ITS ALL ABOUT LOVE (2003)

Directed by Thomas Vinterberg. Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Clair Danes, Sean Penn. Romance/Drama Synopsis: A unique story of a rekindled romance between two Polish born Americans on the eve of the finalization of their divorce. Set in the future, the Earth of 2021 is radically different in the area of weather and culture.

This is a very interesting film, one that will strike different people in different ways. I happened to like it, the person I viewed it with hated it, and I must say that it is hard to describe, made in a way as to be heavy on symbolism and ambiguity, but not in an obvious way.

Its set in the future, but only in the summer of the year 2021, only twelve years (eighteen from the time of the making of the movie) into the future, so do not expect to see depictions of technology that is unknown to us at this point in time. What is radically different (or maybe not, depending on your world view) is the culture of the world, in addition to drastically different weather.

The story starts with John (Phoenix The Village) arriving on a flight to New York, where he is to have a brief stopover to meet with his wife, Elena (Danes) to sign their divorce papers. Phoenix, in voice over, tells us that he will tell us "....what happened in the last seven days of his life...", itself an ambiguous reference open to interpretation, particularly at the end of the film.

John is met at the airport by two representatives of Elena, a world famous figure skater, who tell him that he will have to go to her apartment in NYC to meet with her and will also have to reschedule his connecting flight to Calgary. Right away, in this initial scene, we get a taste of the surreal, David Lynch film-like quality of this picture as John and his contacts at the airport view a dead person at the bottom of the escalator. John seems surprised by this and is told by Elena's representatives just to "step over him" and that is was probably something to do with his "heart" and, finally, that this is not an uncommon occurrence in NYC these days. The unattended, ignored corpse theme is one that will recur throughout the film.

Upon meeting with Elena, it is apparent that two things are true: 1) there is still love between John and Elena, who is particularly reluctant to finalize the divorce 2) Elena is unhappy in her present occupation as a world famous figure skater and, in fact, believes that she is in some kind of imminent danger.

The interesting backdrop of this film removes it from the familiar "rekindling love before its too late" theme that we've all seen dozens of times. Elena has an entourage the size of a Presidential candidate and they, obviously, feed off of her earnings in way that will remind boxing fans of the clingers who follow around the heavyweight champion. Further, there is the growing suspicion on the part of John, with good reason, that Elena really is in danger from her friends and he sets his mind to freeing her from this increasingly dire situation.

One thing I like about this movie is that the backdrop of the story is flavored with commentaries on the society in the form of newscasts that are, almost constantly, playing in the background. (kind of reminiscent of Robocop ) We learn that it snows frequently in the summer of 2021, and NYC itself is blanketed by the white powder. Additionally, there is the recurring background news of mysterious flying Ugandans, people from that country who, for no apparent reason, have the ability to fly and not come down. There is one brief scene that depicts this, with the Ugandans in the air and tethered from the ground. Also, there is the phenomena of fresh water freezing, instantly and without known cause, for a couple of minutes every so often. We learn of this from a newscast in the background, warning citizens of the fresh water freeze in the same serious, yet casual tone, that weathermen warn people to stay indoors on hot humid days or to drive carefully on snowy days.

What does all  this mean? I'm not sure, but it certainly is meant to be part of the fabric of the story, and one can take its symbolism for what one wants, I guess. I haven't even mentioned that you will see the reality of cloning in this movie, and the effect of this on both the clones as well as the clonee. (is that a word?)

I'm sure you're sitting there thinking, "O.k., this movie has one of the best actors of the last twenty years in it, and this dork hasn't even mentioned him, yet." Well, you're right. (Not about the dork part, though) Sean Penn plays Marciello, the brother of John who is on an airplane that, apparently, cannot land and does not through the course of the film. Marciello is leaving messages for John intermittently throughout the course of the film on his view of the world, love, and other broad topics, though the two never actually converse, nor does Penn interact with any of the other major or minor characters in the movie. Strange.

To me, this is a movie that is just a love story, and talks about love being the strongest force amidst anything else, whether its natural phenomena, deceit, betrayal, or even violence. There are quite a few layers to the film, and you'll have to see it more than once to pick up what it all means...which might be something totally different from anyone else you know who has also seen it.

Fans of Phoenix, Danes, and surrealistic movies of the Lynch variety or art type films will want to give this a shot. If you are a fan of Sean Penn, like me, and only want to see it because of him, I urge caution. Not because he is bad or anything, it's just that his character is so on the periphery that it is impossible for him to carry the film or totally reinvent himself as he always seems to in his movies.

Just know what you are getting into with this film. It's not a popcorn, pass the time without thinking kind of flick. There is not much action and don't let its future setting lull you into thinking its even partially sci-fi. Its a good movie about a love story, made and told in a very unusual way. Some will like it, many won't. I did, but that's just me.