Review of Heights (2013) by Walter M — 01 Jul 2005

The inital shock after discovering that [b]Heights [/b]is a Merchant Ivory production soon wore off once the film began. It's frequent Shakesparean quotes, esoteric allusions and witty dialogue (which is refreshingly contemporary for a M-I production) are just as revealing as the opening credits. Although the constant citing of Shakespeare can be precieved as pretentious, [i]Heights [/i]still manages to attain a certain honesty. Much to its credit, the film feels like a play without being stagy. That is not to say it isn't cinematic, and it attempts to be. Unfortunately, one cinematic technique (the split screen) particularly contradicts one of the omnipresent motifs of this film: voyeurism. How, exactly, can the spectator simultaneously peek at two different individuals? Regardless of this, the themes of the film (adapted from a short play) are evident and slightly thoughtful -- and the acting is rather good. The film has presence, and perfectly captures the city (Manhattan, in this case) atmosphere. However, it ultimately is a whiny-artsy-upper-class character study where lives interweave and everything ends up feeling a bit ho-hum.

Also, in [i]Heights[/i], a character suggests that Begman's [b]Persona [/b]should be turned into a Julie Taymor-directed musical with a puppet as Liv Ullman's character. I wasn't sure whether to be amused or offended by this absurd (and bastardizing) suggestion.