Now & Later

I liked the film very much. The whole story unfolds under the echo of the word "now". Now we live, love, die, fall and rise. Past is too far and future is hidden behind the dreams. It is such a relief when you realize that the only constant thing in life is the inconstancy. And there is no time enough for regrets and despair, no time for loosing yourself in the cave of greed for getting more and more. You should appreciate every single moment and never forget it is a gift.

The main actors managed to inspire all these thoughts. Same feelings inspired the music and some camera decisions. I liked the scene with the bird-kite. And about the sex scenes I find them erotic, not vulgar or rude.

Angela is the paradigm of free and liberated femininity. An altruistic, intellectual, and sexually independent woman, she chooses her partners the same way she selects a book from her shelf: with curiosity and delicacy. She is an illegal immigrant living in an attic in the heart of Los Angeles, a Nicaraguan with a violent past she is trying to escape. Now she is a nurse, takes care of her own, the helpless, those who truly need her.

Angela is a pragmatic woman who only lives in the here and now, and she makes this clear to Bill, a former American banker tainted by capitalist prejudices and a way of life based on hypocrisy, who crosses her path when she tries to help him and give him shelter while he is on the run from the authorities accused of fraud.

Bill surrenders to Angela's freshness, eloquence, and spontaneity, while the two spend hours chatting and philosophizing about life, amidst acts of love that are foreign or even embarrassing to him. Angela exposes Bill to a no-holds-barred intimacy that, little by little, leads him to love.

"Now & Later" normalizes sexuality as something to be considered everyday. And it shows it without strings attached, without censorship, freely. Meanwhile, the cavern of critics continues to consider this work reprehensible and immoral due to some explicit sex scenes that, in reality, have nothing to do with pornography. This is the kind of hypocrisy Angela refers to several times when she comments on the musty Western way of life.

"Now and Later," without any cinematic pretensions, stands as a valid reference to the social clichés of modern America, using a slow-paced style that invites moon-light reflection as bodies merge and obfuscation disappears.

Comparing the movie to the critic reviews is like talking about another film: this very true and provocative cinematique angle is nearly a threat to todays society, just because it is honest enough. Unlike what is written in the other user reviews, I think that the explicit sex scenes are NOT the main reason why this film has been chopped up by the critics, but they eventuallly add up to all its superficially called "negative points". Briefly:

1. The sex scenes: it is true that a sexually repressed society will eventually turn out being violent and its people being miserable. The film underlines the oxymoron of how we are "taught" to hypocritically "hide" our need for sex and love, as if it is something bad and anethical, whereas in the end, if openly cultivated, leads to self-fulfilment, joy and mental balance. And reduces hatred and violence.

2. The social point of view: The two leads are surrounded by poverty, social discrimination and injustice in what we think is our "modern equal world". And their relationship is indeed determined by those differences, as they both serve as representatives of two opposite social classes, the upper-class banker and the illegal immigrant. Poverty IS a reality and people ARE being exploited to death for others to consume and win millions. And the film cares to remind us that even if the two protagonists don't exist in reality, there are many many people who are like them.

3. The "we are the heroes" part: now this is a turning point in the film. Sadly enough, politics ARE a way of expressing power and greediness, and some countries/ people are the unlucky victims. The main lead, as a former banker, a former "master of the universe", approaches the most painful part of the movie, the realisation that our political leads may not be so "saint" at all, that our country may have erred, that wars are being provoked just for the profit, that a poor country's future may be a toy in the hands of those who are in power (financially and politcally), that people die for others to get richer etc... All those are issues we are trying to forget or neglect or doubt, and this film makes us look straight up to them, or at least it tries.

Some would rather look straight up to the provocative sex scenes, there is, though, i think, a natural coherency between all the issues addressed by the film (the sex, the politics, the freedom, the social critic) that lead up to a compact, intimate and philosophical end result.

P. S. Give it a try and watch it, with honesty and open mindedness. As all authentically non-Hollywood approaches, the characters in this film are not the great heroes we have to admire and immitate. We merely learn from them. Besides, for instance, I don't see why the sexual theme in "Vicky, Chrsistina, Barcelona" should be more justifiable, less shocking or "intellectual" enough to win an oscar and get plenty of praising critic reviews.

I could analyze this film as a critique of the American Dream and a very good one it is.

I could also point out the mass of very good social commentary and analysis of modern Western ethics.

And I'm sure the prudes will be put off by the very intimate sex scenes while the pervy types will be distracted from the story by them. So I could implore you not to let this happen and, instead, just allow these scenes to draw you into a feeling of intimacy with the characters.

I could also go on about how much the two lead actors must have put into this to bring their characters to life so vividly.

But instead I'll just say "Enjoy what is a very beautiful film on several levels".

btw I reserve 10 points for really, REALLY excellent films that stand out well above others. Otherwise I would have given this 10.

This movie is an amazing movie, depicting intense varied emotions. It encapsulates liberation and freedom along with spirituality which is so much the essence of humanity. I found the sex to be so much a natural part, yet which is so often regarded as 'unnatural'to show in our society. The movie really teaches one to get in touch with his own spirituality instead of the dogma we have created for ourselves. A really powerful and enchanting movie, added by the superb acting by Shari Solanis - an actor with unparell emotional appeal. All in all, a must watch movie with kudos to the director and producer and the rest of the cast as well. Definitely 10 points - more if possible.