"Signs & Wonders" is a minimally interesting psychodrama about a man (Skarsgard) involved in an affair who tries to reclaim his family as things slowly get out of hand. There is little meat on the bones of this flick which plods along to the strains of peculiar background music in a feeble attempt to create suspense in the absence of a real story. Barely worth the time.
6 Reviews
Well, it's original enough alright.
Boba_Fett113820 April 2012
Can't really say that I though that this movie was a very good one to watch but it at least is being different in its approach and storytelling, which does keep you watching.
Make no mistake about it, this is an art-house movie alright. It's using a strange storytelling approach, that doesn't even necessarily feel like it's following a main plot line. It does add to the rawness and realism of the movie but then again, it distance itself from its viewers again by being vague and desperately metaphorical at times. A true mixed bag of a movie, that on the one hand does some stuff nice and originally, while on the other it's not always being a good or pleasant enough movie to follow, mostly due to its unusual approach.
I do admit that I got more in this movie as it was heading toward its ending. Suddenly the drama started to develop better and in a more interesting way and the movie also ends on a good note.
I couldn't really care for its first half though. This is probably also partly because of it that the characters don't really get developed enough, so you won't feel anything for them, or what they are going through. This is done all better in its second half, when we as the viewers are also more accustomed to its characters and the overall style of the movie.
It really is a watchable enough movie but I still can't think of any good reason why anyone should ever watch it though. Maybe only if you have a true love and passion for art-house cinema or are a big Stellan Skarsgård fan and want to see him playing a lead role, in an English spoken movie (well, some Greek as well).
6/10
http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/
Make no mistake about it, this is an art-house movie alright. It's using a strange storytelling approach, that doesn't even necessarily feel like it's following a main plot line. It does add to the rawness and realism of the movie but then again, it distance itself from its viewers again by being vague and desperately metaphorical at times. A true mixed bag of a movie, that on the one hand does some stuff nice and originally, while on the other it's not always being a good or pleasant enough movie to follow, mostly due to its unusual approach.
I do admit that I got more in this movie as it was heading toward its ending. Suddenly the drama started to develop better and in a more interesting way and the movie also ends on a good note.
I couldn't really care for its first half though. This is probably also partly because of it that the characters don't really get developed enough, so you won't feel anything for them, or what they are going through. This is done all better in its second half, when we as the viewers are also more accustomed to its characters and the overall style of the movie.
It really is a watchable enough movie but I still can't think of any good reason why anyone should ever watch it though. Maybe only if you have a true love and passion for art-house cinema or are a big Stellan Skarsgård fan and want to see him playing a lead role, in an English spoken movie (well, some Greek as well).
6/10
http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/
Signs & Wonders
jboothmillard6 July 2019
Warning: Spoilers
I found this film because it used to be an entry in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, I could not find a proper critics' review for it, but I was certainly interested to see it. Basically, Alec Fenton (Stellan Skarsgård) is a businessman, a commodities trader, living in Athens, Greece, happily married to Marjorie (Charlotte Rampling) with two children. But he is maintaining a torrid affair with beautiful colleague Katherine (Deborah Kara Unger). Throughout his existence, Alec is under the influence of powerful signs and premonitions, leading to many of his decisions. Alec does end his liaison after confessing to Katherine that he is married. But six months later, he accidentally runs into her whilst on a skiing vacation abroad, he decides to leave his family and return to America with his fated lover. However, he learns that their reunion was no accident or coincident, it was a product of her design. Alec once again abandons her and rushes back to Athens to salvage and win back his family. On his return however, he discovers that Marjorie, who works at the US embassy, is in a relationship with Greek political activist Andreas (Dimitri Katalifos). Andreas becomes the victim of a series of incidents, each one more threatening than the last. Alec's obsessive pursuit results in the slow, torturous unravelling of his seemingly orderly world. Skarsgård gives an interesting performance as the man who is influenced by invisible forces, Rampling and Unger do their parts fine as well, the concept is unusual, and I don't know if anything exciting really happened, but it was a reasonable character study and stylish in a way, an alright psychological drama. Worth watching!
