Of all the senses, smell most strongly connects us to memory and the past. Taste locks us into the present. Hearing and sight help us navigate through the world. It is touch, however, that connects us intimately to each other.
"Perfect Sense' presents a pre-apocalyptic event, the loss, on a global scale, of the senses one by one. Michael and Susan are flawed individuals, a chef and a doctor, carrying their scars and regrets through Glasgow's world of bright young things, two individuals who find each other just as the world loses everything.
Eva Green as Susan is instantly charismatic, a strong-willed, demanding woman who sets high standards because she knows she deserves it. At the same time, she fears no one can live up to her demands. McGregor gets to test his range as Michael, going through women like short-orders in his kitchen, with just as much attention and interest. When he meets his match in Susan, he has to face that he has found what he has been looking for all his life, and now a pandemic will take it away. His loss proves the most profoundly moving element of the film.
McKenzie films Glasgow in glory and decay, making wonderful use of water and reflected light as he did in Young Adam. The hard jar of the camera on a bicycle sans steadicam is a brave choice, but it draws your attention to visual sense and foreshadows the losses about to fall. Before each sense is lost there is a brief intense burning of that sense. This is most effectively portrayed in a canny use of sound when Susan stops the car, winds down the window, and the cacophony of sound in our world, starting with church bells and extending to screeching parrots, rushes in on the two silent, fearful lovers.
There is one missed beat, when Susan takes the huff because of what Michael says in his virus-induced rage before losing a sense. With the world coming to an end all around you, it stretches credulity to think she'd throw a strop over some bilious comments - especially as a medic. But it does set up a beautiful denouement, the lovers desperately searching for reconciliation as the world gradually, then suddenly, stops functioning.
This is a moving film, a thought-provoking one, about love, connection, and all the things we take for granted. An antidote to bombastic, finger-wagging fare such as Day After Tomorrow, it earns your tears at several moments. Quite possibly Mackenzie's best film to date.
"Perfect Sense' presents a pre-apocalyptic event, the loss, on a global scale, of the senses one by one. Michael and Susan are flawed individuals, a chef and a doctor, carrying their scars and regrets through Glasgow's world of bright young things, two individuals who find each other just as the world loses everything.
Eva Green as Susan is instantly charismatic, a strong-willed, demanding woman who sets high standards because she knows she deserves it. At the same time, she fears no one can live up to her demands. McGregor gets to test his range as Michael, going through women like short-orders in his kitchen, with just as much attention and interest. When he meets his match in Susan, he has to face that he has found what he has been looking for all his life, and now a pandemic will take it away. His loss proves the most profoundly moving element of the film.
McKenzie films Glasgow in glory and decay, making wonderful use of water and reflected light as he did in Young Adam. The hard jar of the camera on a bicycle sans steadicam is a brave choice, but it draws your attention to visual sense and foreshadows the losses about to fall. Before each sense is lost there is a brief intense burning of that sense. This is most effectively portrayed in a canny use of sound when Susan stops the car, winds down the window, and the cacophony of sound in our world, starting with church bells and extending to screeching parrots, rushes in on the two silent, fearful lovers.
There is one missed beat, when Susan takes the huff because of what Michael says in his virus-induced rage before losing a sense. With the world coming to an end all around you, it stretches credulity to think she'd throw a strop over some bilious comments - especially as a medic. But it does set up a beautiful denouement, the lovers desperately searching for reconciliation as the world gradually, then suddenly, stops functioning.
This is a moving film, a thought-provoking one, about love, connection, and all the things we take for granted. An antidote to bombastic, finger-wagging fare such as Day After Tomorrow, it earns your tears at several moments. Quite possibly Mackenzie's best film to date.