Auteur Wim Wenders's 2017 offer "Submergence" is a stylish love story, beautifully shot as you have every right to expect, and at times sound philosophical but need not be taken seriously.
The two establishing scenes might have come from two different movies. Underwater in a cutting-edge costume, bio-mathematician Dani Flinders (Alicia Vikander) just might trigger your thoughts on things like "Pacific Rim". In captivity in a claustrophobic prison, secret agent James More (James McAvoy) reminds you of Daniel Craig's 007 in some of the most adverse situations.
In a flashback on how these two protagonists' trajectories intersect, the audience is treated to a paradise of a resort hotel in Normandy where these two come for their respective breathing spell from the pressure of work. The setting, the scenery, the movie stars, this is beauty heaped on beauty. But this is no real challenge for Wenders.
The foreplay (figuratively speaking) is elegant and classy. She starts by explaining to him her area of specialty. The ocean has five layers, she explains. The first, where you submerge (including thing like baptism, she says), is the blue ocean we know. The second is the "twilight zone". Layers 3, 4 and 5 are total darkness. She even gives the names of layer 1, 2 and 5 but don't expect anyone to remember them. The special submersion unit in which she works in layer five, she intimates, is the only one in Europe. That means if something goes wrong, she will be left to die in darkness, through suffocation when the oxygen supply runs out. That takes five days, "time for me to think of a lot of things" she concludes with an ominous note.
He does not reciprocate in telling her what he does for a living, quite understandably. She ventures soldiering, which he neither confirms or denies. But they do have a common goal. People should get interested in their work, and get educated on the possibilities that how the world can be changed for the better because of what they do.
The first half unfolds as a stylish love story, ending in a brisk parting scene when he is all packed and ready to get into the taxi. In this delightful scene, there is none of the "I have fallen so much in love with you" or "promise me you will come back alive" stuff. He approaches her and says "Okay, I'm in". "I'm in too", she replies. They kiss and part and that is the last time we see them together, in this movie. It takes two soulful actors to put this scene off, as Vikander and McAvoy did.
The second half intercuts between three trajectories, her project in the Atlantics, his captivity in Somalia and flashback of their scenes together (often in a dreamy tone). This may not be a movie for everyone, but the visual beauty will be appreciated by all.
The two establishing scenes might have come from two different movies. Underwater in a cutting-edge costume, bio-mathematician Dani Flinders (Alicia Vikander) just might trigger your thoughts on things like "Pacific Rim". In captivity in a claustrophobic prison, secret agent James More (James McAvoy) reminds you of Daniel Craig's 007 in some of the most adverse situations.
In a flashback on how these two protagonists' trajectories intersect, the audience is treated to a paradise of a resort hotel in Normandy where these two come for their respective breathing spell from the pressure of work. The setting, the scenery, the movie stars, this is beauty heaped on beauty. But this is no real challenge for Wenders.
The foreplay (figuratively speaking) is elegant and classy. She starts by explaining to him her area of specialty. The ocean has five layers, she explains. The first, where you submerge (including thing like baptism, she says), is the blue ocean we know. The second is the "twilight zone". Layers 3, 4 and 5 are total darkness. She even gives the names of layer 1, 2 and 5 but don't expect anyone to remember them. The special submersion unit in which she works in layer five, she intimates, is the only one in Europe. That means if something goes wrong, she will be left to die in darkness, through suffocation when the oxygen supply runs out. That takes five days, "time for me to think of a lot of things" she concludes with an ominous note.
He does not reciprocate in telling her what he does for a living, quite understandably. She ventures soldiering, which he neither confirms or denies. But they do have a common goal. People should get interested in their work, and get educated on the possibilities that how the world can be changed for the better because of what they do.
The first half unfolds as a stylish love story, ending in a brisk parting scene when he is all packed and ready to get into the taxi. In this delightful scene, there is none of the "I have fallen so much in love with you" or "promise me you will come back alive" stuff. He approaches her and says "Okay, I'm in". "I'm in too", she replies. They kiss and part and that is the last time we see them together, in this movie. It takes two soulful actors to put this scene off, as Vikander and McAvoy did.
The second half intercuts between three trajectories, her project in the Atlantics, his captivity in Somalia and flashback of their scenes together (often in a dreamy tone). This may not be a movie for everyone, but the visual beauty will be appreciated by all.