Every now and then I read a book or see a movie that leaves me increasingly puzzled, even frustrated - until suddenly, towards the end, everything comes together and it all makes sense (the first time I remember this was John Irving's "A Prayer for Owen Meany"). This movie is just such a creation.
The plot idea is superb: Adam and Eve, having succumbed to Lucifer's temptation, are cast out of the garden of Eden. Adam holds Lucifer to his promise: "You said I would know everything!"; so Lucifer, in return, grants Adam a dream of the world to come. And what a bizarre dream: Adam becomes Miltiades in Athens; a knight called Tancred in Byzantium; Kepler in Prague; Danton in revolutionary Paris; and a nameless suitor in industrial London. All of the episodes end in tragedy, and all involve a man separated for ever from his true love.
Other critics have commented on how the episodes become increasingly surreal and confusing, and by three-quarters of the way through the movie I was as bewildered as anyone. But it is when Adam awakes, and Eve tells him that she is carrying his child, that it all starts to come together. Adam has seen his descendants create a world that spirals into madness; and he has also seen that in his misguided attempt to stay forever with Eve, he has condemned all his descendants to separation, whether by death, deceit, adultery, or even misguided piety. His heartfelt plea to God as he clutches his pregnant wife's abdomen - "Lord, shall my kind progress, or like cattle in the treadmill stay within the circle?" - is a challenge. Have we progressed, or have we fulfilled Lucifer's vision of a self-created Hell?
The movie is beautifully filmed, with little bizarre touches weaving a dream-like milieu. There are some fine performances, particularly from the eerily beautiful Lucifer. All-in-all a weird and thought-provoking movie.
The plot idea is superb: Adam and Eve, having succumbed to Lucifer's temptation, are cast out of the garden of Eden. Adam holds Lucifer to his promise: "You said I would know everything!"; so Lucifer, in return, grants Adam a dream of the world to come. And what a bizarre dream: Adam becomes Miltiades in Athens; a knight called Tancred in Byzantium; Kepler in Prague; Danton in revolutionary Paris; and a nameless suitor in industrial London. All of the episodes end in tragedy, and all involve a man separated for ever from his true love.
Other critics have commented on how the episodes become increasingly surreal and confusing, and by three-quarters of the way through the movie I was as bewildered as anyone. But it is when Adam awakes, and Eve tells him that she is carrying his child, that it all starts to come together. Adam has seen his descendants create a world that spirals into madness; and he has also seen that in his misguided attempt to stay forever with Eve, he has condemned all his descendants to separation, whether by death, deceit, adultery, or even misguided piety. His heartfelt plea to God as he clutches his pregnant wife's abdomen - "Lord, shall my kind progress, or like cattle in the treadmill stay within the circle?" - is a challenge. Have we progressed, or have we fulfilled Lucifer's vision of a self-created Hell?
The movie is beautifully filmed, with little bizarre touches weaving a dream-like milieu. There are some fine performances, particularly from the eerily beautiful Lucifer. All-in-all a weird and thought-provoking movie.