It's difficult not to be swept away by the intricate levels of artsy meta/auto-fiction elegantly crafted and staged by director Anna Odell in this film. However, prepare to be hit repeatedly by waves of heteronormativity and gender normativity that are un-nuanced and somewhat tiresome. All in all though, an entertaining and well-crafted film.
6 Reviews
Bizarre and absurd movie.
Enchorde15 March 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Warning. This review doesn't only contain spoilers, but might describe descriptions of disturbing scenes (as does the movie).
Anna Odell, an artist, recruits well known actor Mikael Persbrandt (very well known in Sweden, internationally probably most known as Beorn in the Hobbit movies), to make a movie about identities (and how they may differ from identities as portrayed in media). They are to live in a studio, with six other actors that takes on different personas from Anna and Mikael. One is the confident/aggressive side of Mikael, one is the artistic side of Anna, and so on.
We as an audience, don't know, what in the movie is real in the sense that what is their real actions/reactions or what is scripted. It is a movie about making a movie about... identities? As it works on different levels, there certainly is meta-level about the movie.
The events that unfold are mostly absurd and bizarre, with all eight people just trying to be two persons, and frequently leads to sex or sexual situations. There seem to be a simple mindedness in the movie that identity always lead to sex and the power of/over sex.
The movie is twisted, absurd and bizarre, and I had to make the decision that it is all just fake. Certainly provoking, but oddly, and a twisted sort o tale that I had to laugh at (to keep the distance from). If it in any way is real, a real experiment, a real project to explore identity, it is extremely distasteful, and some scenes would portray illegal actions (hence my conclusion it is not real, but a scripted forgery - otherwise it is despicable). For example, in one scene, Anna feels the urge to masturbate, but since she is in bed with her other personas begins to "touch" the other persons.
The problem is that the director has before seem to hold art projects above the law. But my guess is that it is one of the media images that Anna wants to play with and explore/challenge. At least, that is my hope. But this is in no part explained, or even talked about in the movie. But since the movie is about exploring/challenging identities of Anna and Mikael, it is an integral part of the movie, without never being in it.
Though bizarre as it is, it is not boring. It is provoking. And although I cannot agree with Anna's methods, there are interesting parts and scenes. Some scenes with their alter-egos are food for thought.
Does the project come to any conclusion? No idea. The movie gives no answers, and has no real ending. If anybody could interpret something out of this, it is only Anna.
Anna Odell, an artist, recruits well known actor Mikael Persbrandt (very well known in Sweden, internationally probably most known as Beorn in the Hobbit movies), to make a movie about identities (and how they may differ from identities as portrayed in media). They are to live in a studio, with six other actors that takes on different personas from Anna and Mikael. One is the confident/aggressive side of Mikael, one is the artistic side of Anna, and so on.
We as an audience, don't know, what in the movie is real in the sense that what is their real actions/reactions or what is scripted. It is a movie about making a movie about... identities? As it works on different levels, there certainly is meta-level about the movie.
The events that unfold are mostly absurd and bizarre, with all eight people just trying to be two persons, and frequently leads to sex or sexual situations. There seem to be a simple mindedness in the movie that identity always lead to sex and the power of/over sex.
The movie is twisted, absurd and bizarre, and I had to make the decision that it is all just fake. Certainly provoking, but oddly, and a twisted sort o tale that I had to laugh at (to keep the distance from). If it in any way is real, a real experiment, a real project to explore identity, it is extremely distasteful, and some scenes would portray illegal actions (hence my conclusion it is not real, but a scripted forgery - otherwise it is despicable). For example, in one scene, Anna feels the urge to masturbate, but since she is in bed with her other personas begins to "touch" the other persons.
The problem is that the director has before seem to hold art projects above the law. But my guess is that it is one of the media images that Anna wants to play with and explore/challenge. At least, that is my hope. But this is in no part explained, or even talked about in the movie. But since the movie is about exploring/challenging identities of Anna and Mikael, it is an integral part of the movie, without never being in it.
Though bizarre as it is, it is not boring. It is provoking. And although I cannot agree with Anna's methods, there are interesting parts and scenes. Some scenes with their alter-egos are food for thought.
Does the project come to any conclusion? No idea. The movie gives no answers, and has no real ending. If anybody could interpret something out of this, it is only Anna.
I don´t think that this is a movie.
tildiz1496 October 2023
I watched the trailer for this ... eh ... creation. I was confused. I have now watched "X&Y" from the beginning to the end. And in my totally honest opinion I´m even more confused. What exactly is this? I just can´t say that this is a movie. I would like to call it a rehearsal. I laughed while watching some scenes. I´m not sure if I was laughing at or with the movie, but my laughs brought my rating from 1 star to 2 stars.
I have watched Anna Odell´s "The Reunion" (2013). And in my opinion that was a quite good movie. It was less confusing than "X&Y". What is the message here? Which feelings are you left with? What made the cast and crew to choose to be a part of this? An actor or an actress must improvise sometimes, but did "X&Y" have a manuscript? In other words, I won´t or can´t recommend this.
I have watched Anna Odell´s "The Reunion" (2013). And in my opinion that was a quite good movie. It was less confusing than "X&Y". What is the message here? Which feelings are you left with? What made the cast and crew to choose to be a part of this? An actor or an actress must improvise sometimes, but did "X&Y" have a manuscript? In other words, I won´t or can´t recommend this.
Genius. Must watch again.
gabrioche24 January 2020
Captivating smart movie
Mviktor2 June 2019
Anna Odell is a genious!
mawallin12 January 2021
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