Romanian cities teem with children living on the streets, since dictator Ceausescu -
hoping to increase the work force - outlawed both birth control and abortion.

More than any other film I have seen, this captures the heartbreak and hopelessness
of street kids and their lives. The 5 kids we follow scratch out an existence living
together in a subway station.

It is initially hard to comprehend, as some of these kids theoretically have homes
to return to. But when we see the nightmare reality of those homes, we start to
understand that there are tiny children, some as young as 8, trapped between a
rock and a hard place.

A true horror film, but, like documentaries on the holocaust, one that has an
important reason to exist. To move people to action, and to make sure this kind
of institutionalized neglect - a problem in many nations - is brought to to an end
as soon as possible.

Five minutes in I thought 'I'm going to hate this movie'. It seemed
like it was just going to be a documentary of arbitrary cutesy moments
of kids at a US summer camp. But a bunch of very good reviews led me
to it, and by halfway in I understood why.

As these kids (and their counselors) come into focus as human beings it
actually becomes a moving memory of childhood ' its joys, but also its
confusions, pains, hurts and loses.

That doesn't mean it's a down-beat movie. Ultimately it's vibe is positive,
but it's not a Hollywood, Pollyanna kind of positive. It gets just how life
is bittersweet, even (or especially?) when you're 10 years old.

I highly recommend 'The Trilogy'. It's a fascinating, brave cinematic
experiment - three films of wildly different styles and tones combining to tell
one story. If in the end it doesn't quite achieve greatness, it still is strong
filmmaking with excellent acting, and is unlike any other series of films
I can think of.

Part 1. On the Run

This first part is a taught, well made, violent thriller, following an
escaped communist revolutionary, determined to return to the bombing
and violence that put him in jail 20 years ago, while settling old
scores with enemies, and re-contacting old allies.

Belvaux shows daring in not working to make his character very
sympathetic, and allowing our initial almost automatic sympathy for our
lead character to be ever more harshly challenged. We come slowly to
realize this is a violent zealot, unmoved by the fact that the
revolution that seemed to make sense as a young man now seems arbitrary
and insane, and that his callous disregard for his victims isn't much
of a start on a new world order.

In a vacuum, this dark, cynical noir would still be a good film, but
with the next part of the Trilogy, it gains in levels and meanings.

There are real flaws here - a few plot twists are hard to buy, some
character behavior unclear (although less unclear after part 2). A guy
this smart wouldn't make a couple of the mistakes he does. And the
score is frustratingly repetitious. But it's never boring, always
involving, and with the next film, it's something more.

BTW, frustratingly I noticed Amazon has put this review, which was
written only for the first part of 'The Trilogy' - 'On the Run' -
on the whole set. So for those reading this review under 'The Trilogy'
here are my comments on films 2 and 3;

Part 2: 'An Amazing Couple'

This is mostly a well plotted and acted lighthearted farce about marriage,
trust and fidelity, with serious issues not far below the surface.
Seeing this airy fare right after the darkness of 'On the Run' (part 1 of the Trilogy)
gives an almost Zen like insight into the two sides of life - light and dark,
silly and tragic, and how those two dance and interweave.

Yes, a few of the comic twists are a bit forced, but many more are
clever and really amusing, and all the characters are simultaneously
lovable and infuriating.

But most amazing is the chill one feels when the overlaps with 'On the
Run' become apparent. Even more than "On the Run", "An Amazing
Couple" is a far better film for being part of the bigger whole.

Interestingly the top professional critics were split on this film in particular,
and on 'The Trilogy' as a whole, calling it everything from 'a masterpiece' to
'a self involved misfire' .

Part 3. After the Life

This intense drama of a cop trying to deal with his morphine addicted life puts
more pieces in place of the world of stories Belvaux has created. It is fascinating
to see scenes that played as comedy in part 2 "An Amazing Couple", repeated here,
exactly as they were, but now they feel dead serious because of the change in context.

The only problem for me - and most critics disagree, is that for me this was the
weakest of the three films, the acting sometimes over the top, character logic
sometimes vague or missing. I felt disappointed, because after part 2 made me like
part 1 even better, I was hoping part 3 would raise the whole into more than the
sum of it's parts, into 'great film event' territory. Sadly, that didn't quite happen for me
- maybe because I was expecting too much.

I'd certainly give this another shot, and it's absolutely a good film, with some very
touching moments.

It just felt a little more obvious in how it brought 'The Trilogy's' stories and themes
(obsession, blindness in service of an idea or need) together than what I wished for.

A very likable, intimate portrait of the punk rock turned art rock
group The Flaming Lips.

A very unusual documentary in that the film was
made by a longtime friend of the band members, especially leader Wayne
Coyne.

But rather than that leading to a glossy 'these guys are
perfect' approach, it leads to a sense of honesty, of humor, of
admitting of personal faults (right down to a band member using drugs
on camera, and talking in a pretty heartbreaking way about his
addiction).

And what's fascinating about this particular group from
Oklahoma is that they're wildly creative, while still seeming like nice
regular human beings with families, day to day problems, good and bad sides --
unlike what we usually see of rock stars. These guys are just
trying to make music, try new things, and still pay the rent.

If there's a problem with the film it's that, for someone like me who
doesn't really know the band's music, we see and hear so little of it
that sometimes it's hard to fully understand the evolution of their
work that's being discussed. So in some ways this film will work best
for those who are already fans of the group,

But that said, I still really enjoyed it, found I liked these people, laughed with their funny
view of life (the 'reenactment' of the robbery of a 'Long John Silver's' where Wayne once
worked is a comic highlight) and even found myself quite touched by the end.

