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    The Words

    Reviewed by
    pietroantoni@

    The creative process can be with us one day and suddenly vanish for no apparent reason or explanation. Most like to call this "writer's block" and it is one hell of a nasty journey to be on, ask anyone who writes even for self-enjoyment. And nothing can really be done till the inspiration slowly comes back to us. This preamble is not at all important for the film, but I wanted to set the stage for what is coming in a literary sense.

    Well the plot is going to consternate and surprise a lot of people with moments of utter bewilderment even though we start off with a writer taking credit for what he did not write, plagiarism, something always with us and now of major concern on the internet for which newer laws must come about and be very, very, clear as to hacking one's long, literary career. Penalties have to be tough as in the days of literary copyright! Even well known celebrities like Shia LaBoeuf have of late plagiarized from the net, something you can never get away with. I might add several of my U of T students have tried similar schemes that are fruitless as they can't write on that level.

    This mesmerizing tale seems to work for some and others can't make heads or tales of it. I just let the film sweep over me as there was quite a lot to absorb with the now proverbial story within a story within a story, but I tricked myself into thinking I was reading a novel, which helped. Don't worry if everything is not crystal clear. It will come to make sense. To my mind the plots and sub plots were very deliberate and not a means to merely complicate because the writers didn't have a clear direction. They wanted us to play an active role in this complex tale and this I liked very much. It is the sort of thing that won't work for every film of this kind, but here it does because it is so bold and unique. The screenplay is one that delights us because it is so damn real and human for once, not the same clichéd ridden scripts done to death. In terms of pressures of today, I marvel how the writers grappled with all they faced.

    The many actors in this film perform on many different levels. Some performances are truly great while others just so so. Jeremy Irons is a standout, for example but Bradley Cooper and Zoe Zaldana not so great. But that is only my opinion! It's impossible to rate all the performances. What I would like to stress is that way back in 1936, Italian playwright and novelist, Luigi Pirandello, won the Nobel Prize for Literature for works that essentially have a common theme, one that seems very ordinary today, but was hardly so in 1936: that is the whole notion of illusion versus reality or however you wish to phrase the technique. It makes this film experience of our day pretty exceptional as we see the blurry lines writers face between the fictional world and one of reality. It is so damn clever.

    The beauty of this feature is that it works so well on so many different levels. It is a film of humanity and all that goes along with it whether love, lust, honesty, betrayal, in very general terms good and evil, a mystery so deep to befuddle us or something we don't see as it is right in front of our noses. In other words we are dealing with a flawed human condition concentrating more in one vein than in very general terms. That society fails to give important lessons on how we think and act and how our actions may affect our future and that of others is a theme that stuck with me. This we must infer as all unfolds. That is one of the script's great beauties... that it does make us think as to the consequences of our actions.

    As stated in one way or other, The Words does afford us some thought provoking dilemmas and issues of bitter sweet sorrow or even joy we experience as human beings. Even on this single level, I would appreciate this film. But ultimately comes the moment the film is beginning to wind down and we are reaching the dénouement! Obviously I can't or won't reveal the ending but I have heard friends offer their own opinion in general terms such as: "I really didn't get it." " It really took me by surprise." One devotee said he wished there were another fifteen minutes to go as he didn't want to leave the film. You will find your "raison d'être" for the conclusion and no one can say you are wrong. There is so much to admire and get from this film.

    One thing that put me off was that many complained about the locale which happened to be Montréal. Worrying about a Montréal that has to pass for Paris or New York is hardly a big deal in the grand scheme of things. The film is not about a city so just put that aspect out of your mind. If some viewers were upset that the sets just didn't jive with the actual locales, they could not have been paying much attention to all that is floating by us. The film has too many important ideas it wants to convey without having to worry if set design and set decoration are faithful or should be of prime importance. I barely noticed the so-called set decoration. There was to much else I had to think about.

    8
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    pietroantoni@  14.5.2015 age: 36-49 14,540 reviews

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