This film spoke to me. Started slow, but I thought the build suggested the writer and director knew exactly what hey were doing, they set expectations every so often in order to then exceed them.
When the film ended the only part I didn't like was that it ended. My favorite film of the year, hands down.
There is some controversy about the dub/subtitling. Certain important things were left out. I think Magnet/Magnolia was talking about redoing the translation.
This is a film that doesn't candy coat those rich stirrings of first devotion. Through Hollywood's eyes, you don't usually see a lot of kids who aren't either sticky sweet innocence or absurdly precocious... this boy, and the journey his heart leads him on, struck me as so authentic as to remember intense, specific things I'd long forgotten.
My guess is that an American remake will crush the one part of this film that IMO makes it special. Its unapologetic delicateness and almost cinema verite quality.
And yet Hollywood is already planning an English-language remake of said movie....
To be fair, they're not remaking the movie, simply making another movie based on the book. I loved the movie. I'm nearly finished with the book, which is also good, but sort of scattershot and unfocused at times. The movie did a really good job of getting the essence of the book while staying focused on moving the story forward.
Did you see me? Did you? Did you?
My only complaint was the pacing was a bit slow. Hollywood could never pull this off. Little dialogue and no explosions? Srsly.
This was a nice antidote to the stereotypical Hollywood vampire film. I quite liked it.
I made the mistake of watching it dubbed, though, not finding until after the fact that there was a setting I could change. D'oh! I almost turned around and watched it purely in Swedish (my rusty Norwegian would make that doable enough); something I've now decided I'll do after some time elapses.
Anyway, yeah, I can't see Hollywood doing this film right.
What do you think?
** spoiler omitted **
I think you could go w/ either of those 2 diverging endings and not be "wrong".
