Review of Forty Shades of Blue (2005) by Beth W — 19 Aug 2007

Ok ... I admit I would never put this on my favourite films list. But I would like to see it again. I went to see it at the Metro some time back, based soley on the fact that I had read a piece on the director, Ira Sachs, in the wonderful Film magazine CinemaScope (a Canadian publication which you should definitely check out if you feel like reading some insightful pieces of writing on film) in which he talked about some of the filmmakers that have inspired him, one of which is Fassbinder.

How could I not go see a film directed by a fellow lover of Fassbinder?? So I went and I can see the influence in some ways, but Sachs is definitely not Fassbinder. For one, his rate of production does not come close .

.. I think this is only his second film. But ... Sachs is definitely a gifted filmmaker, and this film is lovingly done ... and in much the same way as Fassbinder loved all his characters, so Sachs does too.

There is no real judgement here ... the characters are presented in a way that makes it impossible to hate any of them, but also makes it difficult to identify with them, which is likely why so many find it hard to really get "into" the film so to speak.

The myspace friend who recommended Bad Timing to me, and who is also a devout fan of Fassbinder, really did not like this film ... and I cannot say that you will, but I hope that you would watch it with an open mind, and revel in the beauty that it has to offer without judging it on its dissimalarity to typical hollywood crap .

.. it is slow, and painful, and filled with things that go unsaid. Its aesthetic qualties are emotionally unhinging and its ending is so perfectly suited to the film that it can not be faulted. And that my friends, makes it truely a valiant and worthy attempt at great filmmaking, though it may never be a classic.