A delight for Sophia Myles fans

So, like many viewers (I expect), the only reason I bought the DVD of this film is because I'm enamoured of Sophia Myles.

Not only is this film a real delight for admirers of her beauty, but, as an unexpected bonus, it turned out to be a thoroughly enjoyable movie as well.

I preface this by saying that I generally hate modern films, modern themes, vulgarity, etc., etc. But this film completely won me over.

First, to the beauty aspect. Sophia looks SO gorgeous in this film. For once, unlike the period pieces she has been in, she is shot in natural white light, so the exquisite fairness of her complexion is seen. Her face looks so angelic, and her figure is, of course, the most attractive of any significant actress working today -- womanly rather than emaciated.

And Sophia's beauty is SO important to the success of this film, because in the midst of its sometimes rather grim, grimy settings, Sophia shines like a beacon of light. She's an angel dressed in modern human garb. She is completely convincing not only as a flesh-and-blood character (note the touch of Kieslowski's Blue, with Sophia's comments about the fact that she's a real human being), but also as someone who really could be an archetype, a transcendental ideal, as she is for Hallam.

Oh, and acting-wise, Sophia is brilliant, as always -- but that's to be expected, since she is by far one of the most talented actresses on either side of the Atlantic.

As to the film in general, I adored the fact that beneath the modern trappings and the weird family themes, there was a really tender and almost old-fashioned love story of a young man and his deep and profound ardour for an unattainably beautiful girl. The movie told that story in such a gentle and non-ironic way, free of cynicism, (the opposite of what I expected--and dreaded,) that I was enraptured.

The notion of Hallam looking upon Sophia through her window is a wonderful metaphor for affection in the modern world too. How many people today develop a crush on someone first by seeing their pictures online (or watching them in a movie). In that way, the film almost becomes metafiction.

It helps, of course, that the movie made Hallam into such a sympathetic character. I think any male viewer, of any age, can empathize with him, and even imagine himself in that role, because whatever the specifics, every man with a Romantic soul has experienced love-from-afar for an unattainably beautiful girl, as he does. And the film wonderfully allows the viewer to imagine what it would be like if that unattainable dream could become blissful reality.

My only regret:

I was deeply saddened that Hallam and Sophia didn't end up together. However, I was pleased that the film did open the door to that possibility in the future, meaning that Hallam's greatest dream lives on. And I want so very much to believe in a happy ending for the two of them together--and not in five years, but five minutes after the movie ends, with Sophia chasing him down and acknowledging that they were meant for one another.