Reviews
My Life Without Me (2003)
Directed by a Spaniard
I have found many people on the IMDb not being able to empathyse with the main character the way I did. At first it was only people whom I considered were not making very intelligent remarks, but after a while I noticed some people who seemed to be intelligent and weren't able to empathyse either. After giving the idea some thought, I have come up with the impression that this might have being caused by subtle cultural differences. Coixet, the director and screen-play writer, is from Spain, being more precise, she is Catalan. Up to now she has released three more films, two of them more than acceptable and the third is as good as My life without me. In her films you can always find sensitive female characters (as in this one) that go through some kind of series traumatic events (though not necessarily terminal as in this). In this film and in Thing I never told you, she uses a brilliant resource to let us know more about her characters'm inner world: she uses confessions. In My life without me Sarah Polleys character's records cassettes to congratulate her daughters every birthday until their 18th birthday. Those confessions are absolutely brilliant, they show a sensitivity that is seldom seen in any work of art.
Everyone's performance is exceptional, the two little girls included. Amanda Plummer's performance and character are incredibly funny. I can only recommend you to Give the film a try but always bear in mind that no matter how Anglo-Saxon this film looks, it has been directed and written by a Spaniard, we are not Asian, but ours is still a different culture and you might find some character's actions not as normal as you would have expected.