A mixture of Japanese theatre, absurd family tragedy and gay porn, this film may indeed not be easy to get for the Western audience - or those none too familiar with the Japanese way of manipulating symbols. The director uses the various genres as codes, thus compelling us to see beyond them. A porn tragedy?

Bizarre is the word. And this late noir psycho-drama is pulp novel at its best: an improbable twisted story, a strip joint with sexy dance numbers and jazz, Gypsy Rose Lee, and of course, Anita Ekberg doing straight acting more or less successfully. She may have managed, if Oswald didn't persist in framing her down to her boobs. So whatever dramatic scene she has, that's what we all see. Enjoyable all the same!

As Terry Gilliam, I believe in the necessity to keep on telling tales even if the world forgets them and pays no attention, and he does it masterfully. Not disposable tales to entertain us, but those with deeper meanings which touch our imagination and senses.

I'm always fascinated by the world seen through Guillermo Del Toro's eyes. He has the talent to blend the scary and the beautiful at the same time. Fairy tales are very much alive thanks to him. I agree that the ending is somehow disappointing, but that's not what matters in this film. Visually stunning!

Even if the narrative backbone of the film is very thin, the visual depiction of the characters is very subtle and compelling. I went along with the slow pace of the film. I didn't need to know or understand. It was like reading a haiku. One simple word suffices. I felt the same with this film.

Modern time myth of Orpheus, the life of an artist as a creator. The boundaries between fiction and what we call reality are uncertain. It's magic, surreal, tragic, thought provoking and beautifully poetic. The actors are perfect. I'm looking forward to the second film.

A very promising debut feature. It may deal (again) with with the Vietnam of the 40's, but it is raw, beautifully shot, with a naturalistic approach which avoids all the cliches and postcard notions of the Vietnam of yore. Can't wait to see the next film!

Madonna is impressive in the title role, but the film feels like a heavy pastry. And the score is everything if subtle. However, it is quite watchable and at time, very touching.

Trân Anh Hùng has showed two faces in his films: depending on whether the main subject of his film is male of female. I personally feel his 'male' films, namely 'Cyclo' and 'I come with the Rain' to be more compelling for me, even if they're quite demanding visually. This modern story of Christ set in Hong Kong is very striking. Love it in spite of a certain lack of coherence in the acting)

The film felt more like a diary with Soderbergh's images popping up in the viewers mind. Interesting conceptually, but as desperately cold as as fashion ad.

Meryl Streep is, as usual, excellent.

A gem from the late film noir era. Some say Paul Wendkos owes a lot to Orson Welles whom he admired, it's nevertheless visually stunning, if sometime a little too mannered. That said, the performances are great. Dan Duryea is perfect and Jayne Mansfield's portrayal of Gladden is really moving. The BFI restored the film a few years ago, but there's no plan to release it on DVD... Keep on hoping!