The Edge of Heaven (2007)
I basically just watched this because I saw it will be removed from Mubi in a few days, and I am really glad I took such a random chance. This is very much a film about characters or personal portraits if you will. Every person in this are full of life and personal history. They are not just there to drive the plot forward. The narrative structure reminds me very much of one my favorite directors - Kieswlowski, with how it deals with random encounters and how all destinies are interlinked. This makes for a rather constructed plot, which I am usually not a fan of, but the plot is not the main point here - it is the characters and they all draw you in from the first second on screen.
It is a very tragic story, but in a strange way since you know the tragedy before it occurs. We see “Lotte’s death” on screen, without knowing who Lotte is yet. When someone says “I am Lotte”, the sadness instantly hits, even though it hasn’t happened yet. Just waiting for the inevitable outcome. It adds an anxiety to the narrative that I don’t think I have seen done like that before.
The different narrative threads sort of blends together, then drift apart, giving closure but also leaving things unresolved. I love films that does that.
Rating: 4.5