This movie actually rocked - It's All About Love (2003) Discussion

I agree.

reply

[–] MadBird 18 years ago

I second (third?) that.. This was a really well-done movie. But I can understand why it would not be for everybody. The pacing and the metaphores is not something modern moviegoers are used to (sadly), but all in all it is a beautiful piece of art (if i may be so bold)..and the good thing about art is that not everybody has to get it :)

reply

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] NoMoreGwyneth 18 years ago

Pfft! Yep, should have made it entirely Danish, and then I would have avoided it in the video store like I wish I had.

Stop hating on the Americans. You sound like a pretentious git.

"In Heaven, all the interesting people are absent." -Evelyn Waugh

reply

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] evilive1029 18 years ago

hey *beep* Im American and I liked this movie alot. I also hate 'romantic tear jerkers' and happy endings. so why dont you take your racist ass the *beep* out of here you ignorant *beep* I'll bet you have absolutely no taste in film (or theater) so go back to your *beep* Dansih films.

Now, back to the board, I agree that this movie was very well done. It is confusing on a first watch but after a second watch it was actually quite simple to decifer. Great movie, Great performances

reply

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] lunapriestess 18 years ago

I agree that most Americans are simple minded. It's very sad to me that with all the content of the movie that people would think it was boring. Too many go in with all these expectations.

Look at how people were lying dead, in the middle of the streets, and everyone simply walked over/around them. I think that's a perfect take on how ignorant and passive most humans are. I find it upsetting that people also put expectations on actors to be a certain way, play certain roles. Neither of the main actors have done mainstream films (unless you want to include Signs and Romeo&Juliet).

It always amazes me that so many people are so closed off. Not willing to see that there is more to what they think they are seeing. ~sighs~

I give tremendous kudos to Vinterberg for putting his passion and thoughts into action. Incredible movie.

reply

[–] jseidt 18 years ago

ALL THESE EXPECTATIONS????? What, expecting that a movie would actually have a plot or at least some sort of discernable direction? I guess it's not boring if you spend your time watching it trying to figure out what the hell is going on - i.e., murder in the ice skating arena cuts to 3 main characters standing in the middle of Siberia? Oh, and how convenient is it for the film that ONLY Uganda "loses gravity" - it is physically impossible for a single country to "lose gravity" because gravity is based on the mass of the EARTH. This makes absolutely no sense.

This simple-minded American is pissed off that she wasted $2.14 and 2 hours to watch this "incredibly" AWFUL film. I should've passed over this DVD as if it were a dead person lying in the middle of the street in 2021.

reply

[–] kreative-1 18 years ago

I have a lot of expectations when I go to a movie. One of those expectations is that I must be forced to think while I am entertained. Yes, once in awhile I like to be "brainlessly" entertained by a movie, but I love it when a movie truly makes me contemplate. Way too many times have I been able to predict what happens because movies have become entirely too predictable. This movie was hard to predict.

I really enjoyed this movie. It doesn't matter if the things in this movie don't really happen now (or physically can't). It was set in the future, which means that reality isn't necessarily what it is right now. (Can I say flying cars?...or flying people for that matter)

I love the whole metaphor of the movie. The title says it all...It's All About Love. Don't just think love between a man and woman because this movie was about so much more than that. It's about the love between a husband and wife, yes, but also family and strangers. This movie is a commentary on our society. We don't care about one another anymore and we've all become cold. We're selfish and we only think about ourselves. That's why the world changes in the movie. Don't you think that it was strange that everyone was so cold about the dead people? To me, that's some strong commentary on our society.

reply

[–] samayres 18 years ago

I don't even think you have to be a thinker!!!!

I got the message straight away:

There isn't enough love in the world and if you try to escape the society you can't survive in isolation.
But its probably better to freeze to death than be part of a society that sells you out to die in the street.

Thats not complicated. Although America is a bit short on understanding at the momment.

