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Liebestraum
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
THE STRAIGHT DOPE:
Before the gritty self-destruction of Leaving Las Vegas and the arty experimentalism of Timecode Mike Figgis made a career of directing moody pseudo noirs of the type where everyone whispers, has a secret, and smokes like a chimney. His 1991 film Liebestraum contains some sophisticated camera work, a few nice performances, and an interesting plot, but never really escapes the "yes, and?" syndrome. Kevin Anderson plays Nick, a teacher and architect visiting his dying mother (Kim Novak in a glorified cameo) in an unfamiliar town. During his visit he runs into Paul, an old colleague played by Bill Pullman, who is in the process of tearing down a long abandoned building. Nick is drawn to the building both for its architectural significance and for the vague mystery of what lies within its walls. In the process he develops a relationship with Paul's wife Jane (Pamela Gidley). For all the angsty posturing on display Liebestraum never fully gets below the surface. The demons that drive Nick seem strange at first but become increasingly standard for the genre as the film progresses. Still, Anderson and Gidley develop some effective tension and Novak's few scenes are unsettling. Ultimately too many threads are left unexplored and too many themes unexamined for the final revelation to have any real meaning. VIDEO:
Liebestraum is a well shot film with intense scenes filled with dark, brooding imagery. The anamorphic transfer, while not perfect, handles the extreme variations between light and dark well. AUDIO:
The Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack is a bit tough to judge. Much of the dialog is mumbled and the variation between the quiet voices and noisy construction scenes requires a good bit of riding of the volume knob. No English subtitles are included (French and Spanish only) causing some lines to get lost entirely. A French stereo track is included as well. EXTRAS:
A trailer and a ludicrous deleted scene are included. The deleted scene is so ridiculous that it makes the rest of the otherwise pretentious film seems downright sensible. FINAL THOUGHTS:
Of interest to Figgis' fans and those looking for a shadowy film that mixes Chinatown with Red Rock West, Liebestraum does make some interesting viewing but ultimately is not quite as complex as it thinks it is.
Before the gritty self-destruction of Leaving Las Vegas and the arty experimentalism of Timecode Mike Figgis made a career of directing moody pseudo noirs of the type where everyone whispers, has a secret, and smokes like a chimney. His 1991 film Liebestraum contains some sophisticated camera work, a few nice performances, and an interesting plot, but never really escapes the "yes, and?" syndrome. Kevin Anderson plays Nick, a teacher and architect visiting his dying mother (Kim Novak in a glorified cameo) in an unfamiliar town. During his visit he runs into Paul, an old colleague played by Bill Pullman, who is in the process of tearing down a long abandoned building. Nick is drawn to the building both for its architectural significance and for the vague mystery of what lies within its walls. In the process he develops a relationship with Paul's wife Jane (Pamela Gidley). For all the angsty posturing on display Liebestraum never fully gets below the surface. The demons that drive Nick seem strange at first but become increasingly standard for the genre as the film progresses. Still, Anderson and Gidley develop some effective tension and Novak's few scenes are unsettling. Ultimately too many threads are left unexplored and too many themes unexamined for the final revelation to have any real meaning. VIDEO:
Liebestraum is a well shot film with intense scenes filled with dark, brooding imagery. The anamorphic transfer, while not perfect, handles the extreme variations between light and dark well. AUDIO:
The Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack is a bit tough to judge. Much of the dialog is mumbled and the variation between the quiet voices and noisy construction scenes requires a good bit of riding of the volume knob. No English subtitles are included (French and Spanish only) causing some lines to get lost entirely. A French stereo track is included as well. EXTRAS:
A trailer and a ludicrous deleted scene are included. The deleted scene is so ridiculous that it makes the rest of the otherwise pretentious film seems downright sensible. FINAL THOUGHTS:
Of interest to Figgis' fans and those looking for a shadowy film that mixes Chinatown with Red Rock West, Liebestraum does make some interesting viewing but ultimately is not quite as complex as it thinks it is.
Gil Jawetz is a graphic designer, video director, and t-shirt designer. He lives in Brooklyn.
E-mail Gil at [email protected]
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