All About My Mother (1999)
Maybe this is how some feels when they watch a Verhoeven film. I think the true meaning flew over me. The movie is absolutely packed with one tragic coincidence after another told in a very predictable melodramatic way, which makes it hard to empathize with as everything is bluntly foreshadowed. If you hear about someone being run over by a car, it is tragic. If they get hit twice the same day, still tragic. Three times in the same day, it starts to get a little bit funny. This movie felt like that for me. And I have an inkling sensation that it is entirely intentional. There is a heightened reality to what happens here and while all the characters where colorfully and lovely portrayed, it didn’t feel real. It is not a parody, it is not mocking its characters or anything as there is clearly a lot of love and compassion. It is just weird and I didn’t really get much out of it.
Oscar Best International Winners Ranked
Rating: 2.5