Love

Solitary confinement aboard a faltering space station isn't blockbuster Hollywood material. Those expecting Bay pyrotechnics will rightfully feel cheated. 'Love' is a film about the human condition, not science, and an unexpected jewel of a film.

Set in the near future, Captain Lee Miller is the first in twenty years to board the ISS space station, assigned to repair and reactivate. Early in the mission all contact with earth is lost after a final apologetic recorded message of 'things going on down here' and advice to hold tight. Interspersed with events from the American Civil War, numerically indexed testimonials and reminisces of random strangers, encroaching hallucinations and madness, 'Love' documents Lee desperately following that advice to the end as ISS fails around him.

'Love' is beautifully shot and beautifully paced. Rare today it treats every character with respect and dignity, always inclusive and never ridiculing. Emotions and reactions ring true. The dialogue is intelligent and real. The score is perfect. It demands attention, setting fleetingly on critical plot elements, not a movie that rewards distractions. A surprise future classic worth seeing.

Maybe in 2039 an ISS will have gravity but I doubt that. I gave it a 5 as it was thought provoking but I don't know if he was seeing things in the end or if it was an explanation for everything before. On the other hand I have not written a review for ages so it did get to me and I think it should be seen by a wider audience and deserves better.

I was hopeful and enthusiastic to see this film but what a disappointment! I wanted to give my benefit of the doubt until the very end but, with all do respect… this film has not a single original thought or frame. Surely, for a beginner-director it may have been a triumph or even just a good effort but for any informed viewer (yet along movie buff), it's has less value than a bubble gum. Orange space suit in Victorian hotel? Really? Come on! Kubrick is spinning in his grave. We already have Space Odyssey 2001. And Moon after that. The only worthy thing was soundtrack - good atmospherics, even though mismatched at times. Sigh… Please, do make anymore of these.

I can't claim to have understood this film. It was very much like a mix between "Moon" and "2001: Space Odyssey". I sort of expected it to be more of a kind with the former, to be honest. I can't stand the latter. Anyway, the film was visually pleasing but I doubt I would have sat through it if not for the main actor. I also liked that they obviously didn't have the money for zero-gravity-simulation-shots but they did not let themselves be deterred by that and if you accept that there are no floating people on the ISS in this film, it's enough that they simply flipped the picture over in some shots to give the illusion of weightlessness. The story went over my head. I did not get the message at the end at all. What does all this have to do with love?! Anyway, Angel and Airwaves did well with the soundtrack. I think I'm going to listen to more of their music. So, this was a philosophical piece, almost as confusing as, but a lot more compact than Space Odyssey. Definitely Art-house material and not really suitable for light entertainment.

Typically I have a soft spot in my heart for Indie and low budget films. When I saw that this film had a decent user rating (at the time of this writing) I thought I might be in for a treat much as I was when I watched other great Sci-Fi Indie films such as "Moon", "Pandorum", "The Man from Earth", "Melancholia" and "Another Earth".

Sadly, I had to force myself to watch this through to its end, in the hope there would be something redeeming to justify the agony of watching what I had already put myself through. While I did not anticipate the "revelation" at the end, it certainly did not leave me whole.

Great films, even if only moderately good, take you on a ride of ups and downs… I am very sorry to say this was just plain boring and full of unnecessary scenes and shots.