A divorced atheist painter, removed from his family, comes to find out
they are quietly plotting with the Church to have his mother canonized
as a saint - mostly for personal gain and prestige - even though
there's great question as to how much the 'official' version of his
mother's life has been distorted and re-invented to help the cause.

There's something chilling, in a moody, David Lynch, Nic Roeg sort of
way about the handling of this nightmare scenario (the director calls
it 'a very strange thriller'), where a man is pressured to accept his
clearly flawed, cold, and distant mother as a saint 'for the good of
the family'.

But along with it's skewering of people using religion to very
non-religious ends, there's also the pain and confusion of a man
without faith grasping to make sense of life, parenthood, and love.

There are some plot lines that lead nowhere, just leading to more
questions. Some of it gets a little Gothic, to the edge of silly, but
the performances, music and camera-work keep pulling you back in, and
haunting moments have stayed with me.

A very powerful, honest, un-sentimentalized look at a hardened ex-con
trying to build a life with his 12 year old son.

One of those special films that got a lot of great reviews, but
never found its audience, and disappeared.

Jeff Bridges gives a towering performance, subtle, real, quiet, angry,
scary, withdrawn and heartbreaking.

The film and supporting cast around him often matches Bridges' high level of
work, although some of the sub plots involving Edward Furlong as the son feel
a bit more obvious and schematic than the grown-up world sections of
the film.

None-the-less, a powerful, honest look at how hard making it once
you're down really is.

It's very frustrating that this is only available on DVD in 4:3. The
film deserves better treatment. But despite that flaw this is very worth
seeing.

The filmmakers spending months with runaway teens on the streets of
Seattle, to gain their trust and allow them to be filmed.

There is something oddly 'stagy' about some of the behavior. The kids
are clearly aware of the camera. Yet, as one writer pointed out, that's
also part of the power of the film, since adolescence has so much
posturing and acting out anyway.

The film tries to stay un-judgemental and avoids commentating in obvious
ways, sometimes at the expense of seeming disconnected or uncomfortable
voyeuristic.

Yet there are moments of tremendous power here, both in seeing these
kids cling to what bits of joy they can find, and to each other, and in
seeing the grim realities of both their street and home lives, in
hard-to-believe detail. A variable film, but a special, important one.

It's absurd that this important, award winning documentary has never
been brought to DVD.

It's funny, on an 'objective' level this is a weaker film than
Beineix's 'Diva'. Indulgent (3 hours long!), with a sometimes uneasy
mix of comedy and dark drama, some over the top acting and a few scenes
that make no sense at all (the robbery?!?). Plus a climax that's a
painfully obvious steal from another film.

You could also make a good argument that the film's view of women is
retrograde; they're crazy muses that help us to find the really
important thing, ourselves. Then we can get along without them.

Certainly critics are much more mixed on this then on the seminal
'Diva'.

Yet for all that, I actually enjoyed this more than 'Diva'. There were
more moments when I got caught up in the story, in the way the images
and music and emotion interacted, and I appreciated that it lacked
'Diva's self-satisfied, self-referential 'cool'.

Not a great film, but an honest attempt to explore both the madness of
love, and madness in love. (And, yes, all the hot sex and nudity is fun
too.). My rating is probably too high, but damn it, images and moments
just keep sticking with me.

I'm not in the extreme on this, in that I enjoyed the original cut,
but I think the longer cut is both richer and more haunting.

But in any case, it seems absurd to bring out a blu-ray that
doesn't at least have the choice of both. (Same thing with
the recent 'Brazil' blu-ray).

When the director's preferred original vision has long been available
it just seems wrong for the only blu-ray to not contain that. If you
want to give me the original cut too, and let me compare, terrific!
(As Criterion did on their great 'Fanny and Alexander' set)

But if you have to pick only one, it's not the one the film-maker
dislikes!

In the same way 'The Breakfast Club' defined a certain kind of 1980s
US filmmaking, and 'Blow Up' defined 1960s hipness, 'Diva'
defined a certain kind of 1980s European cinema.

That doesn't mean it's great, just seminal. It marked a turning away
from deep psychology, philosophy, politics or even plot, and marked an
emphasis on style, energy, colors, etc. The movie is about being a cool
movie, with cool sets, cool shots, a cool car chase, etc. The plot is
just enough to hold it all together.

All that said, it is great to look at, the chase is fun, and the film
is fun too, in an empty calorie, music video sort of way. It's
frustrating. If the acting was a little better (the leads range from
pretty good to very awkward) and the story had a little more heart and
brains, it could have kept it's grand style, and been a great film, not
just an entertaining, great looking film.

The new Meridian version is disappointingly weak. I actually
prefer my old Anchor Bay copy (I believe the same version
is the hgv edition in Canada), which was itself far from
perfect, but seems to be stronger both visually and aurally.
Read the in depth analysis on DVD Beaver comparing the
Meridian, the Anchor Bay and the Fox Lorber and you'll
get some interesting details on the differences.

I have also heard (but not yet personally seen) that
the 2004 region 2 WB and similar 2007 Region 2 Optimum
release may actually be the best version around, and currently
sells pretty cheap on Amazon UK, so if you have
a region free player, you might want to check that out.