Of course!!! You Americans are too used to being drip fed your movie plots from Hollywood, and too used to having your egos massaged into being told that an illegal war with Iraq is actually a hard but right decision to make. (It's not)

See simple.

Think about love for a change. Instead of all that Terminator sh*t.
Give me a Vinterberg film everyday of the week. Its worth ten Hollywood films.

reply

[–] Creature13 18 years ago

For all the terrible reviews I read before hand I actually thought it
was a beautiful film. It was like watching an exotic and bizarre ballet
that you can only truly appreciate if you pay attention. But it was so
artfully filmed and the music was so haunting it pulled me right in.
He's beautiful, she's beautiful and it was good to see a movie with
some imagination to it rather than the formula many scripts follow.

P.S. I AM an American!!!!! :)

reply

[–] les-107 18 years ago

Just like to add my comment of appreciation of this film. I too found it excellent on many levels, and beautifull too. Danes performance was so good.

reply

[–] JustaSideOrderOfLove 18 years ago

IT'S A GREAT FILM!

i just bought it!
and i love it!

JustaSideOrderOfLove
Joaquin lovin since 1986!
Vegans Make Better Lovers!

reply

[–] getahungirma 18 years ago

I thought it was terrible, and every person who thought it was thought-provoking has failed to explain one thing: what was the film about? Why were there so many things which really, really didn't make any sense? There are often people who say, 'You don't have to understand it,' but in that case the writer can just include absolutely anything at all, however random, meaningless and nonsensical, and as long as it is filmed stylishly and with beautiful music, people will accept it as part of the film. See Salvador Dali's film "Un Chien Andalou" for a film which was deliberately nonsensical, and because people didn't want to admit that they didn't understand it, they lauded it as a masterpiece.
Someone on this thread described the scenes of people people stepping over others in the street as a metaphor for human's coldness. First of all, that isn't a difficult 'metaphor' to create. You see it everyday in most towns and cities. Secondly, Sean Penn keeps telling someone (this isn't clear, but hey, we're not supposed to think about things like this) that this is a 'beautiful world'. So what are we supposed to think? No doubt someone will 'explain' that it shows the 'duality of mankind', but in actual fact there was no reason for his part in the film. The characters were wooden, the dialogue was unwieldy and contrived, and the script random, pretentious and directionless. Please, if anyone can explain all the individual set-pieces to me, I may change my mind, but it would take a lot of convincing. I love non-Hollywood films as much as anyone here who likes this film, but my opinion is: this film is a well-packaged mess.

reply

[–] gandzetina 18 years ago

"...and every person who thought it was thought-provoking has failed to explain one thing: what was the film about?"

It's all about love, honey, it's al about love...

(personal thought: is it so hard to understend????????)

reply

[–] mahoba 18 years ago

Thanks for the review.
I have the flick sitting on my desk and I dont think I'll bother watching it. I still feel bitter towards Jim Jarmusch for Broken Flowers. EECKKK!

I really have NO interest in movies that force me to guess what the point of the movie was. I can use my own imagination to dream up much more interesting things/ideas than a few actors on a screen.

Now Wes Anderson I am happy to give a few hours of my life to!

reply

[–] BKrue927 18 years ago

I agree this movie was AWFUL! And I am a big fan of Joaquin. But I sure couldnt figure this one out.....awful, awful. But I commend those that liked it and understood. I bought the movie too but wished I hadn't

reply

[–] ripcrd 18 years ago

You are right on with your review. Just like my review. In stead of clones or cyborgs, they should've had zombies and lots of blood. That would've fixed it. Like Shaun of the Dead. hehe

I did get that the random snow scenes were related to the cie skater in the snow globe, but why?

reply

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] whiskey147 18 years ago

Its wasnt't supposed to make "scientific" sense, the film is an allagory.
I adore this film. I saw it on Sundance. I thought the color schemes and cinamatography were excellent. And I thought the acting was on par with an exception that Miss Daines accent was non existent in some scenes and overly strong in others.

