Wow. Very impressive.
Hard to believe I would start off with that, the way this started…but I was wrong. You fooled me, I admit. Good job, and thank you.
My first notes seem irrelevant after watching the whole thing, but here’s a bit of it:
Low-key and convincing from the start. I buy the lead; the wilder cohort is decent. The former stays good, the latter…in a manner of speaking, gets better – just give her some time.
There’s a scene where – based on my perception of the story – I felt it TOTALLY lost it: completely out of character, focus lost, destined for mediocrity at best. Fortunately I was wrong…give it a chance.
It “recovers” (even before I accepted the gaffe as…acceptable?) and stays on course for a while. Parts are low-key, calm, sedate…tranquil, in a comforting way. The music, the backgrounds, the acting, the silences; seem to, for parts at least, slide into this state, this feeling.
The futuristic twist comes with about a third left, and is interesting…and quite a changeup. The state, the feeling…they seem to make sense now, totally, as at times before.
I said in a previous ‘Black Mirror’ episode review that “I wouldn’t ruin it for you”. In THIS episode, I mean it. Don’t read the summary before you watch it, just watch it. It will produce a real experience, I think.
Magic Card for this episode (in multiple aspects): “Tranquility”.
Near the end, there’s a fairly powerful speech, and a choice is made.
In keeping with recent posts, here is a movie clip.
FAIR USE: CRITICISM – A great clip from a good movie.
The choice made in the episode is FAR more difficult, but is has some relation.
Powerful ending. And perfect song. Watch the credits, too.
Truly touching, truly emotional. Truly…that is to say, REAL.
Like a deep puppy once said: these moments always come. They may be rare, they may be separated by huge gulfs of darkness and despair. But they are there, waiting for you if you wait for them. And that is worth living for.
Lots of deep thoughts here, potentially. And I can’t imagine making the decision made at the end, by the cohort. It’s made in the dark, and…somehow, as was wondered, TO ME…it cheapens reality.
If it MIGHT be as the cohort imagined…even MIGHT…I’d like to say I would decline. Fantasy or reality; how much can you live in the first, without making things in the second – things filled with pain, joy, sadness, love, hate…LIFE – meaningless?
Incredibly difficult, but…I would never cheapen the true emotions of my reality. No matter how tempting. And even if…well, it means a different, and total, end. The emotions and memories I have, that I cherish, are too powerful for that. Too real.
Inspirational Quote (from a book): “Our bodies are given life from the midst of nothingness. Existing where there is nothing is the meaning of the phrase, ‘form is emptiness.’ That all things are provided for by nothingness is the meaning of the phrase, ‘Emptiness is form.’ One should not think that these are two separate things.”