Review of Perfidia

Perfidia (2009)
A cinematic poem for lovers of poetry, who enjoy not having all the answers
29 October 2012
Oh my! Perfidy really does separate the men from the boys, so to speak. This is a brilliant - astonishingly brilliant - and beautifully poetic movie that clearly soars far above the heads of many if not most online reviewers. It is more like a poem than a conventional movie - a REAL poem, by Eliot or Yeats or a genius like that, not a gushing clown like Rod McKuen - with layers and nuances and revelations you can't begin to appreciate or even see the first time you watch it.

I have read Eliot's "Little Gidding" at least 500 times, and EVERY time I read it I see something new, something that answers a question I had but raises even more questions for exploration the next time I read it. That's exactly how this marvelous movie is.

The first time through, I wondered about far more than I understood, about what was going on and why. Afterwards, I understood a little bit, but not nearly enough, so I watched it again, looking particularly for answers to questions I picked up as I watched it the first time. I did find answers to some of them, but more new questions arose than I got answered. It's a deeply, richly rewarding type of entertainment that comes around once or twice in a lifetime, and NEVER from Hollywood.

People who love the immediate, unchallenging, spoon-fed gratification of Hollywood movies will HATE Perfidy; but people who love to be challenged, who love to look beyond what they see on screen for truth and meaning hidden within it - who love never getting to the end of the maze but relish exploring possible ways through it - will LOVE Perfidy and welcome it into their lives as an enduring source of delight and satisfaction for a long time to come. This movie is a real treasure, but only for those who want what it offers.
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