Reviews

Within twenty minutes of the film's beginning, I was in agony, but I didn't necessarily think my discomfort was due to bad film-making. It was extremely uncomfortable to see this woman go through mundane activities in a hotel room, without any music or distraction, knowing what the film would be about. That style of cinematography really made me feel as though I was "inside" the girl's experience and feeling as she felt. I even had to pause it a few times in order to regroup. The scene with the video was hilarious- I laughed so much, partly due to nerves, because I was so relieved to rise above my discomfort and into a moment of blissful absurdity.

But as the movie progressed, it was just more of the same mundanity, and it became less interesting over time. I do not always favor narrative storytelling- but for this film in particular, I wanted to understand her character, where she came from, what happened in her life that drove her to become the person she is. The film is about a very black-and- white, well-defined political subject- a female suicide bomber throughout what is supposed to be the last day of her life. So this story's displacement from personal history (aside from a phone call to family, and a photo of her caucasian brother) feels mismatched. The snippets of her whispered prayers were very interesting, and I wanted more.

I enjoyed the characterizations and mannerisms of the people who loan her change, which were revealing of subtle interpersonal dynamics on the street. Also, the man who harasses her- he is a stereotyped young African American urban male. When she jokes about a "bomb," it is like one stereotype meeting another, and that made me laugh. It is poking fun at stereotypes, though we never see a real person beneath them. I really wanted that realness to show through alongside the mocking.

I eventually found myself fast-forwarding through large chunks of the DVD, and still understanding exactly what was happening. By the end, I was just begging for the film to be over. Although I must say, I really enjoyed (and again, agonized) the way the film ended. I won't give that away, but it really left me wondering.

Reading the other user comments, the review by A666333 has articulated most of what I was feeling throughout this film- predictable storyline, cliché versions of lesbians/heterosexuals (i.e. straight woman becomes a lesbian while concluding that her husband is abusive and aggressive).

Also, the score was severely disappointing. It was bland, soft, sentimental elevator music- another common cliché in movies about lesbians. The movie would have had a few interesting dramatic moments if they had not been destroyed by the music.

A few scenes concerning sex and eroticism also struck me as attempts to titillate and raise shock value, including parts of the final performance scene. The conventional "hot and steamy" moments were as boring as the overly sentimental score. For example during the pool scene, the women are kissing, and then the camera pans along the abandoned wine glass, the flowing water, the sound of their heavy breathing over the soft crashing of waves.

The only elements I liked were the costuming and arobatics. They are well-choreographed, and the development of attraction between the two characters felt very natural during the training scenes. I genuinely smiled during those, and during the last scene with the police officer. But they were not enough to balance out the negatives or make me enjoy this film.