★ 10 / 10
Truly an amazing movie. Such a unique story
Brian W
Truly an amazing movie. Such a unique story and truly moves you and speaks to the power of love. One of my favorites!
Truly an amazing movie. Such a unique story and truly moves you and speaks to the power of love. One of my favorites!
★ 9 / 10
Beautifully shot and acted. At times ethereal and
Andy K
Beautifully shot and acted. At times ethereal and enigmatic. Always interesting and engaging. Would highly recommend
Beautifully shot and acted. At times ethereal and enigmatic. Always interesting and engaging. Would highly recommend
★ 9 / 10
I would like to try and interpret the
Marco M
I would like to try and interpret the meaning of an important element of the story; I have not found it explained in the critics' reviews that I have read (I…
I would like to try and interpret the meaning of an important element of the story; I have not found it explained in the critics' reviews that I have read (I have not read all). There will necessarily be spoilers in my review. I am going to focus on the characters of Ada, Souleimani, and Issa.
In the movie characters appear with whitened pupil and iris. First it is only a group of women, then also this happens also to detective Issa. The phenomenon seems to be reversible, i.e., it is for Issa.
The movie does not explain explicitly what this entails. My interpretation is that whitened eyes correspond to a situation where these living persons are visited by the souls of the dead youngsters, who flee by boat at the beginning of the movie, and then die in a shipwreck. The group of women subjected to this event are the girl friends and partners of the dead men; in fact the women with whitened eyes try and get money for their dead partners from the building contractors, who had not paid them.
Then also Issa experiences the same phenomenon, which is preceded by strong physical distress, and happens for the first time after a confrontation with Ada, whom he is suspecting for arson. My interpretation is that Issa is visited by Souleimani's soul. The reason is that Issa is actually falling in love for Ada, and Souleimani find in Issa a companion soul. This is evident towards the end, when finally Issa and Ada first hug, then kiss, then make love. During the first phase of the unveiling of their tentative love, they hug and kiss in a room with a mirror, where we see in real life Ada and Issa hugging, who are reflected in the mirror by Ada and Souleimani hugging; I believe that this represents the transition from Ada's past life, which is not possible any more because Souleimani is dead, to the new one, where she and Issa fall in love with each other.
The arc of the movie goes from when Ada is promised to Omar, whom she despises, but loves Souleimani, to when Ada has succeded in getting rid of Omar (indirectly thanks to Souleimani's death) and is ready to start a new independent life, possibly with Issa (though the movie does not have an obvious happy end).
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Bluray version has audio