USA
2011/35mm/91mins — AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
WEDNESDAY 26 OCTOBER 7.30 PM – BUY!
Second screening
Saturday 29 October 2.00 pm – BUY!
Reprise screening Saturday 5 November 2:00 PM – BUY!
With Canberra actor Mia Wasikowska in the lead, this is a delicate, tender and quirky story of two people finding love amongst death.
Enoch is a young man who likes going to funerals. Eccentrically morbid, his only friend is Hiroshi – the ghost of a WWII Kamikaze pilot – until he meets Annabel. And, although she is being treated for cancer, she is smart and adorable, an independent spirit and student of nature. The two form an instant bond, dealing in their own idiosyncratic ways with the challenges of life, love and death.
“a gently moving hymn to life … Wasikowska anchors the film with another charismatic performance.”
Mike Goodridge, Screen Daily
“Gus Van Sant charmingly takes on young love” Stephanie Zacharek, MovieLine
Writer Jason Lew
Director Gus Van Sant
Producers Brian Grazer, Bryce Dallas Howard, Ron Howard
Cast Mia Wasikowska, Henry Hopper, Ryo Kase
Print Source Sony Pictures Australia
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Two teenagers fall in love, one has a brain tumor and she only has 3 months to live. Not exactly an original premise for a film but when Gus Van Sant releases a new movie you know you’re in for something unique. An avid Gus Van Sant fan, I was looking forward to this film and I was particularly excited to see Canberra’s Mia Wasikowska in yet another major American movie. However, it is clear Gus Van Sant did not write this film because it lacks a certain level of originality that is present in his other films such as My Own Private Idaho and Elephant. But overall it is a lovely film, with an unsurprisingly excellent performance by Mia Wasikowska and a charming performance by Henry Hopper. I did find it thoroughly predictable but I still enjoyed it and I found this couple very sweet to watch.
My only other problem with this film is the character of Annabel’s seemingly healthy condition when she is supposed to be dying of a aggressive brain tumor. I guess that is what they call “movie cancer”.
3 stars.