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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Saved by the actors, March 17, 2003
Jonathan Nossiter's "Signs & Wonders" can't decide if it wants to be Ingmar Bergman's "Scenes From A Marriage" or Nicholas Roeg's "Don't Look Now". The amazing Stellan Skarsgard, who can skate effortlessly between "Dogme 95" and Hollywood without a slip, plays the married American businessman, living in Greece with his family, who is having a passionate affair with a co-worker (ice-queen Deborah Unger). Long-time art-house favorite Charlotte Rampling gives a believable, measured performance as the betrayed wife who eventually finds her own lover. Unfortunately,after the involving first third, the story meanders into too many dead-end directions. For instance,in one scene Unger drops a bomb on Skarsgard that hints at noirish intrigue and conspiracy, but this is never explored, nor mentioned again. An underlying theme of destiny, precognition and/or superstition is interwoven with the story, but if all the ominous foreshadowing is meant to point to the completely out-of-left-field "Bad Seed" ending, then the film is ulitmately false and little more than a pretentious excercise with pretty Mediterranean scenery. Skarsgard and Rampling have such great on-screen chemistry that one hopes they can work together again with better material. A guarded recommendation.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
KWINKYDINKS AND BEYOND, March 3, 2003
More than sex, food or survival, we are creatures driven to find meaning in our lives (or so it's said by those who claim to know such things). A recent film that tap into that mindset, with varying degrees of success, is now available in a fine digital edition. In SIGNS & WONDERS, the once happy 17 year marriage of Marjorie (Charlotte Rampling) and Alec (Stellan Skarsgard) comes undone and Alec begins making decisions based only on coincidences and superstitions. Complex and strangely mesmerizing, this original film is especially unsettling as Alec ever more desperately seeks to understand signs that he believes will explain what is happening to him and give meaning to the tragedy that has befallen him, his adulterous wife and their two children. Special features include director Jon Nossiter's video diary. Different and disturbing because it hits close to the desperate sanity we all share in our fragile and perilous world view.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
(In)Security Guard --- and the human condition, December 26, 2002
I've never had an emotional experience while viewing a film comprable to that which overwhelmed me while watching Signs an Wonders. Strangely enough I was most moved by the scene of Skasgard entering the embassy. This was a minor masterpiece of taut directing, cinematography, and acting--I was strangely touched by the actor playing the security guard, who with only the slightest of gestures somehow conveyed the essence of the human experience. A must see for all serious lovers of the cinema.
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