On L List of Movie Reviews
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Liebestraum (1991)
Rate:
8
Viewed:
8/20
8/20:
From Mike Figgis, the director of Leaving Las Vegas, comes a stylish neo-noir picture
called Liebestraum.
Originally titled Liebesträume which is German for Dreams of Love, Franz Liszt's composition is famous in the
classical music world. It's used for the film's opening act, and the rest of the show is filled with haunting, dreamlike
style and imagery until questions are finally answered with a bit of déjà vu thrown in.
Many times, I kept thinking of Mulholland Drive and how David Lynch went too far and
failed to make a point amidst the muddled nonsense. Figgis does me a favor of making sure the mystery will be cleared up in
the long run despite the anticlimactic ending.
It's an excellent performance by the bearded Kevin Anderson: very stylish and in sync with the mysterious theme.
Complementing him well is Pamela Gidley who provides sexy undertones. The supporting cast is, more or less, full of red
herrings. Once upon a time, Kim Novak was beautiful. In the final film role of her career, her face looks intact, and
I don't get why she had to ruin it years later.
The term "cast-iron building" is mentioned a lot. Popular during the middle of the 19th century for its efficiency and
cost-effectiveness, they were constructed either entirely or in part with prefabricated cast-iron, which is a strong
type of iron, allowing it to span a great distance in order to include rooms with taller ceilings and larger windows.
The material was also used for the building's façade that's especially of the Gothic, Classical, or Italianate design.
Eventually, modern steel and concrete took over, obsoleting cast-iron for good. There are two ways to identify it:
(1) Cast-iron is the only building material that magnets can stick to; and (2) Designs for the façade are
sectionally affixed by nuts and bolts.
All in all, Mike Figgis should be doing more films like Liebestraum and Leaving Las Vegas but not crap
like Hotel.