The Roads Not Taken. (12A.)
Directed by Sally Potter.
Starring Javier Bardem, Elle Fanning, Branka Katic, Milena Tscharntke, Laura Linney and Salma Hayek. Partly subtitled. In cinemas. 85 mins.
If there are an infinite number of universes, splintered realities formed every time we make a decision, then there must be a few where Javier Bardem looks happy, makes cheerful films and, on occasion, smiles. Some, but not many. For him, the multiverse is a series of glass half empties.
Here he flicks between three alternate realities, in each of which he is miserable. (there was to be a fourth in which he was in a relationship with Chris Rock but that got ditched in the editing.) In one he is married to Salma Hayek, which you might expect to put a bit of wind into his willow, but in that reality they are grieving for a lost son. In another he is an author of upbeat children books – no of course not, he's a suffering artist. In the main one, presumably the real one from which the other two are imagined, he is suffering from some form of dementia, living in a crummy New York apartment and being helped around town by his daughter (Fanning.)
The incredibly drab choice of title is indicative of the lack of interest and energy with which the film tackles its subject. The film has nothing to reveal other than he made a couple of choices that profoundly affected his life but, hey ho, it would have turned out badly whichever path he took. The film seems as sapped and deflated by this conclusion as the audience. That's some sedentary nihilism for you.
Directed by Sally Potter.
Starring Javier Bardem, Elle Fanning, Branka Katic, Milena Tscharntke, Laura Linney and Salma Hayek. Partly subtitled. In cinemas. 85 mins.
If there are an infinite number of universes, splintered realities formed every time we make a decision, then there must be a few where Javier Bardem looks happy, makes cheerful films and, on occasion, smiles. Some, but not many. For him, the multiverse is a series of glass half empties.
Here he flicks between three alternate realities, in each of which he is miserable. (there was to be a fourth in which he was in a relationship with Chris Rock but that got ditched in the editing.) In one he is married to Salma Hayek, which you might expect to put a bit of wind into his willow, but in that reality they are grieving for a lost son. In another he is an author of upbeat children books – no of course not, he's a suffering artist. In the main one, presumably the real one from which the other two are imagined, he is suffering from some form of dementia, living in a crummy New York apartment and being helped around town by his daughter (Fanning.)
The incredibly drab choice of title is indicative of the lack of interest and energy with which the film tackles its subject. The film has nothing to reveal other than he made a couple of choices that profoundly affected his life but, hey ho, it would have turned out badly whichever path he took. The film seems as sapped and deflated by this conclusion as the audience. That's some sedentary nihilism for you.
