lucis

21 grams

In 1907 Dr. MacDougall conducted experiments to verify that the weight of the human soul is 21 grams (21.3 grams, or three-fourths of an ounce to be exact). This was done by placing terminally ill patients on a death bed, and carefully measuring the change in weight of the body at the exact momentwhen they actually died.

Thankfully, This is not his story.

Alejandro González Iñárritu’s gained international fame with his mexican movie Amores perros (Love’s a Bitch). 21 grams is his first english movie. The story revolves around three central characters, and is about death, revenge, love and guilt.

Perhaps the most striking feature of the movie is the way it plays with time. The story is told in a completely non-linear fashion. Each scene is from a different time in the story. This basically takes what older movies like Memento, and Pulp Fiction have done to a new extreme. These non-linear segments are very cleverly ordered in the movie so that they contrast and complement each other extremely well. In fact there have been rumors that this ordering is not completely artistic or random, and there is a mathematical pattern behind it. I cant wait for the DVD to watch the movie again to try and figure out the pattern. Extremely brilliant!

The other thing is the scarcity of background music. The theme music is extremely good, and is used very well. I dont know if adding more music would have made it better or worse. I think the long silent gaps worked for this movie.

The video is slightly grainy/blurred. This adds to the overal effect the director wanted. Nothing new though. Many movies do this.

Acting is absolutely phenomenal. All three lead actors (Sean Penn, Naomi Watts, and Del Toro) are oscar nomination worthy at least. But we all know how unlikely that is with movies like this. Who cares about the Oscars anyways!

The story itself is quite dark and heavy. But it is not that great on its own. The beauty about the movie is how a simple, straightforward and dark story is told in a very new and different way. This is what I loved the most about this movie. It just goes to prove how a brilliant director and a good cast can transform a decent story to an amazing movie.

The movie is not perfect though. Some scenes stretch for too long. Sure, they add to the overal effect that the movie creates. But I think the movie would have been more powerful had it been about 10-15 minutes shorter. Also, the ending is not the best. In fact, it is somewhat of a let down. This is what prevents this from displacing Requiem for a Dream from my number 1 spot.