Director: Fabrice Du Welz
Writers: Fabrice Du Welz, David Greig (additional material), Oliver Blackburn (additional dialogue)
Running time: 96 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 18
Genre: Drama/Horror/Thriller
UK Release date: 2nd October 2009
Watched on Terrestrial PVR Tuesday 23rd July 2013.
PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE UNINTENTIONAL SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.
I have no idea how this one ended up on ‘The List’ but I have a vague recollection of an interview with Rufus Sewell where he waxed all lyrical about it. I guess that must be it – Note to self; don’t listen to actors talking about their films; they have been known to lie. It has gained the lowest score I’ve given in a long time and so I guess that tells you all you need to know about it. For those that are still with me, I will tell you just why I gave it such a low score after this extremely brief summary.
Aid workers Jeanne (Emmanuelle Béart) and Paul Bellmer (Rufus Sewell) are working in Thailand having lost their son in a tsunami six months previously. By chance they see some footage of children in Burma (now called Myanmar), when Jeanne sees a boy who she thinks is their lost son, Joshua. Overcome with emotion she immediately sets off to find someone who will take her to Burma. Realising just how passionate she is, Paul eventually agrees to come along. The film plots their journey into the hostile jungles and what they find there.
For this film to even have a chance of working, the audience has to have some kind of connection with our grieving couple. Unfortunately we are never allowed to really get to understand their plight as we are whisked off to the jungle very quickly. Yes, there is some flashback stuff, but by then I was just beyond caring. She was clearly nuts and he just wanted to go home. I can’t even say I liked the performances; I guess they were good, but because I really couldn’t engage with the characters, I found it all far too ‘arty’ for my taste. Definitely not one that will get any repeat viewings from me and sadly not one I can recommend.
SteelMonster’s verdict: NOT RECOMMENDED
My score: 3.2/10.
IMDb Score: 5.4/10 (based on 3,527 votes when this review was written).
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1029241/
MetaScore: No Data: (Based on 0 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).
Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 56/100 (based on 18 reviews counted at the time of going to press).
Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 31/100 (based on 1,724 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1208926-vinyan/
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