A fine film, depicting the outcome of mistaken readings of life's signs and symbols, with the resulting sad consequences.
Peegee-311 April 2001
Warning: Spoilers
I loved this film, despite some flaws. It offers complexity, ambiguity, innovation, political inference and imagination. In Athens, a married stockbroker, an American, with two children is having an affair with a co-worker. He confesses to his wife, promises to leave his lover, but is drawn back to her after a seemingly unexpected encounter. When he tries to return to his wife, she rejects him, is now in love with a Greek, anti-American political activist. His young daughter, distraught over the separation and devoted to her father, commits some very destructive acts. Ironically, her father is accused of one of them, is jailed. He then realizes what the consequences of his act has wrought, particularly in relation to his daughter. The ending is a bit over-ploted..yet has significance.
The film is deliberately fragmented and ambiguous, which suits the depiction of the husband, with his vacillating emotions and misreading of the signs and symbols he appears to believe in. The performances by Stellan Skarsgard, Charlotte Rampling, Deborah Unger and Dimitris Katalifos are splendid. But the highest praise goes to Jonathan Nossiter for his co-writing and directing of this fascinating and visionary film.
The film is deliberately fragmented and ambiguous, which suits the depiction of the husband, with his vacillating emotions and misreading of the signs and symbols he appears to believe in. The performances by Stellan Skarsgard, Charlotte Rampling, Deborah Unger and Dimitris Katalifos are splendid. But the highest praise goes to Jonathan Nossiter for his co-writing and directing of this fascinating and visionary film.
Greece lessons
lee_eisenberg27 September 2023
"Signs & Wonders" is the first Jonathan Nossiter movie that I've ever seen. There were two things that struck me about it besides the main plot. One was the awkward camerawork and editing. I wasn't sure whether or not it was supposed to have a naturalistic look. If so, then I guess that it added to the movie's style; if not, then it was distracting.
And the other thing. As the movie is set in Greece, there's ample discussion of the Regime of the Colonels. In case you're not familiar, it was the CIA-backed junta that seized power in 1967 and spent the next seven years torturing and assassinating political opponents, most infamously in the massacre of protesters in Athens Polytechnic Institute in 1973 (after which the group 17N named itself). Costa Gavras's "Z" - set in an unidentified country but was obviously supposed to be Greece - was targeted at the junta. In this movie, it gets noted that the US had backed the regime every step of the way. In fact, just the year before its release, Bill Clinton had formally apologized to Greece for the US's support of the junta. Even today the regime's effects linger, with Greece looking like a Third World country.
Anyway, it's an okay movie, not great. The cast members - Stellan Skarsgård, Charlotte Rampling and Deborah Kara Unger - put on fine performances.
And the other thing. As the movie is set in Greece, there's ample discussion of the Regime of the Colonels. In case you're not familiar, it was the CIA-backed junta that seized power in 1967 and spent the next seven years torturing and assassinating political opponents, most infamously in the massacre of protesters in Athens Polytechnic Institute in 1973 (after which the group 17N named itself). Costa Gavras's "Z" - set in an unidentified country but was obviously supposed to be Greece - was targeted at the junta. In this movie, it gets noted that the US had backed the regime every step of the way. In fact, just the year before its release, Bill Clinton had formally apologized to Greece for the US's support of the junta. Even today the regime's effects linger, with Greece looking like a Third World country.
Anyway, it's an okay movie, not great. The cast members - Stellan Skarsgård, Charlotte Rampling and Deborah Kara Unger - put on fine performances.
A quite trivial plot, but extraordinary actors (Deborah Ungers)and a surprising and innovative structure.
Tom-19113 March 2000
Shot in DV the film shows the fascinating possibilities with the new small cameras: Special atmosphere (strange but realistic), permanent changes of perspectives, authentic locations.It will be worth to discuss now all the losts and founds of this new kind of filmmaking. Besides these esthetic questions, the narrative structure of this film becomes more and more fascinating if you don't give up the attention after the irritating impressions at the beginning. It is only another story of dissolving the family structures under certain circumstances, but Nossiter shows that this can still have real suspense and a cool and analytic story-telling. Deconstructing love and family values. Good film!
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