Reviews

This is a thinking movie, not a sit-back-relax-eat-popcorn date movie.

Look for the images and themes of black and white, light and dark. Hint: note Ava's clothing.

You are lead to think about things, and smacked in the face by declarations such as the usual 'I'm ancient and tired of life' or 'only music holds new joys for me'.

Detroit's decadent - in both senses of the word - structures play a significant role. Very thrilling for those of us who live in the decaying "Rust Belt".

Loved Tilda's line of 'Well, THAT was visual'.

This is a quiet and dark movie. No horror like vomiting blood, just the quiet of horror of "You. Drank. (character's name)." and you know what this means for all the people still in that room.

You wonder to yourself things like "Why is she living here, and not there?" and "Why do they wear gloves" and you are not handed the answers. You discover them for yourself.

Loved the yin and the yang of Tilda and Tom curled together in bed. Their positioning in all bed scenes is very evocative of the plot.And there's no overt sex scenes, but boy, did it get my motor running, especially when the two leads danced together.

Tilda's hair alone is worthy of mention. Sometimes it's like she's a lioness. Sometimes it's like she's got the hair of a kabuki doll, sometimes she looks like a Victorian bisque porcelain doll. And sometimes she looks like a fried mummy. All the basic hair and makeup, just subtly tweaked.

And the subtle changes to both of their faces when they're hungry. LOVED it.

Esther is the brand-new bride of a wealthy businessman on her honeymoon. She apparently packed 4 swimsuits complete with matching colored plastic flowers for her hair. Her clothes, particularly one green gown with white flowers, are captivating. It's also fun to compare this time's concept of the "manly physique" with ours. Van is most appealing when in his tight officer's jacket that shows broad (padded?) shoulders tapering to a flat waistline. But when he's swimming... he has the muscle definition of an office worker. Gorgeous mountain scenery, and the tenor can really belt it out. Has a young black teen tenor, too, and although they do the "shaky knees and rolling eyes" bit - isn't that what all black people do when they're nervous? - they don't condescend to him and the white older tenor pays for his voice lessons. The plot line is so weak, it's funny - you can see a song set-up a mile away, but if you suspend disbelief, you'll enjoy it!