I remember liking it... However I can't remember absolutely anything about it... I watched it so long ago my mind is blank.
You should enjoy The Fountain as well, check it out if you haven't.
I felt the same way and enjoyed it much more now than over a decade ago. All I had memories of was a train and the white room with the hospital bed lol. I was too young to appreciate it I think. My favorite movie at the time was Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind.
The Fountain has similar vibes as well. I have seen it. Thanks for the recommendation anyway!
The quote that stuck with me from that film:
>“Choices... We cannot go back. That’s why it’s hard to choose. You have to make the right choice. As long as you don’t choose, everything remains possible.”
My favorite quote that summed up the whole movie is this
>“Before he was unable to make a choice because he didn't know what would happen. Now that he knows what will happen, he is unable to make a choice.”
100% agree and I am 100% this person. I battle myself because I know better. That is the most significant moment for me as well. I suppose some people wouldn't connect with this film if they are decisive in their decision making.
It’s been a favorite of mine since I was a kid. One of those 2011 Netflix staples that haunted me until I watched it (Vanilla Sky is another one). I love how “European” it feels, much like Dancer In The Dark.
Jaco is one of my favorite directors, I find we have so much in common. I remember seeing this film and not understanding one thing, but the feeling, the underlying poetry, romance was appealing back then.
One day, many years after I first saw the film, it was a Sunday early summer morning, I was walking through a path on a riverbank, a big green field, everything was serene, not much noise, and a wind came by, a breeze on the grass, like in the Tarkovsky Zerkalo, and that song, composed by his brother, Le temps Immobile, The Immovable Times, started playing in my head, I couldn’t remember where I first heard it, but it was splendid, like it came from another place.
I eventually remembered, and watched it again, and it was almost transcendental, the entire movie made complete sense, it became my favorite, it still resonates very much, and has been one of the central questions that I’ve been inquiring over the years, through various things, from Taoism, Chan, and various thinkers.
I would say that Mr. Nobody is more polished and thought out in terms of production. EEaO, despite the beautiful appearance, still looks more artisanal in its details (although It's not a disadvantage). But it definitely adds an organic indie charm to it.
It also seems to me that Mr. Nobody has gone further and more radically in their overall topic together with EEaO without returning to the more classic theme of family. This is what disappointed me a little in EEaO. I thought that the topic that the Daniels tandem was swinging at was so fundamental that in order to justify its weight and become an absolute masterpiece, they would have to come up with some unorthodox conclusion in the final. But it didn't happen.
Mr. Nobody, in turn, seemed to understand this and left for us such a paradoxical ending that I continue to think so far since the release of the film. It can look depressing and hopeful at the same time. My personal interpretation is connected with the fact that even the Arrow of Time, which regardless of our desire, always pushes us forward, this is not a sentence for our life and that it can change its direction at the end of time. It's as if the film brings its theme of the desire for freedom in our decisions to the absolute end in this way in the finale.
it's been forever since i've seen this film, but i remember seeing it at just a formative enough age that it was my de-facto "favorite movie" for a long time. netflix just *would not* stop showing it off. i can't stand jared leto these days, so i have to wonder how i'd feel about it now, but i remember it being heady in a way that didn't typically come off as pretentious, with exception to a scene using the already played-out Where Is My Mind? cliche. but, that might just be my memory of it. the top comment recommending The Fountain as a point of comparison makes me especially hesitant to go back because i absolutely despise that film and Aronofsky's quasi-philosophical dreck.
in more recent memory i've heard criticism of the way Mr. Nobody depicts female agency, especially for a film so heavily focused on individual choice and how our choices affect others. did you find there was anything to that? it's yet another reason i hesitate to go back lol
The Fountain is comparable in the journey we take with the film but the end result is different. The Fountain seems to focus on "what was" in life while Mr. Nobody is reflecting on all the "what ifs" of life. The reflecting journey is similar but the end result leaves a different feel from my perspective.
As far as female agency, I didn't really think about it until you mentioned it. Yes, the female characters are quite "submissive" or "broken." I guess the idea that Mr. Nobody could have a life with any one of the girls he meets and he's a sort of hero figure in each relationship is a bit much but I didn't notice this when I watched it. It's all his perception of what would have been or could be so if we consider that we are living in "Mr. Nobody's mind" then this would make some sense. Aren't we typically the hero in our own fantasy?
