Life before my eyes
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Life before my eyes |
| Original title | The Life Before Her Eyes |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2007 |
| length | 86 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Vadim Perelman |
| script | Emil Stern |
| production |
Marc Butan , Anthony Katagas , Vadim Perelman , Aimée Peyronnet |
| music | James Horner |
| camera | Paweł Edelman |
| cut | David Baxter |
| occupation | |
| |
The life before my eyes (Original title: The Life Before Her Eyes ; Alternative title: In Bloom ) is an American thriller from 2007 . Directed by Vadim Perelman , the screenplay was written by Emil Stern based on the novel of the same name by Laura Kasischke .
action
Diana and Maureen are best friends and attend Hillview High School together. The rebellious Diana wants to get out of town, while the devout Maureen dreams of a husband and many children. Both decide to quickly put on make-up in the girls' bathroom, even if the lessons with biology teacher Mr. McClood have already started. Suddenly they hear gunshots, at first they believe it is a joke, but quickly realize that a gunman is killing students and teachers at their school . Diana knows that the gunman is classmate Michael Patrick, who indirectly announced the crime to her the day before. The door opens and Michael enters the room - behind him the shot Mr. McClood sinks to the floor. Michael announces that one of the two girls will die. Maureen asks him to shoot her.
Fifteen years later: Diana is an art teacher and lives with her husband, Professor Paul McFee, and their daughter Emma in a house with a terrace, as Maureen always wanted. She is happily married, but the upcoming memorial service at Hillview High School is very stressful for Diana. Again and again her thoughts go back to the shared experiences with Maureen, but also to her life 15 years ago. With Maureen, she had imagined that she would name her daughter Emma. Then at the age of 17, she had sex with a man, became pregnant, and had an abortion . The child's father abandoned her after the abortion. Diana remembers the little pranks with Maureen, like bathing in the pool of the neighbors who were away, but also small quarrels.
In the present, Diana's life is in danger of getting off course. Against the background of the memorial day, it also becomes clear that Diana cannot perceive many things on a daily basis. She thinks she recognizes her teacher, Mr. McClood, who was murdered at the time, on the street, students who walk past her classroom door remind her of the assassin from back then, her wandering thoughts of the last few minutes in the girls' bathroom, and Michael Patrick's mind games almost leave her alone Cause traffic accident.
She also has increasing concerns in her family: Her daughter Emma shows the same insubordination as she did as a child. More and more often Diana notices that she is not getting along with her daughter, who also feels uncomfortable in the monastery school chosen by Diana. When she argues with Emma again, she sees her husband eating ice cream with a strange woman in a familiar embrace. She rushes out onto the street and is hit by a car. Although she was not injured, she sees her marriage destroyed. She tells her husband that he is not her husband.
Despite her inner reluctance, she decides to attend the memorial service. Just before she can go into the girls' bathroom to put flowers there, she receives a call from Emma's school. Emma ran away. When she arrives at Emma's school, she learns that Emma's pink jacket was found in the forest not far from her house. She runs into the forest and thinks she sees Emma running away from her and catches up with her. As she approaches Emma, she hears a woman screaming her name. Emma disappears.
The last seconds from then are shown. Michael Patrick asks Diana and Maureen which of the two to shoot. Maureen says if either is to die, he should shoot them. Diana initially replies that she does not want to be shot. The consequence would be that Maureen would have to die instead of her - after a moment's thought, she finally asked him to be shot. Michael shoots Diana while Diana's mother shouts her name in front of the school. The second Diana is shot in the toilet, the adult Diana also falls shot on the forest floor - she has never lived, but was just the imagination of young Diana of her future life, which she passed through in the seconds before her decision went her head and came to an end with her death.
Reviews
David Nusair wrote film reviews on Reel that the film follows in the footsteps of House of Sand and Fog by the same director. The "ambitious work" successfully shows how an act of violence can determine all of life. The film has a complex structure that initially leaves the viewer in the dark - the parts only come together shortly before the end. The main strand of the plot is supplemented by numerous sub-strands and dream sequences - these would occasionally seem too numerous ("the movie occasionally feels busier than it needs to be"). The portrayals of Uma Thurman and Evan Rachel Wood are strong and engaging.
Michael Rechtsshaffen wrote in The Hollywood Reporter on September 9, 2007, the disturbing thriller mixes past and present, reality and visions to a fascinating and occasionally thought-provoking result. He shines with "grandiose" depictions of Uma Thurman and Evan Rachel Wood.
John Anderson wrote in Variety magazine on Sept. 17, 2007 that the "poor moral conclusions" may seem strange to a large segment of the target audience.
A.V. Club found that in view of the “syrupy repetition and seemingly endless chunks of clumsy hints,” Perelman “sits behind every single viewer and pushes you every 30 seconds: 'Do you already suspect it? Now? Now? And now?'"
backgrounds
The film was shot in New Haven and several other Connecticut locations. Its production amounted to an estimated 8 million US dollars . The world premiere took place on September 8, 2007 at the Toronto International Film Festival 2007 under the title In Bloom . On October 25, 2007, the film was shown at the South Korean Chungmuro Classic Film Festival , followed by a screening at the AFI Film Festival on November 10, 2007 . The film was released in selected US cinemas on December 7, 2007. On April 18, 2008, widespread release in US cinemas began.
Web links
- The Life Before Her Eyes in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The Life Before Her Eyes at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Film review by David Nusair, accessed November 14, 2007
- ↑ Film review by Michael Rechtshaffen, accessed on November 14, 2007 ( Memento from October 7, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Film review by John Anderson, accessed on November 14, 2007 ( Memento of the original from October 15, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Steven Hyden, Noel Murray, Keith Phipps, Nathan Rabin, Tasha Robinson, Scott Tobias: "There appears to be an event happening!": The worst films of 2008. In: A. V. Club. December 16, 2008, accessed on December 28, 2008 (English): "feels like Perelman is sitting behind each and every viewer, poking them every 30 seconds and asking" Have you figured it out yet? Huh? Huh? Huh? ""
- ↑ Filming locations for The Life Before Her Eyes in the Internet Move Database, accessed April 22, 2009
- ↑ Budget and box office earnings for The Life Before Her Eyes in the Internet Movie Database, accessed April 22, 2009
- ↑ cf. Nelson, Rob: Caught in crosshairs of despair . In: Chicago Sun-Times , April 25, 2008, p. D1
- ↑ In Bloom premiere dates, accessed January 14, 2008
- ↑ Publications 2008 of the film distributor Magnolia Pictures, accessed on January 3, 2008 ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Word document)
