Noirish and sexy
Added 7/2/2009
Perhaps because I first saw this on VHS in the early nineties, I might have an advantage over those who find this movie turgid. OK, there are holes in the basic story of adultery and commerce embodied in the wonderful cast-iron skeletoned building. That is hardly a handicap for the genre. I'm also surprised there are so few mentions of the sexual heat in the scenes between Nick and Jane, beginning with his stumbling around at the party. Let me comment that I often find sex scenes in movies not terribly sexy. However, the scene between Nick and Jane in his hotel room IS sizzling. (I also think Ms. Godley had a good lingerie budget for this scene. ) In additon, as someone who wandered about in Binghamton, NY in the mid seventies, the period buildings in this Southern Tier city have seldom looked so good. ( I wish I knew where that bar is located in the city.) This is a favorite, though flawed movie. It was certainly an early indication of how lively Figgis' imagaination is.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Pointless...
Added 10/24/2008
The dvd plays fine... but why anyone would want to watch this is beyond me. It was boring and fatally pointless. I didn't care enough about the characters to bother trying to follow or figure out the plot. And I'm not someone who only watches movies like Porky's Revenge. I followed Memento and loved it as well as other complex movies. But this... save your money. It doesn't get any worse IMHO.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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A great plot idea succumbs to misguided "art"....
Added 1/13/2008
Yet another film that could have been wonderful but staggers and finally succumbs under the weight of artsy film ambitions. Spoiler: the film's premise of a 30+ year old murder/suicide revisited in a haunting fashion by people connected to it a generation later could have made for a truly compelling story - there are hints of reincarnation and the possibility of changing fate or the danger of reinacting it a second time around.
Characters return, converging to the site of the crime: the Ralston Department Store, now closed and being torn down. Unfortunately, the movie plods along much too slowly. Clues are too slow in coming and too abstractly cloaked in artsy film making. It isn't until the last 20 minutes that things begin to fall into place; The matter of the lone survivor of the crime leaves a problematic element if one accepts the premise of possible reincarnation - maybe transmigration of a soul was intended?
Strangely, the film does pull you to it after you've watched it once and understand what it was trying for. The problem is the lack of action and plodding pace can't hold the attention long enough for most to want to watch it through to the end the first time around.....
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Great film
Added 9/10/2007
I wrote the first Amazon review on the film Liebestraum in 1999 after seeing it first on late night BBC, then buying the director's uncut VHS version. Now 8 years later it is still my all time best movie. Please buy or rent it and see what you think. It is so different in so many ways from any other movie I've seen. For me at least the characters became real people. It is noir, a murder mystery, an interpretation of dreams, but mostly (consistent with the title) a love story. I am fortunate to have loved like Nick and Jane love, and the movie captures the feelings precisely.
1 out of 4 people found this helpful.
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A+ Mystery, Photography,Music,Actors
Added 1/19/2007
Everything about this movie is interesting...I consider it a modern film noir psychological crime mystery with great music (Earl Bostic,for one) and photography of buildings, people, shadow and light. The ending to the mystery is amazing and never suspected by me. Like Vertigo, Sudden Fear, Dead Again, Dead Gorgeous, Seconds, The Talented Mr. Ripley, and others, Liebestraum inspires many viewings for new clues to the mystery.
4 out of 7 people found this helpful.
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Noirish and sexy
Added 7/2/2009
Perhaps because I first saw this on VHS in the early nineties, I might have an advantage over those who find this movie turgid. OK, there are holes in the basic story of adultery and commerce embodied in the wonderful cast-iron skeletoned building. That is hardly a handicap for the genre. I'm also surprised there are so few mentions of the sexual heat in the scenes between Nick and Jane, beginning with his stumbling around at the party. Let me comment that I often find sex scenes in movies not terribly sexy. However, the scene between Nick and Jane in his hotel room IS sizzling. (I also think Ms. Godley had a good lingerie budget for this scene. ) In additon, as someone who wandered about in Binghamton, NY in the mid seventies, the period buildings in this Southern Tier city have seldom looked so good. ( I wish I knew where that bar is located in the city.) This is a favorite, though flawed movie. It was certainly an early indication of how lively Figgis' imagaination is.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Pointless...
Added 10/24/2008
The dvd plays fine... but why anyone would want to watch this is beyond me. It was boring and fatally pointless. I didn't care enough about the characters to bother trying to follow or figure out the plot. And I'm not someone who only watches movies like Porky's Revenge. I followed Memento and loved it as well as other complex movies. But this... save your money. It doesn't get any worse IMHO.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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A great plot idea succumbs to misguided "art"....
Added 1/13/2008
Yet another film that could have been wonderful but staggers and finally succumbs under the weight of artsy film ambitions. Spoiler: the film's premise of a 30+ year old murder/suicide revisited in a haunting fashion by people connected to it a generation later could have made for a truly compelling story - there are hints of reincarnation and the possibility of changing fate or the danger of reinacting it a second time around.
Characters return, converging to the site of the crime: the Ralston Department Store, now closed and being torn down. Unfortunately, the movie plods along much too slowly. Clues are too slow in coming and too abstractly cloaked in artsy film making. It isn't until the last 20 minutes that things begin to fall into place; The matter of the lone survivor of the crime leaves a problematic element if one accepts the premise of possible reincarnation - maybe transmigration of a soul was intended?
Strangely, the film does pull you to it after you've watched it once and understand what it was trying for. The problem is the lack of action and plodding pace can't hold the attention long enough for most to want to watch it through to the end the first time around.....
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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