Long Day's Journey Into Night

An unexpected gem, reminded me of early Wim Wenders or Jadorowsky. Obviously it's not a linear plot set in everyday reality, something that some reviewers seem to have not understood. It's metaphysical references resonate more and more strongly - mortality and transience, love and loss. It's disconcerting and haunting, very original.

The first half is already pretty interesting, and then the second half I think is what makes this special. It's a crazy technical achievement, having one take that lasts nearly an hour, and to incorporate both a child actor and an animal into it was insane, if the old adage about not working with children or animals is to be believed.

But the first half shouldn't be discarded, as it contains some striking imagery and a few scenes that themselves are comprised of li takes (just not nearly as long as that final long take).

It's hard to say what this is about sometimes, and I think I began finding it more engaging when I stopped worrying too much about the plot. It works well enough as an experience - with its impressive visuals and the excellent and haunting music - to satisfy.

This film (which bears absolutely no resemblance to the well-known play with which it shares a title) is first and foremost an art film. Rather than containing a logical story, it is more about mood, tone, and memory. But it captures those things about as well as any film ever has.

It borrows a great deal from previous films in the art genre, including THE MIRROR as well as the films of Wong Kar-wai and Apichatpong Weerasethakul. So if you enjoy those kinds of films, this one is for you. It also has one of the best dream sequences of all time. Recommend for fans of Asian art films.

I had a hard time following the first half of the movie, it felt more like shattered memories than cohesive story/narrative. It felt to long although it had it's moments like the karaoke part... Then that one hour long take came and it blew me away. The camerawork and visuals in this movie are astonishing, it added to that hypnotizing feeling of the whole movie. With few rewatched the rating might go up!

I was ten years old in 1953 during the first heyday of 3-D movies. In the years since the novelty wore off, I have been sadly disappointed how few and far between memorable ones have been. WINGS OF COURAGE, POLAR EXPRESS, HUGO, AVATAR, THE FINEST HOURS and this film are pretty much the lot. Nevertheless, there is ubiquitous movie house 3-D capability, and lots of cheesy up-conversions of films made neither in nor for 3-D to occupy them. Alas, serious film makers have generally concluded that 3-D adds too little value to be worth the trouble.

LONG DAY'S JOURNEY is a live action evocation of a Munga-style comic. The second half is a dream sequence, set apart by what must be the first 3-D ever done with steady-cam. The story and characters did not particularly resonate with me. The many filmgoers who have never had the opportunity to see the "classics" of 3-D properly exhibited can recapture a good deal of the excitement here.