I pitty the prior poster that hasn't studied enough of artistic expression to now what metaphors, allagory, displacements, and creative comparisons are.

This film is not a "hollywood" method film; it goes to the other side of film-making that is art and self-expression. Uganda now is one of the most desolate and emotionally disturbing places on the planet. Hence it loses gravity first. Theoretically any country like Uganda, Bangladesh, Columbia (has the highest murder rate) or Mali could have been used.

Whether the events make sense geologically or scientifically isn't important. Its the soul of the lovers that could or couldn't be that imparts a greater meaning.

If you can't see that than you might as well be the body lying on the street that someone steps over. Or not, not every American is as callous as you... certainly not I.

reply

[–] tino_trivino 18 years ago

Hey people calm down... I am a student of cinematografic directions arts and I must say I am agree, the Amercian Movie Business are very, how can i explain it: very unculturally, but they have a big Budget and a big industry, but I think the European film Industry is soooooooooooo intelligent and we could be proud about it...

The Amercians (the older generations) a very cold-war-minded and very America-is-the-best-culture minded, but I think we must speak also about the newer generations, and dont forgett the 41 millones hispanos ;-)

But dont insult a culture, that is not good :-)
Tino from Spain Madrid

http://spaces.msn.com/tinotrivino

reply

[–] missmelissa80 18 years ago

I am American and I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. One thing I see a lot of in these message boards is people grouping "all americans" together as "small-minded" and "ignorant" Stereotyping a whole nationality like that in itself is incredibly small-minded and ignorant. It takes all sorts to make up an entire country, and no individual is exactly alike, and that goes for every country all over the world. When you assume that people from a certain country are "all alike", it just shows that your way of thinking is very hypocritical.

reply

[–] taghne 17 years ago

Oh my der, americans do that all the time. You do call terrorist to any muslem, drug dealers to any colombian and illiterate to any mexican. How do you expect to be treated then?

reply

[–] danglazebrook2000 18 years ago

A few questions -

1) Who shot the clones? Was it Morrison for David, Morrison for Michael, or what? And had they intended to get the real Elena?

2) Why did they get off the train in the middle of nowhere?

3) Were the clones ´psychic?´ Weren´t they saying things ("get away") that Elena said long before she had actually said them?

4) Whose side was Betsy on? Elena´s?

5) Were people dying because of some kind of high blood pressure brought about by the cold temperature (combined with missing their loved ones)?

By the way, I don´t know why people are being so rude about the Americans - ALL settler colonies need mindless garbage to keep their mind off their genocidal existence. And it´s not like British popular culture (or foreign policy) is much to be proud of!

reply

[–] evilive1029 18 years ago

Why dont all of these *beep* "American Haters" go *beep* their mothers. The board is here to discuss a movie, not bash on someone else. I could do it too... I could say that the British are *beep* sissys, I could say the Danish can suck my balls..... but I'll take the higher road and not say these things ;)

reply

[–] bytheknife 18 years ago

I completely understand that there are people out there who will love this movie regardless of the content, quality or subject matter due to the fact that this is a non-mainstream film. Or they may have actually enjoyed it. I'm not trying to convince anyone otherwise or bash thier opinions. (Although you should all be ashamed of your behaviour. Isn't the point of posting one of these pretentious comments to sound thoughtful and mature?

ANYWAYS!

I personally feel that this was a good movie but that was about it. I agree with past comments that Joaquin's accent was off and on and Sean Pean's was a cocktail of euro accents. But everything started to make sense when I read through the credits and didn't see a dialect coach anywhere.

As far as the metaphors in the movie went, I thought that they were completely spelled out. The themes were obvious and ever-present. What bothered me most was how choppy the plot was. There is an art involved in tying things together and making things run smoothly. This would have been an excellent film if they had ironed out a few of the kinks.