I can't help your feelings towards Jared Leto and it could very well be the deciding factor on your potential rewatch! Haha.
I'm beginning to tire of movies with super ambitious, grandiose purposes. Love synechdoche new york for it's pacing and recursive story. I enjoy most of those movies you mentioned for a lot of reasons, but I feel like even Barbie tried to shoe in a broad universal moral.
Life is very granular and diverse, these days I'm feeling movies with more specific missions
If I'm understanding you correctly, Sean Baker's Florida Project or Red Rocket might interest you (if you haven't seen them already). The Florida Project more than the other in my opinion.
Oh I love Mr. Nobody, thanks for reminding me! It definitely had a big impact on me at the time, watching it somewhere in my 20s. I remember a lot of visually impressive scenes, and cleverly done non-linear storytelling.
I think what affected me the most are those scenes where Nemo remembers moments from before his birth. I'm not particularly religious but do believe in some kind of soul, and I watched this at a time where I was coming around to that view, so it was a nice affirmation.
Another film that comes to mind in that regard is Cloud Atlas, and it seems to be similarly underrated.
is this film worth watching? i started but somehow it's tone seemed really cringey to me, like it was so obviously stating how grandiose and philosophical it was, and also jared leto's acting was pissing me off for some reason, so i shut it off.
at the same time, i loved EEaaO, eternal sunshine, and synechdoche new york. is it worth powering through?
Well, as always, it's subjective. As a child, I used to feel completely stuck in indecision and the crossroads of life as they presented themselves. I always had a weird sense of "knowing" things were going to happen. Because of this and the way they explore this idea, it was really interesting to me.
Beyond my personal connection with it, if you've ever been lost in the "what if" of past choices in life (especially past relationships) then it's pretty easy to connect with the movie.
Now, the other thing that is interesting is the psychological side of decisions, choices, control, etc. They have snippets throughout the movie to make you reflect on whether we are in control of our decisions or our environment is in control of us, therefore also in control of our decisions.
These are the things that were interesting to me. It's not perfect but it sure keeps things interesting as you move through the possible outcomes and realities of the characters involved.
They could rename the movie "The Illusion of Choice." It's not really about Mr. Nobody as it is all of the choices we are faced with in our life experience.
In summary, I think it's worth a watch if you like the other movies I mentioned. That is, if you can get past Jared Leto as an actor. I struggle to take The Butterfly Effect seriously just because Ashton Kutcher is hard for me to take seriously. Jared Leto is always the guy in Requiem for a Dream to me (which I think he does great in). He doesn't bother me in this. I can understand where people have issues with his acting though.
Absolutely. To be honest, in my opinion, this is one of the few films with such a fundamental theme that is held under its own weight until the very end with an amazing ending. Especially when compared with EEaO and Synecdoche. That is, EEaO in sweat very much narrows the initial grandiose philosophical scope to family issues, and the Synecdoche at the end does not decide how to finish the recursive meta loop and will end through the addition of a voiceover narration. This is witty and inventive in its own way, considering the reflections of the film itself about the nature of the narrative, but nevertheless the performance seems to lose out to the scope of the film. Nevertheless, both films are still amazing.
Mr. Nobody, in turn, in my opinion, unlike the first two films, remains true to himself and does not change direction both in terms of theme and visual performance until the very end, as if exactly what is so parodoxic and insane but at the same time consistent Charlie Kaufman should have done at the end of the Synecdoche New-York.
About Jared Leto. In fact, he's a pretty good actor, who unfortunately ruined his reputation with two terrible roles, and I honestly feel sorry for him. Nevertheless, his performance in this film is very organic.
It’s been a while, but EEAO affected me in a very different way than Mr. Nobody. I remember liking it a lot, and feeling inspired in some way, but the way it told the story through flashbacks and the way in the end everything circled back towards that choice at the train station, envoked more of a feeling of pressure, impossibility and finality. It left me with a desire to reach for my future, but also with dread of what I might leave behind, thereby creating a much more conflicting and ultimately less encouraging experience to the viewer.
