Long Time Since

I saw this film sitting in the foreign/art-house section of a local independent video store. I was actually not at all excited about the summary on the back of the cover, but the visuals looked so striking, I had to give it a look.

I found when watching it, the plot was even more unappealing than it was on the cover. The dialogue was unbearable, the acting was dull (accept for maybe the young woman playing phoebe in the end), and the score would appear in awkward snippets. There are long scenes in which you are forced to watch a character, when you have no idea what his relationship is to the rest of the film until the last third. Also, the director seems overly "fade to black" happy.

However (except for one scene in which the characters faces are floating out of frame- which some may call artistic, but I only find aggravating) the movie is visually stunning. The style varies slightly throughout the movie, but only in a a way that is appropriate to the "feel" of each scene.

This film I would not recommend for the average movie fan, or film perfectionists. This movie lacks in many areas- but if you have a passion for cinematography- I believe this is an absolute gem in which your time will be well invested.