Shortly after Anna's announced engagement, one day, at a family birthday
party, a little boy suddenly appears in her apartment. The boy says
he wants to speak to her privately and declares that he is her dead
husband Sean. He insists that she is his wife and that she can't remarry.
Anna's family members are all present at the apartment and now they
all get involved in this dilemma. Sean's parents order him not to bother
Anna again, but he shows up whenever he could. As he starts revealing
details that only her husband might have known, Anna develops a severe
desire to know more about the boy. Eventually Anna is convinced that
the boy is the reincarnation of her dead husband Sean and wants to reclaim
her lost love. She arrives at this decision while watching an opera
performance which she reveals with extra ordinary expression of her
face with bloodshot eyes. Anna pretty much loses her mind and eventually,
the two end up naked in a bathtub. She falls under the spell of the
boy and she finds it impossible to get out of the situation.
Veteran storyteller, Jonathan Glazer, boldly ventures into the delicate
theme of a 30 year old woman in love with a10 year old boy, who she
believes is the reincarnation of her late husband. He portrays Anna's
confusion with an astonishing three minutes shot of her face while she
is watching an opera. He handles the mysterious part of the film, Sean
as a little boy as well as a dead man, very well. He tells the story
with a great gravity and a gentle forward acceleration. He tries to
prove that true love, even survive death.
Nicole Kidman has reconfirmed her extraordinary acting abilities in
her role. As an older woman in love with a younger boy, she has expressed
her love and lust brilliantly, in a natural way. Her performance is
worth an Oscar for the best actress. Cameron Bright, as the little boy
Sean, does an excellent job as a child possessed by a dead man. Definitely
he has a bright future ahead. It is a well acted, beautifully photographed
and artfully edited film. Much has been said about the scene of Anna
bathing naked with the boy. It should have been better if the story
has leapt forward another 11 years or so, so that the boy Sean will
be 21 and an adult. Even though reincarnation is a very touchy issue,
movie leaves a lot of room to think about love, life, death and finally
reincarnation. Definitely, a brilliant theme.
We rate this movie Good.
