I saw this movie last night in Sydney as part of the Sydney Film Festival. I didn't know what I was seeing or anything about the movie. Overall unfortunately I have to say that while the best intentions were there the film just didn't work.
The main problem for me was that I don't think the director really knew what kind of statement she was trying to make with the film. I was waiting for the presentation of what the film was trying to say but it never came. This is surprising considering the subject matter.
The director stated at the end of the film in the Q+A that she wasn't making the film primarily about the adoption of children from other countries. But this aspect of the story was way more compelling than watching two boring main characters have lukewarm interaction. I feel the Director should have taken a stronger stance with how she felt about the subject matter she was trying to display. And my God if you are shooting a film in India just get right in there and soak it into the frames !
The beginning of the film was not helped by the music score which alluded to the film almost being presented as a comedy, especially with the choice of music score. That path soon faded away into discombobulation. While a few moments were interesting to watch it just didn't make it in the end.
I thought the Joel Edgerton character was not realized well enough. Weather this is through the fault of the director or Joels direction he took the character in. Because the 2 main characters are on the screen so much of the time I really wanted to see more chemistry between them but it just wasn't there.
Also the film being shot with the RED digital camera system I would have expected a bit more depth and vitality to the shot choices.
Having said all of this the creators of the film were very charming during the Q+A and I think Claire will go onto make some better material. Keep going guys !
The main problem for me was that I don't think the director really knew what kind of statement she was trying to make with the film. I was waiting for the presentation of what the film was trying to say but it never came. This is surprising considering the subject matter.
The director stated at the end of the film in the Q+A that she wasn't making the film primarily about the adoption of children from other countries. But this aspect of the story was way more compelling than watching two boring main characters have lukewarm interaction. I feel the Director should have taken a stronger stance with how she felt about the subject matter she was trying to display. And my God if you are shooting a film in India just get right in there and soak it into the frames !
The beginning of the film was not helped by the music score which alluded to the film almost being presented as a comedy, especially with the choice of music score. That path soon faded away into discombobulation. While a few moments were interesting to watch it just didn't make it in the end.
I thought the Joel Edgerton character was not realized well enough. Weather this is through the fault of the director or Joels direction he took the character in. Because the 2 main characters are on the screen so much of the time I really wanted to see more chemistry between them but it just wasn't there.
Also the film being shot with the RED digital camera system I would have expected a bit more depth and vitality to the shot choices.
Having said all of this the creators of the film were very charming during the Q+A and I think Claire will go onto make some better material. Keep going guys !