiety. It's not just neurosis--fear of failure guarantees failure--that is the engine behind horrible events. The serious man's sin is hubris, seeking knowledge beyond its natural bounds.