I saw this first at the cinema and then got the dvd when it was released.
It was at first confusing a little, although I was aware right from the begining that Ryan's character was dead, but the way the story was told was very interesting and intriguing.

What I didn't catch at first viewing was the relationship between the characters in reality, and that what we were seeing was what was flashing through his head in those few moments as he hovered between. The camerawrok should have given me a better clue with the off-kilter, angled images. There were other tricks as well -like the repeat of some scenes, the important people turning up were all dead.

The thing I would like to hear from other people is their take on the pairs/twins in the background. And even triplets later in the movie. The dvd I have doesn't have any commentary tracks as I was hoping to get some insight from the director and/or writer.

Generally speaking, I liked the movie. Probably as much for the way it was able to fool me for so long as well as the acting, and some of the amazing escher-like sets.

I've finally had a chance to edit some screen captures to use as illustrations.
By no means do I think I have the answers so I am just putting these thoughts forward for consideration, and please anyone who has other ideas please jump in. I think there is an awful lot in this movie worthy of discussion, and even the makers may not have been deliberately aware of what they were constructing - some things come as gut instincts and artisitc eye.

What is it about? Well, that's the big question, isn't it? And I think it is wide open to interpretation. To me, the more I see of it the more my thoughts solidify. This is that "your life flashing before your eyes" in the moments before actual death that seems to be a commonly held belief. It was fairly obvious from the outset (at least, to me) that the central character played by Ryan Gosling was actually dead - it was the walking away from the burning wreckage that was my major clue. But it is not until the end that you realise that he has projected his fears, desires and life onto the images of the faces that he sees in those last minutes of conscious thought. In his own mind, he builds an elaborate story to send Ewan McGregor's projected character on a search for who he truly is - the scenes with the people in his life, reliving the major emotions of his interaction with them in a third party format; his own life drifting out of his control; the desire for companionship/partnership; the search for a worthy 'mate' and the frustrating obscension with the ring and the intended fiance.

The voices he "hears" are the people at the crash scene, and gives the name of the movie. A neat touch, and not revealed properly until the end.
Before working out that the life of the psychologist is a projection by the dying man, it almost appears that he, the psychologist, might be suffering a disorientation or going slowly crazy himself.

So, in simple terms, that's what I think it is about - a person trying to make sense of his own life through projected memories of things that did happen, and things he would have liked to have happened, in the moments before sudden death.

The characters as they appear in reality


As they appear in the projected "dream" sequences





What makes this movie so involving and entrancing is the cinematography and direction. From my limited knowledge and observations, they seem to have done everything "right", starting with a very strict colour pallet that pervades the entire movie - a set of blues and orange browns.

But the framing and editing, and the angles, points of view, and scene changes are brilliant and inventive - in some cases adding to the story as much as the dialogue.

scene changes...
moving from the "psychologist's" room lined with books to the bridge and 'reality'. The lines of the books and shelves, merging with and becoming hte framework of the bridge.

The clue that the 'psychologist' and the man are the same person


Visual effects that take the 'dream sequences' out of the realms of reality - or showing a breakdown of reality as the brain begins to die and lose touch with the surroundings.
That beautiful effect as the sequence draws to an end and the two halves of the personality "catch up", and the framework of the bridge begins to disolve.


repeating segments of dream sequence/action
it happens a lot in this sequence, parts of the action repeated identically over and over, missing pieces of action as the characters rotate around each other
the back ground morphing and bluring, constant motion of camera and characters

another repeat sequence section, repeated so rapidly that the after image continues to move as the overlay image comes into focus only to be replaced by the next image repeat. This was a particularly nice sequence.

The separation or search for the real person/personality, or maybe the loss of control


Note also the use of mirror images that repeat throughout the film, eg this frame, which also continues various other schematic themes - texture, pattern, angle, movement


a really strange image flash - strange because although it fits perfectly with the movie, this happens after the young man dies, and the two strangers exchange a short conversation before going their separate ways. Could this be a hint that hteir shared experience may bring them together eventually?


Throughout the movie there are several obsessions - some are driven by the unfolding story itself,
like the ring


and the artist, Latham, and his works and supposed life (it doesn't matter if this is a real artist or not, it/he is just a vehicle of the story unfolding)
The artwork keeps repeating images from the man's life, and imminent death, like the bridge painting at the library


the paintings she finds in her studio


and of course, as soon as she figures out the connection, she cannot escape the place (is locked in) to warn her psychologist boyfriend
These images are repeated exactly in the man's life flashback (discussed later). This may have been an early attempt to come to terms with what was happening, but he blocked it until ready to face it.

Other obsessions are technical/director/visual props to the dreams
Stairs, and textures

Beautiful imagery/photography (note the continuing colour schemes, and the textural content)

Other obsessions and recurring images are the twins (note also the angle and dizzying point of view)


Also the silver cases that a large number of incidental background people seem to carry

There is also the young boy, his mother and a balloon who keep turning up over and over
we later find that they were on the bridge and witness to the aftermath

Eventually he reaches the part of his dream/projection/memory where he is forced to review his life, the snatches of images that add up to who and what he is. He goes into a "peep show" and while there are shapely women "dancing" a distraction, in the background there are the images of his life, begining with the bridge where the accident occurred


At first he seems to be oblivious to it, but he is also not watching the dancers despite their alluring and suggestive poses.


The colours, the angles, the images (same as the paintings) continue the overal thematics of the movie

The two major 'players' return to their own lives, oblivious to the projections.


Three good actors, an intriguing script and some fabulous photography, direction and editing. In this instance, it was enough to make a good movie that seems to be generally accepts as fair to good going by the IMDb rating (6.8) even if not quite enough to be a "great" movie.

I am begining to like David Benioff's scripts. I had been conflicted with Troy, but after getting a copy of the original script have decided that for me the blame for the failure of that movie can be laid squarely at the feet of the director (although the "director's cut" was marginally better than the version released to cinema). After this movie, and Kite Runner, I am really happy with his work, and the approach he takes.

So, that's my attempt to summarise the movie, and comment on some of the content. If anyone has other ideas, please share. I am particularly interested in what people think about the twins and the aluminium cases.

The very average rating on IMDb is easy - a lot of people don't "get" such a cerebral movie/story, they need to be spoonfed and told when to laugh and when to cry and have a happy ever after ending. Such deeply psychological movies like this become cult classics - beloved of those who enjoy having their perceptions challenged.

I didn't get a commentary, and I really would have liked some conversation from the film makers as to what they were thinking at the time, what they were trying to achieve, what references they were making and whether they thought certain scenes worked or if there was more background to some scenes. If the commentary is as bad as you describe, I'm almost glad I didn't have it otherwise I would have felt very let down. Yes, to my mind, that's what the commentary is for - a little insight into their thinking processes.

Like I used to say at school about Shakespear - if you have to do a full psycho-analysis of the characters to "get" the play (or movie in this case) then the play (or movie) failed. If an audience walks away with a "what on earth was that?" expression, then they failed to entertain, or convey their message. (Okay, so there are some people who will always leave like that, but at least give the rest of us the benefit of a little intelligence)