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Starring: Tom Wilkinson, Sissy Spacek, Nick Stahl, Marisa Tomei

Directed By: Todd Field

This is one of the tallest tales I have ever seen on the silver screen. The film takes hold of itself from just a single incident and pulls the incident through the minds of the characters and also into the mechanics of the script. It is directed by the successor of Stanley Kubrick he even starred in his last film Eyes Wide Shut-Todd Field. Each character in this film will be left ingrained in your mind by the end of this film. The film comprises of a family comprising of parents, a son and a lover. The story is a tale of simple revenge and mistrust. But the way the director works on your mind while reaching that moment is devastating. At times it feels like theatre with scenes playing themselves out in a more constructed throwing pain out at us in various forms. It then slowly frustrates the characters questioning each of them of what they should do now. Is there any point of living for some of them? Or can they find a purpose they can fulfill without thinking of the loss that has come to them.

It is at this point that we seem to be suddenly choked in the chaos and pathos each character seems to show at various junctures in this film. Todd doesn’t even give us much in the form of comic relief. He just keeps slashing out at us with enough pain to bury our heads in the sand. Such a study of pain and suffering makes us wonder where all this coming from is it innate in all of us. Many of us have closed ourselves to such pain so that we can lead normal and happy lives. The characters have forgotten what happy is totally. They begin to inflict pain on each other without any consideration. Will all this they are feeling ever come to an end. Every performance in this is carefully nuanced, rehearsed and attended to with utmost care and understanding. But my personal favorites were Sissy Spacek who plays the mother and Tom Wilkinson they are both ethereal.

By the end of this film at least for those of you who sat through it you have invested valuable time in giving human suffering a chance. It is more liberating than you think once you break through the chains of happiness. Take my word for it.