It's time for a movie review! I thought I was getting the next disc of House from Netflix; instead they sent me this gem (which, to be fair, was next in my queue).
Film: Waking the Dead
Describe the film in one sentence: This film pretty much defies description: it's about an aspiring politician who falls in love with a radical Catholic activist, who is killed (you find this out in the first five minutes -this isn't a spoiler) while aiding Chilean resistance fighters in the U.S., but whose memory haunts him as he runs for a seat in the House eight years later.
Genre: It's part love story, part can't-get-over-my-dead-girlfriend-is-she-possibly-a ghost-or-possibly-not-really-dead story, and part drama about the morality of politics and politicians.
Who should see this film? I would recommend it to people who don't mind stepping a little out of the box. It's an unusual romance, and it's an unusual story about politics. If you go for either of those genres, I would strongly encourage you to take a chance on this film. The set up of the story bears some resemblance to The Constant Gardener - and if you liked that movie, I bet you'll enjoy this one. But whereas The Constant Gardener is about infidelity, trust, and love; Waking the Dead to me focused more on conviction, compromise, the choices we have to make to play politics, and ultimately, the problem of dirty hands: that committing yourself to serving others does not absolve you from having to make morally complex decisions.
Who should not see this film? If you are looking for a movie that fits neatly into a pre-packaged genre, this is not for you. There're also some sex scenes, and a nipple or two - if that makes you squeamish, you should pass.
Do I want those two hours of my life back? Not at all!
Anything else? I put this movie in my queue because it was recommended highly on Ebert & Roeper sometime recently. When it showed up, I was really disappointed because the description made it sound like it was going to be some whiny Ghost kind of movie: some guy who is trying to connect with the ghost of his dead lover, blah, blah, blah. It's nothing like that. This was a deeply moving film without devolving into sappiness or sentimentality. It was successful in large part because of the struggle between the two lovers over politics: is it better to act within the system, or without? This conflict gave the story a surprising depth.
It's no wonder I hadn't heard of the film before Ebert & Roeper's recommendation. If you watch the trailer on the DVD, they tried to sell the movie as Ghost. Because the film defies genre categories, I can see why they would have trouble marketing it. But that shouldn't keep any of you from taking a chance on it yourselves!
Oh - and did I mention that the cast is full of wonderful actors?
Rating on the Knitty Professometer: KnitPicks
Wow - that's some recommendation! I hadn't seen your rating system before now and I'm quite impressed ;-)
Posted by: deb | November 05, 2007 at 11:05 AM
sounds intriguing-have to get that one.Thanks for the tip.
Posted by: olga | November 06, 2007 at 08:31 AM