Last Words

It's 2086 in a post-apocalyptic world. Kal believes that he is the last man on Earth. Two years earlier, he is roaming the world with his pregnant sister. She gets killed and then he encounters reclusive film collector Shakespeare (Nick Nolte). They find a surprising farming community led by Batlk (Charlotte Rampling) and former surgeon Zyberski (Stellan Skarsgård).

This is an artsy post-apocalyptic movie. It's long. The first half is slow. There are some interesting bits but mostly, it's not that compelling. It's not the first time in the movies that cinema is seen as the salvation of civilization. In a small aside, Nick Nolte's I Remember speech wouldn't make sense unless his character is over 100 years old. It's careless writing and indicative of the general level of writing.

Show your displeasure with the film industry by avoiding this clinker. The movie "Last Words" is a modern journey into morbidity and self-disgust. It starts going downhill around the halfway point and never recovers. I think the script writer must have suffered a mental breakdown.

As a matter of personal preference, I do not watch R rated movies. I chose this movie for two reasons ; one it was a featured selection at Cannes film festival and two it was PG-13. IT IS NOT PG - 13!! There is full frontal male and female nudity. Not just for a brief flash but for full scenes. There's also a female to male rape. There is also an extended close-up of the genitals of a hermaphrodite.

It's a dystopian movie that takes place in 2085 but the dates do not add up. Nick Nolte talks about seeing a rock concert in 1975-- that would make him over 115! This could've been a really interesting movie. Well it WAS an interesting movie but the fact that they threw in those completely unnecessary nude scenes ruined it for me.

I am dying of pancreatic cancer right now so for me, this film had a special poignancy. If you care about humanity and appreciate living every moment in the present, you are likely to enjoy this film. It's also about the joy and power of film to document people's existence on this planet.

Kudos to the director for including so many delightful film clips, especially the clip from a rarely seen interview with Dennis Potter. Most of the clips are well-known such as Monty Python, Buster Keaton, etc.

I honestly don't know what "Last Words" was about. There's no story, and nothing much happens. I watched it at three times the speed and was still thoroughly bored by the slow pacing.