This is a gem of a little conjurer of a movie. Some compares it to "Pulp Fiction", but it's actually much simpler. Nor will "Momento" do for a comparison because it has two lines of temporal manipulation, one moving backward and another forward, and is therefore still too complicated. "Irreversable" seems closest, with its simple succession of backward jumps in time. But no, that's not really it either.
"A stranger of mine" starts with telling a simple episode depicting the encounter of two recently broken hearts, over a few hours. This has all the hallmarks of a budding love story, when we see the two parting, but not before his chasing the taxi a couple of blocks to get her phone number. But that's where the fun really begins.
Using several sequences of backward narrations similar to but not the same as in some of the movies mentioned above, the director continues to surprise and delight us by repeatedly pulling wool over our eyes and lifting it again. Whenever we see scenes we saw before, they all have new meanings. There's hardly any plot holes because the plot is actually quite simple. It's just that the story is so devilishly cleverly told.
As I said, the plot is not at all convoluted, so the only thing I'll just add is that there are three more key characters - his buddy who is a private detective, his ex girlfriend who is a con girl, and a gangster big boss this con girl got involved with. The story revolves around these five characters In addition to the endless clever twists (which are not really twist had it been told in a linear fashion), the movie is also sparkling and bubbling with humour that borders on being dark but are really grey. There are also funny little touches such as the ring tone of the gangster boss's phone "telephone, big boss, telephone" (which I image would be a lot funnier to those who understand Japanese).
Enough said. Just a recommendation - if you spot this movie in your neighbourhood, in whatever form, don't miss it. It's a gem.
"A stranger of mine" starts with telling a simple episode depicting the encounter of two recently broken hearts, over a few hours. This has all the hallmarks of a budding love story, when we see the two parting, but not before his chasing the taxi a couple of blocks to get her phone number. But that's where the fun really begins.
Using several sequences of backward narrations similar to but not the same as in some of the movies mentioned above, the director continues to surprise and delight us by repeatedly pulling wool over our eyes and lifting it again. Whenever we see scenes we saw before, they all have new meanings. There's hardly any plot holes because the plot is actually quite simple. It's just that the story is so devilishly cleverly told.
As I said, the plot is not at all convoluted, so the only thing I'll just add is that there are three more key characters - his buddy who is a private detective, his ex girlfriend who is a con girl, and a gangster big boss this con girl got involved with. The story revolves around these five characters In addition to the endless clever twists (which are not really twist had it been told in a linear fashion), the movie is also sparkling and bubbling with humour that borders on being dark but are really grey. There are also funny little touches such as the ring tone of the gangster boss's phone "telephone, big boss, telephone" (which I image would be a lot funnier to those who understand Japanese).
Enough said. Just a recommendation - if you spot this movie in your neighbourhood, in whatever form, don't miss it. It's a gem.