Review of Vanilla Sky (2001) by Ray S — 19 Apr 2013

I've seen Vanilla Sky about four times within a monthly period. Is that a lot? I've been asked if I've seen Abre Los Ojos. I haven't. I don't know when I'll get around for that film.

I'm scared that I wont like it, even though Penelope Cruz stars it, whom I adore in Cameron Crowe's remake. Being the weirdo that I am, my mind is set to stun. Vanilla Sky is a beautiful film.

Crowe successfully managed to make an impact after Almost Famous. It's not easy feat. He continues to use music to accompany sequences, to ignite our emotions, raise our curiosity and heighten the intensity of whatever sequence we're engaged in.

The music is very diverse, ranging from electronica to Peter Gabriel. This film is similar to Almost Famous in it's subtext, which is the pursuit for truth and affection. There's a line in the film which brought my attention what it's about.

What we see throughout is inadequacy and rejection. The character Brian is an author and the book he's writing is about that. The film overall uses those terms to bring us our fixation between dreams and reality.

Like dreams, it's complex. Bad thoughts can result into nightmares until our subconscious decides to change mood. I like the complexity of the film. It goes very in-depth. Very deep. Like dreams, it's hard to remember what happened and its sudden changes.

Dreams can be very real as well. So real that we question its authenticity. I can't say much about the film in terms of plot. I don't want to spoil it. I can say, however, David and Sophia spend a night together (non-sexually) that changes David's way of running his life.

David runs a magazine corporation. He's not terrible about the way he runs it, but he's careless. He's closed-minded. He only notices himself, his interests. He lives a "rockstar" kind of life.

All the females who work for him are very attracted to him and he loves that. He gets girls. He's rich. He owns a very nice bachelor pad filled with interesting items. He then meets Sophia who is a dancer and an "arms dealer".

She's free spirited, has a positive outlook on life. She's careless as well but she has her shit together. Her "carelessness" is different from David's. She knows the world around her.

She explores it. I found it interesting the way she keeps her apartment in which gives a certain reaction to David. Her apartment is messy but she doesn't care. David is picky, likes to have things neat but quickly understands that not everybody is like him.

He acknowledges that in about 30 seconds or so when he steps into her apartment. For once, he sees the world around him and it was through Sophia. Also, when he looks at her many photos; they're all possessions.

The plot goes back and forth, figuring out what's real and what's not. There are clues within the film that help you solve it but they are invisible for the plot. What happens in the film can easy fool us, even for a moment because we are engaged with the characters.

The chemistry between David and Sophia is intimate and powerful, we forget what world we are in, we forget what kind of film we're watching. It's love story that we don't want see demolished by any negative thought or bad situations.

And like I said before, the music helps. What a partner it can be. It can be dangerous or completely soothing. It also chooses to throw us off. If you listen closely as you watch the film, there's a lot going on.

The sound design is incredible. It can mess with your head. Sometimes we hear voices, sometimes we hear two songs playing simultaneously and sometimes we have that and voices as well. It's a trip.

The cinematography is beautiful, the colors have that pastel-like look, as if the scheme is inspired by Monet, in which David owns a painting of. Well, it's his mother's, but inherited. Crowe wants us to be close to the characters, especially in their point of view.

We want to witness the connection they are in and we wouldn't mind to share that connection. My favorite scene is the ending as David makes his decision. He realizes the implications that were introduced and the reemergence of the lost memories.

What a better way to inspire a decision than to think the person who was closest to him, who understood him best despite of the hours that were mutually interacted: Sophia. The track used for that ending, it's perfect.

It sounds soothing, emotional; a farewell indeed.