A Ghost Story (4 Stars)

This is one of those films that people will either love or hate. Critics seem to like it, based on its 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but I'm talking about real film fans like you and me. The film isn't just slow, it crawls at a snail's pace. I mean, how many films do you know with a woman eating apple pie by herself for more than five minutes? There are many scenes, especially at the beginning, where nothing is moving, there are just sounds in the background.

Normally slowness is used to create emotion, but in "A Ghost Story" there's nothing that brings tears to my eyes. When the musician C (Casey Affleck) dies in a car crash there are no tears. His wife M (Rooney Mara) sheds no tears, and neither did I when I watched it. Everything is cold and sterile. She merely acknowledges his death.

Yet after C's death he chooses not to go into the light. He makes a conscious decision to return home. He stands watching his wife, whether she's sleeping or sitting on the floor eating pie. When she moves out – she never liked the house – he remains in the house instead of going with her. His attachment is to the house, not her. And yet he spends years scratching at the wall, trying to retrieve a message that she wrote for future residents to find.

Other people live in the house. There's a single mother with two children. He puts up with them for a few years, then grows frustrated and throws plates around the room. Then there's another family that he likes more. The man talks a lot of philosophy at the party, which is relevant to the film. It has some similarity to the underlying idea of "Cloud Atlas", that it's possible to remember the future. C tolerates them, maybe even learns from them. As a ghost C doesn't talk. He just stands and listens.

The house is torn down, but C doesn't leave. He remains in the ruins. A large building is constructed on the same site, and he remains there. He walks around the building while it's being constructed. When it's completed he stalks the corridors, listening in on the board meetings of the companies renting space.

By the way, can you see how the picture has been made in a 4:3 ratio with rounded edges, like the early television sets? This gives the film a retro feeling.

I don't want to give too much away, but the philosopher in C's house was correct. Time runs its course, then the universe reaches its maximum expansion and begins to shrink. Time runs backwards until the universe is a pin-prick in size, and there's a new big bang. History repeats itself. It's the same, but not quite the same. C has survived the destruction and recreation of the universe. He watches the foundation of his house being laid, and he waits for himself to move in. His songs have been remembered before he wrote them. He tries to influence his living self to act differently, but is it possible?

Watch the film for yourself.

As for me, I'm going to drink another glass of Besigheimer Felsengarten Samtrot Spätlese. It might help me get my head around the film's concepts.

Success Rate:  + 17.0

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