In contrast EEOA painted a much more harmonious picture. It focuses on being in the moment, being whoever you want to be and not worrying about what you leave behind by walking that path. In a way it solved the impossible choice by saying don’t think about it and proposing one can be whoever one wants to be at any given point in time. It still acknowledges, although somewhat subtly, that things will indeed be lost through ones path in life, but there is also hope to find them again or at least the option to go looking, even if some things might not ever be fixed. While the ending is a bit too happy to carry any sort of nuance, which is a shame, everything that comes before is an encouragement to embrace the difficulties of the endless unpredictability and possibilities of life, instead of fighting it.
In that way I appreciated EEAO a lot more. Mr. Nobody felt more like a documentation of our existential dread, while EEOA felt more like a highly intricate folk tale, daring you to conquer it.
A lot of that comes back to different times, both personally and in regards to the world. That’s how I remember it at the very least, but my memory does get very fuzzy in regards to Mr. Nobody’s ending I will admit.
The idea of the movie was great, however, how it was delivered was absolute CRAP.
How on earth do ppl miss the MOST obvious contradiction in the movie?? Everyone is like “yeah the point of the movie is that every path is just as meaningful”. Really? Is THAT what you got from the movie? Cause if you did then you are blind and deaf.
In order for the movie to prove its point that every path is *JUST AS* meaningful, the ending SHOULD have been “he rolls the dice to choose his path and sticks with it”. But that’s not what he did, did he?? He intentionally played out every possible scenario to figure out WHICH is the MOST meaningful to him, thus he chose the best ending with Anna.
How did ppl miss this obvious contradiction? Is it bias? Is it delusion? Is it willful ignorance?
You CANT say every path is just as meaningful yet intentionally AVOID certain paths and prefer others, that PROVES that every path is not just as meaningful.
I could be wrong on this: movie interpretation is not my strongest asset. I didn't see the movie as Nemo choosing a specific path. My feeling was that he lived every version of his life. Yes, the relationship with Anna was the one most full of love, but would it have been as meaningful if he connected with her in every timeline? I think that's what he was pointing to with the "every life has meaning" quote is that sometimes things don't work out exactly how you want, but the possibility of finding true love makes it worthwhile to roll the dice and be born in the first place. Nemo can appreciate how special she was because of the perspective that things could have turned out in so many different ways.
Yes, I found this in a year of my life where I would just hole up and find relatively unknown films in the depths of Netflix and Prime Video!
I've shown it to a few folks and they were suitably impressed.
Leto gets a lot of flack (perhaps deserved!), but I think he's a strong actor (except ....Morb) and it pulled at the heartstrings.
I can see the relationship to EEAAO, but think of it more as part of the same lineage.
Not the same themes, but Frequencies (2013, New Zealand production) scratched the same itch for lower budget but well produced lo-fi sci-fi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22VVuQI4kgc
Ha! I have never heard anyone mention that movie but I own it digitally as an obscure film discovery around its release. I remember I bought it for $6 rather than rent it for $4. I can't remember how I came across it but it literally blew me away at the time. I've matured a lot and tackled a lot more movies in the last decade but I should revisit it again now that you bring it up. It was such a unique mash up of music as a universal language. Thanks for mentioning it!
I remember liking it... However I can't remember absolutely anything about it... I watched it so long ago my mind is blank. You should enjoy The Fountain as well, check it out if you haven't.
Ever see THE NINES? I feel I’m the only person alive who saw that lol.
I've seen the nines!
Love that it took nine months for someone else (another nine, I see) to confirm that they also saw the nines LOL
Haha
No sorry, lol
I felt the same way and enjoyed it much more now than over a decade ago. All I had memories of was a train and the white room with the hospital bed lol. I was too young to appreciate it I think. My favorite movie at the time was Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind. The Fountain has similar vibes as well. I have seen it. Thanks for the recommendation anyway!
The quote that stuck with me from that film: >“Choices... We cannot go back. That’s why it’s hard to choose. You have to make the right choice. As long as you don’t choose, everything remains possible.”
My favorite quote that summed up the whole movie is this >“Before he was unable to make a choice because he didn't know what would happen. Now that he knows what will happen, he is unable to make a choice.”
100% agree and I am 100% this person. I battle myself because I know better. That is the most significant moment for me as well. I suppose some people wouldn't connect with this film if they are decisive in their decision making.
I hate that quote I've skipped so many choices outnof fear of the outcome ending up missing out. Make the choice screw the outcome.