It could have been brilliant but I think Vinterberg took on too many ideas and tried to cram them into one film. But perhaps he knew this, afterall joaquin phoenix, claire danes, and sean penn are three names that carry alot of star power whether we want to admit it or not ( and I love them all), they are what made me so forgiving in watching this.

reply

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] trag-1 18 years ago

Okay, can someone explain to me what happened between Michael and John near the end of the film? I get that there must have been some kind of betrayal involved, and maybe one doesn't really need to know more than that. But the few characters that were shown in Michael's calendar really didn't explain what in the world was going on. I guess the name Morrison was there, but that could have been there for any number of reasons, and unless I'm mistaken, John never saw Morrison at the rink.

reply

[–] hernangalvan79 18 years ago

Okay, can someone explain to me what happened between Michael and John near the end of the film? I get that there must have been some kind of betrayal involved, and maybe one doesn't really need to know more than that. But the few characters that were shown in Michael's calendar really didn't explain what in the world was going on. I guess the name Morrison was there, but that could have been there for any number of reasons, and unless I'm mistaken, John never saw Morrison at the rink.

Her brother tells Morrison where she's gonna skate that day. He insists to take her there first, before the trip, so Morrison could kill her.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sorry about my english.

It's not about being european or american, it's about people who watch movies for entertainment or people who apreciates movies as an art form. I loved this movie, and all the metaphors in it. So, if you couldn't understand it, please don't say it's bad, admit that you are not smart or sensible enough to understand it. Im sure that Peen, Vinterberg or Claire Danes (she directed an awsome movie called trouble every day), they know much more about cinema art than you.

reply

[–] rickson-gracie 17 years ago

Yes, but you have to agree that Americans are generally quite shallow and their appreciation of art, especially cinematographic art, is somewhat lacking. I don't know if this is a product of constantly being fed mindless drivel by their TV channels (even the news is censored!) or if its something in the water, but I know that when trying to make up my mind about watching a film I'll try to ignore all the American posts and stick with those from the rest of the world. Its nothing personal, just a dawning realisation that if it doesn't have big guns and a very simple plot it will generally get bad reviews from a simplistic American audience. I frankly expect more constructive criticism from my 12-year-old niece. It WAS a great film, had me totally spellbound all the way through!

reply

[–] shall84 17 years ago

Er...'Trouble Every Day' was directed by Claire DENIS, not Claire Danes. But it looks good, I just added it to my Netflix queue, so thanks.

reply

[–] ripcrd 18 years ago

Help!!! There is a plot in here somewhere, yearning to get out.

And why in the future would everyone dress like it is the late 1940s?

reply

[–] nvmojo 17 years ago

yep, it rocked but it's not a movie for Joe Six-pack with an IQ of a light bulb.

reply

[–] mortega01 17 years ago

Whoever explained the whole thing about Michael and Morrison, thankyou because I was about to ask that. That was the only thing I didn't get. That's kind of crazy and shocking he would do that to his sister, but it's understandable. Maybe he thought it was best for Elena because she said she wanted to die at one point. I dunno. It's wierd. Elena loved him...they were family. So I'm torn.

But I'd like to add that I'm an American and I would never show this movie to my friends because I don't think they would like it. I don't think anyone I met would like this movie because it's not that we as Americans are stupid it's just that we want instant gratification and satisfaction with our movies. We want it all wrapped up and with a happy ending when we walk out of the cinema. And then there are the people who just want the explosions, the action, the macho stuff. I really love and invest in film in general. I think this film is something for everyone.

It's a bit of an epic comic book story to me. It would makea really cool Anime series. But as a movie it's amazing. It's just so lively. The acting is amazing. I love Claire. She just blows me away in this movie. I love the sci-fi aspect of it all. I just think people should suspend their disbelief a little and belief because I think the writing is good and the plot is good and moves along nicely and it's aesthetically wonderful. This movie is so pleasing to the eye. I love how NY is such a character in this movie as well as the other locations. I dunno. Call me crazy...obsure...wierd for liking this movie, I just don't think it's garbage. I think it's one of Claire's best. Everyone has their own taste I guess.

reply

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]