The Sensation of Sight

I saw The Sensation of Sight at Two Boots in New York last week, and I'm still thinking about it. It's a mesmerizing trip into the soul -- funny, moving, frightening and exhilarating. The viewer must be willing to be drawn in - like a marvelous puzzle or mystery, it requires audience participation to yield its treasure. And David Straithairn makes that easy. Every conceivable emotion, thought, confusion, amusement, pain - a deep portrait of man - is all there in his face. His is a phenomenal performance, but he's just the center. Spinning around him are a marvelous, amusing, touching gallery of characters and performances - male and female, old, young, and children. A whole town's soul is exorcised here, and it is beautifully shot. First rate tech.

American cinema doesn't have a history of taking risks. Instead it likes to put movies out into the public like cars on an assembly line. Same car, same make. They just change up the details. What the writer/director does in TSOS is to take risks and take on some difficult issues. Instead of having the actors explain everything as we're going along, he takes the risk of allowing the film to develop on its own.

If you go to watch a film made from Hollywood you might get that "wow" effect... but what about the second, third, fourth time? Do you get more out of each time? Or do you just find the same? With TSOS it's more like a play or novel. There are enough layers that you don't completely understand the story in its full extent until you watch it over and over again. It's like strong medicine and some of the weaker critics who only like "fluff films" and "cheap entertainment experiences" won't appreciate what this film has to offer.

I refuse to reveal anything about this movie because I want you to see it like I saw it, without any knowledge of what it was about. If you haven't seen this film yet, and are about to see it, I envy you.

I loved this film so much that I couldn't even speak to my girlfriend after it was over. I was overcome with emotions that no film has ever revealed in me. My girlfriend said it was probably the best film she was ever seen (!!!!). The next week after seeing it, we brought (no exaggeration) 7 friends to see it with us again. we all sat in the theater for about 15 minutes with the lights on wiping our eyes and talking about it.

I am not expecting everyone to have the same reaction I did, but a lot of these comments on this page are very oddly negative, like in a real angry way. even if it doesn't speak to you, this as a small, thoughtful, extremely well made film that doesn't deserve to be crapped on as if it was Transformers 3.

If you are someone who appreciates films with REAL depth that reward your attention, are not insulting to your intelligence and that are moving in an authentic way, then you will love this film.

If titles are useful indicators of what a film has in store, then The Sensation of Sight must be a very profound 134 minutes. Trouble is, first time director and writer Aaron Wiederspahn's ambitions heavily outweigh his ability to actually make a profound film. As is usually the case, wanting to be profound and actually being profound is an ocean apart and, unfortunately, TSOS is no exception.

TSOS's multiple characters all wear their angst on their sleeves and each of them stumbles through life burdened by their past, tortured in the present and bouncing off each other for the sole purpose of pulling out little bits of profundity from one another. This not so subtle device is used in excess as a means to propel the story and illuminate each enigmatic character's back story one tidbit at a time. But little of TSOS's overt melodrama feels sincere, instead it's authorial voice screams from rooftops at how deep and emotionally powerful the writer's words are. The stabs at deeper meaning are telegraphed through a series of overwrought contrivances, making it very difficult to identify with characters who do unnatural things, spew writerly dialogue and awkwardly interact with one another for the sole purpose of forwarding narrative. In many ways, TSOS is reminiscent of Paul Haggis' Crash, another heavily contrived film that will stop at nothing to prove to you how profound it is. While Crash barely manages to pull off the impossible, TSOS falls short.

Despite it's weaknesses, TSOS does possess a quiet charm, a quality that comes through in it's slow pacing, attention to minutiae and simple yet poetic photography. It also possesses an effectively minimal soundtrack punctuated with occasional injections of indie rock gems. Nevertheless, Wiederspahn's inexperience as a filmmaker seeps into TSOS and it never manages to escape the suffocating voice of its author. There's a good chance Wiederspahn has the tools and the sensitivity to mature into a uniquely talented and individual filmmaker, but unless you've got 2 plus hours to dispense on potential, you might be better off waiting for his next film.

I was able to see 'The Sensation of Sight' when it opened in New York City two weeks ago and I became immediately enraptured by its honesty. Aaron Wiederspahn's screen glows with a certain purity of heart which is exactly what makes this film so different and unique... The lighting is beautiful and the music is used very effectively... Every shot is carefully composed with great attention to detail. The subtle intimate relationships between characters with conflicting needs and how they open up to one another is what makes this film so special to me aside from being technically flawless. The performances are top notch! I highly recommend it.