gaiadam933 Review of Vincent Wants to Sea

Vincent Wants to Sea (2010)

A perspicacious story about syndrome, marginality and fragile recovery

[25 December 2010]

Three disabled, two men and a girl, one, a Tourette's syndrome sufferer, the second, an obsessive, the third, an anorexic, run away from a rehabilitation center, and change at least temporarily their behavior, when togetherness obliges them to make a switch in their life. Even the hero's father and the psychologist, who are going after them, pass from a relation of enmity to a friendly one. Pop music, speed of vehicles, the impact of Alps panorama, and brilliant photography, contribute in moving spectators to share the enthusiastic but momentary deliverance of the characters in their journey to the sea. The rhythm of the film is built using a wise dose of humor and sadness, candor and cruelty, beating movements of the camera, and contrast through alternative sequences of pursuers and pursued, showing the mad side of the normal and the sane side of the sick. The unusual expression of emotions in the faces and in the gait of the characters produces a sense of fresh spontaneity. The five principal actors make an exact performance. An overall idyllic atmosphere attenuates the underlying tragedy. Incredibility of certain scenes (the trio at the top of the cross; Alexander, the obsessive, conducting an imaginary orchestra) paradoxically succeed in convincing us, due to their sublimity. Catharsis is here an issue of giving up the hope of complete recovery. It's a movie that moves you to see it.