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Possible Worlds (2000)

Director: Robert Lepage

Writer: John Mighton & Robert Lepage

Cast: Tilda Swinton, Rick Miller, Gabriel Gascon, Sean McCann

Character: George Barber

Billing: 2nd

Plot: George Barber is dead... but alive and well and living an infinite number of parallel lives in possible worlds, all connected by his pursuit of the woman he loves. Meanwhile, the detectives who find his body - minus a brain - investigate a mysterious lab researching rat intelligences.

Review: Of all the immediate reactions you can have to a movie, "Huh?" is probably not the best. The video box I have contains a quote from director Robert Lepage describing the film as "a cubist love story", which I'm fairly sure sent most prospective buyers off in the direction of either the Van Damme collection, or a maths textbook. While not quite as daunting as any summary would have you believe, Possible Worlds is certainly a thinking film, and one which will, once it gets past the "huh?" stage, set you thinking too.

It betrays its stage origins in both its ideas and literate script, but usually manages to avoid lecturing. The two leads, Tom and Tilda Swinton, play off each other nicely, but are ultimately not onscreen enough of the time. Swinton in particular, playing four different versions of her character, is fighting a losing battle. The other half of the film is decicated to the two detectives, whose conversations are interesting enough, but less so on a second viewing, and generally seem to slow down the plot. The cinematography is stunning, but the visual motifs are a little overdone. I won't object to the sight of Tom dripping wet, but when the entire movie seems to be submerged, it gets worrying. The ambiguity of the ending and of any particular "point" to the movie fits in well with the film's themes, but all in all is a little frustrating. Worth watching for a number of reasons, but prepare to think while you do.

Trivia: Robert Lepage's first English-language film. Adapted from John Mighton's play of the same name. Filmed in Montreal, although the city is never named and there are no external shots whilst in the city.

Tom Quotes:  "How old are you?"
                    "Forty-one."
                    "How many lovers have you had?"
                    "That I can remember?"
                    "Yes."
                    "Billions."

                    " Every thought you will ever have has existed since before you did."