#ming x

[lantianlong]

Shen Qiao “Thousand Autumns”

[studio-rothstein-fa14]

About Time2 , Mike Figgis

It’s a little confused movie, different kinds of space are combined together, time is interrupted, even the screen is divided into four parts.

Director used the perspective from a dead man-Mark to describe his trip. In the beginning, he was writing a book, but he got stuck. He went through different rooms and saw himself in different age, tried to find an answer for his book. He saw himself in love with his wife/girlfriend, saw himself bullied when he was a kid. He also saw his parents. In these rooms, space and time is intertwined. His parents are even displayed as the figures in TV. Director used these instable elements to indicate it’s not a regular world and used separated space to describe change in time.

“life”  is the question he kept asking in this movie, he asked himself, he asked his parents, but they all immerged in their life, in their love. They cared about love, war, and quarrel,they were even not interested in his question. They all want Mark to stay, to stay in love, to stay in life. But the answer is the only question he cared at that time.

So at the end Mark decided to leave, he should not linger in the living world, he “has a question he really wants to know.”

It’s kind of like”The Death of Ivan Ilych”, “It will be better for them when I die.” But it’s not only better for the livings, it’s also better for the dead.

As the title “About Time 2” this movie tells 2 different kinds of time. For the living ones, they live and enjoy the company of family. Meanwhile, for the dead, for Mark, he wants to finish his book, wants to get answer. So when they meet, this difference is irreconcilable.

In this movie, death is like change, It gives them new duty and we all need to learn to farewell.