Review of Dear Wendy (2005) by Arseniy V — 23 Dec 2007
The voice of this film is very distinctive. It's originality comes through in such an understated, authentic manner, that for a certain portion of the film the results are purely memorizing. Then, (marked by Sebastian's appearance) something goes wrong.
The deep psychological truths that the film has tapped into, the spell it cast, starts slipping away. I don't know early American history well enough to say with any degree of certainty whether this is the result of the film's attempt to be allegorical of specific historical events or if the problem is rooted elsewhere, but from that point on, the motivations of the characters become vague and hard to follow.
And thus, the magic subsides. And even if metaphorical demands are the cause of this disconnect, my belief is that a film's central source of power cannot be reliant on external footnotes. The core of a film's strength must be self-contained.
Understandable on a basic human level. Unfortunately, since about the halfway mark onward, that doesn't feel to be the case here.
This review of Dear Wendy (2005) was written by Arseniy V on 23 Dec 2007.
Dear Wendy has generally received mixed reviews.
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