The Broken Circle Breakdown (2012)
A sort of conflicting experience, as some elements worked really well and others made me emotionally distanced where it tries to achieve just that. I really liked the use of bluegrass country singing as a shared thing for this couple, and how the film could communicate their emotional state through their singing performances. It is a unique contrast within the otherwise very sad premise, as it becomes a thing in their life that provide both sadness and joy. The same songs shift meaning across the timeline. The non linear structure also works well to keep the otherwise predictable narrative interesting. Which sadly also works a bit against it, as there is little mystery or ambiguity to whole thing. You know the tragedy is coming and the aftermath is pretty much what you would expect people in that situation to react, and the actors are doing a fine job of portraying that grief, but to me that is not that interesting to watch in itself. Legible grief is less interesting than contradictory grief. In some aspects it feels like it is “trying to hard” to be a tearjerker, and it didn’t really work for me.
Rating: 3