The Door (5 Stars)

There's something about Mads Mikkelsen. He has a very sad, brooding face. He's hardly able to smile in his films. This may give him a one-sided appearance, but it's better than an actor like Tom Cruise who always has a grin on his face.

This is one of the best German films made in recent years. Even though it doesn't have a deeper message, as far as I can tell, it does throw up some philosophical questions. If you went back into the past and met yourself, what would you do? Would you embrace your younger self as a friend, or would you kill him as an enemy? In my case it depends how far back in time I went. I could tolerate myself as I was five years ago, but if I met my teenage self I probably wouldn't like him. At the very least I'd grab him by the shoulders and try to shake some sense into him.

I wish I could be 16 again and know everything I do now. There's so much I would do better. One of the main changes I would make in my life, as strange as it sounds, is that I wouldn't be in such a hurry to lose my virginity. In fact, if I had the choice again I might remain a virgin for the rest of my life. There was a feeling I had when I was a virgin that I'll never have again. It wasn't just a matter of being younger. There was an apprehension and fear of the unknown. Of course, if I remained a virgin I would never have my beautiful children. I have no regrets at all about them. My lust for virginity is purely selfish.

It's interesting to see that when Jessica Schwarz travels back in time to be with her dead daughter she has a change of heart. She accepts that her daughter will be happier without her and lets her go. There might be something of a message here, that women are more reasonable and less selfish than men when it comes to making important decisions. I don't know what I would do if I had to face a similar choice. In theory I'm an intellectual who could tell another person what to do, but when it's my own life I would be moved by my emotions, maybe selfishly.