Nothing Personal (2010)

What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Nothing Personal is a film I've been interested for sometime in seeing but held back for two reasons: firstly, my experience up to this point with the principle actors, Verbeek and Rhea, has been one-dimensional. I had only seen Rhea in Neil Jordan's (a man whose repeated films containing Rhea makes me think of an Irish Burton-Depp relationship) Interview with The Vampire which made me have no opinion at all in reference to his acting capabilities. On the other hand, Ms. Verbeek I had only seen as the beautiful and resourceful Giulia Farnese in Neil Jordan's The Borgia s. However, this film gave me confidence in the opinion that both Verbeek and Rhea are fine artists in their own right and can handle the emotions (sometimes strange and erratic)that Nothing Personal offers. The second reason was that I thought, after reading about the writer and director, this film might be a little TOO European for my liking. As it turned out, Nothing Personal was an oddly interesting debut of Antoniak's talent as a director--the sweeping views that the audience was graced with of the Irish countryside were breathtaking as was the quaint home of Rhea's character, Martin. Admittedly, there were aspects of this film that didn't quite read: the sparse dialogue worked in some instances but on a whole didn't quite help me figure out exactly where these two characters, who were on the surface quite interesting, where they came from. Unfourtunetley, there were long spaces of screen time where, in the midst of Verbeek's character packing up her tent or struggling up the hills of Ireland's coastal region, I almost fell asleep. In fact, it was because of this plot-less venturing that led me to give up on this movie the first time I watched it. However, some positive points to this film was that the acting was subtly beautiful: both Verbeek and Rhea had this wonderful and understated chemistry that made total sense with their character's relationship. And my favourite part of the whole movie was where both Verbeek and Rhea's characters forsake the isolated house of Martin's to go out for a drink at the local pub. Seeing Verbeek try to Irish step dance and finally socialize for the first time in the whole film was a heart warming experience. Another scene that I found breathtaking (yet another promising start for Antoniak) was Verbeek's character blowing the tall grass of the highlands into a frenzy with her own breath as a gift to Martin. It sounds kind of strange writing it down but when you see it, it's a lovely scene between Rhea and Verbeek's characters, another crack in their odd companionship void of personal intrusion. I can't very well explain the subtle beauty that Antoniak's film offers nor can I praise every aspect of Verbeek and Rhea's performance without keeping in mind that their are movie goers who haven't yet explored this underrated film and that I'd like to keep the mystery of this film untouched for the time being. It isn't a perfect film and it definitely isn't one of my top Earth Moving Films of My Life. But it is unique and worth taking a look at, if only to see the potential of this up coming filmmaker who, I hope, doesn't disappear into obscurity and instead graces cinema with a new story to share.

Based on the Locarno credentials of this movie (garnering six awards at that event, not counting many others) I decided to take a dive into some of my expatriate's work abroad. A very simple tale about Anne (Lotte Verbaek), who cuts away from everything connected to her previous life in Holland (most likely due to the death of her husband, but we can only speculate the real reason) and backpacks to Ireland. There she comes across an elderly fisherman, Martin, (the brilliant Stephen Rea), who lives in solitude in a desolate location close to the sea. On their encounter Anne is extremely rash, even rude, being in a state devoid of any warmth or friendliness. However they soon agree to an uneasy truce: Anne will work for food, but as long as no personal matters are touched.Set in untiringly beautiful locations of the Irish countryside the movie always manages to remain an eye-catcher (especially a fascinating peninsular, which is the main location of the movie), which helps keep the focus on the story itself, despite its very slowly unwinding rudimentary plot. Emotionwise I wasn't however fully convinced by Lotte Verbaek and additionally I did feel that several scenes/dialogues seemed not to fit the overall tone and logic of the movie. Nonetheless the whole story rings with a somber truth, as emotions and feelings catch the characters unawares, which leads to an absolutely heart-wrenching finale (the scene from the poster). Very simply crafted and set in the most basic human feelings it really has an unbelievable capacity to capture the attention and linger in memory.Despite it's flaws it remains a stunning, if very reserved, watch, which shows the immense potential of Polish-born Urszula Antoniak.

The Irish countryside, silence, solitude... The synopsis sounds promising, but the execution just doesn't feel authentic. This movie tries to do something, be something, that it cannot deliver. I don't buy it, I don't believe it. It's not necessary to know a lot about a character's background to feel for the character, to get interested in a character. The opposite is often true. But there needs to be something that you can work with, can relate to. Something that grips you, at the very least the character needs to make you care. I just found the girl annoying. Instead of being intrigued by her, I grew very quickly very tired with her act, which just seemed so immature. She just acted like a rebellious, capricious adolescent. That she may be of course, but that makes it hard (impossible really) to explore the deeper feelings the movie wants to explore through her character. And I couldn't detect much depth in 'the philosopher' as well. The 'pact' (don't ask, don't tell) they make is just an unimaginative cliché, that could work and has worked in some movies, but here it just seems like a cheap gimmick to try and make the characters seem more mysterious and interesting and their interactions more intriguing. I can see what the director was going for, but it just didn't work for me. And exploring themes like loneliness and love in a respectful, authentic, believable, gripping way, is not easy for sure. The story, characters, acting, setting, dialogues, music, everything must fall into place. The countryside was actually fairly well chosen, but the rest of the 'ingredients' just didn't cut it. I didn't get sucked in by the movie, just kept bumping into awkward little bumps in the story, character development and the acting was mediocre. There're some Asian (especially Japanese and Korean) directors, who really understand the art of portraying loneliness and love, and for whom's interested I would suggest looking into the work of Korean director Kim Ki-Duk or for example watch 'Toni Takitani' (after a story by Haruki Murakami). The cover scene from Nothing Personal, naked girl hugging the dead loved one wrapped in a sheet, is even 'borrowed' from an Asian movie (I cannot quite remember the name though). Nothing Personal just didn't feel right, it just felt pretentious. Nothing personal though.

A very promising cinema debut. Though most of it is set on the Irish West coast, the whole film has an Eastern European feel to it: sparse dialog, little music, beautiful still shots of landscape and interiors and relentlessly grim weather. I don't find the choice of location at all artificial. If you want to get away from one of the most densely populated countries in the world on a budget, the West of Ireland doesn't seem such a bad choice.This is a film not so much about loneliness, but about being alone. While the female lead clearly had a very negative experience before the story begins (loss of a loved one or traumatic end of a relationship?), one senses that her being alone in this remote corner of Europe is something she deliberately chose and eventually prefers. It seems male viewers have problems with her arrogance and rudeness, while women (including yours truly) find her strong and full of character. Stephen Rea provides a perfect match for her impulsive behaviour and injects a gentle sense of humour. Fortunately their developing 'relationship' avoids romantic clichés.I like films that leave you guessing about the characters' inner thoughts, motives and actions. Combined with the powerful imagery, it makes this one linger in the mind long after the house lights have switched on. Although I found the last scene puzzling and out of place and while the storyline might have been tightened up here and there, I am certainly keen to see what Urszula Antoniak comes up with in her next project.