Gorgeous Franka Potente runs around for much of the duration of this film, displaying an athletic and aesthetic appeal which is probably worth the ticket price alone. But to be serious...
Much of it is, as others have noted, just a rehash of ideas first used in 'Sliding Doors' and 'Groundhog Day'. Tykwer, however, isn't interested in being twee or slushy, preferring to subject us to an intense beating soundtrack, and an editing style which makes Russ Meyer look like a first-year film student with ten thumbs. Yes, the narrative repetitions risk becoming boring (and thank goodness the film is so short), and there are moments which seem to have been slotted in to pad the experience out for a decent length of time, but the way the narrative plays with temporal and spatial concepts is brilliant, albeit in a flashy way. The mixed media (conventional film, video, animation) again may not be new (Natural Born Killers, even Annie Hall, for heaven's sake) but, darn it, it works.
This isn't a profound film, and it would be easy to criticise it as gimmicky. But it's an important calling card from Tykwer, and reminds me very much of similarly innovative cinema of recent times, such as Tetsuo, Festen and Pi. 7 out of 10.
And Franka Potente is GORGEOUS!!!
Much of it is, as others have noted, just a rehash of ideas first used in 'Sliding Doors' and 'Groundhog Day'. Tykwer, however, isn't interested in being twee or slushy, preferring to subject us to an intense beating soundtrack, and an editing style which makes Russ Meyer look like a first-year film student with ten thumbs. Yes, the narrative repetitions risk becoming boring (and thank goodness the film is so short), and there are moments which seem to have been slotted in to pad the experience out for a decent length of time, but the way the narrative plays with temporal and spatial concepts is brilliant, albeit in a flashy way. The mixed media (conventional film, video, animation) again may not be new (Natural Born Killers, even Annie Hall, for heaven's sake) but, darn it, it works.
This isn't a profound film, and it would be easy to criticise it as gimmicky. But it's an important calling card from Tykwer, and reminds me very much of similarly innovative cinema of recent times, such as Tetsuo, Festen and Pi. 7 out of 10.
And Franka Potente is GORGEOUS!!!