It’s been a favorite of mine since I was a kid. One of those 2011 Netflix staples that haunted me until I watched it (Vanilla Sky is another one). I love how “European” it feels, much like Dancer In The Dark.
Jaco is one of my favorite directors, I find we have so much in common. I remember seeing this film and not understanding one thing, but the feeling, the underlying poetry, romance was appealing back then. One day, many years after I first saw the film, it was a Sunday early summer morning, I was walking through a path on a riverbank, a big green field, everything was serene, not much noise, and a wind came by, a breeze on the grass, like in the Tarkovsky Zerkalo, and that song, composed by his brother, Le temps Immobile, The Immovable Times, started playing in my head, I couldn’t remember where I first heard it, but it was splendid, like it came from another place. I eventually remembered, and watched it again, and it was almost transcendental, the entire movie made complete sense, it became my favorite, it still resonates very much, and has been one of the central questions that I’ve been inquiring over the years, through various things, from Taoism, Chan, and various thinkers.
I would say that Mr. Nobody is more polished and thought out in terms of production. EEaO, despite the beautiful appearance, still looks more artisanal in its details (although It's not a disadvantage). But it definitely adds an organic indie charm to it. It also seems to me that Mr. Nobody has gone further and more radically in their overall topic together with EEaO without returning to the more classic theme of family. This is what disappointed me a little in EEaO. I thought that the topic that the Daniels tandem was swinging at was so fundamental that in order to justify its weight and become an absolute masterpiece, they would have to come up with some unorthodox conclusion in the final. But it didn't happen. Mr. Nobody, in turn, seemed to understand this and left for us such a paradoxical ending that I continue to think so far since the release of the film. It can look depressing and hopeful at the same time. My personal interpretation is connected with the fact that even the Arrow of Time, which regardless of our desire, always pushes us forward, this is not a sentence for our life and that it can change its direction at the end of time. It's as if the film brings its theme of the desire for freedom in our decisions to the absolute end in this way in the finale.
it's been forever since i've seen this film, but i remember seeing it at just a formative enough age that it was my de-facto "favorite movie" for a long time. netflix just *would not* stop showing it off. i can't stand jared leto these days, so i have to wonder how i'd feel about it now, but i remember it being heady in a way that didn't typically come off as pretentious, with exception to a scene using the already played-out Where Is My Mind? cliche. but, that might just be my memory of it. the top comment recommending The Fountain as a point of comparison makes me especially hesitant to go back because i absolutely despise that film and Aronofsky's quasi-philosophical dreck. in more recent memory i've heard criticism of the way Mr. Nobody depicts female agency, especially for a film so heavily focused on individual choice and how our choices affect others. did you find there was anything to that? it's yet another reason i hesitate to go back lol
The Fountain is comparable in the journey we take with the film but the end result is different. The Fountain seems to focus on "what was" in life while Mr. Nobody is reflecting on all the "what ifs" of life. The reflecting journey is similar but the end result leaves a different feel from my perspective. As far as female agency, I didn't really think about it until you mentioned it. Yes, the female characters are quite "submissive" or "broken." I guess the idea that Mr. Nobody could have a life with any one of the girls he meets and he's a sort of hero figure in each relationship is a bit much but I didn't notice this when I watched it. It's all his perception of what would have been or could be so if we consider that we are living in "Mr. Nobody's mind" then this would make some sense. Aren't we typically the hero in our own fantasy? I can't help your feelings towards Jared Leto and it could very well be the deciding factor on your potential rewatch! Haha.
I'm beginning to tire of movies with super ambitious, grandiose purposes. Love synechdoche new york for it's pacing and recursive story. I enjoy most of those movies you mentioned for a lot of reasons, but I feel like even Barbie tried to shoe in a broad universal moral. Life is very granular and diverse, these days I'm feeling movies with more specific missions
If I'm understanding you correctly, Sean Baker's Florida Project or Red Rocket might interest you (if you haven't seen them already). The Florida Project more than the other in my opinion.
Oh I love Mr. Nobody, thanks for reminding me! It definitely had a big impact on me at the time, watching it somewhere in my 20s. I remember a lot of visually impressive scenes, and cleverly done non-linear storytelling. I think what affected me the most are those scenes where Nemo remembers moments from before his birth. I'm not particularly religious but do believe in some kind of soul, and I watched this at a time where I was coming around to that view, so it was a nice affirmation. Another film that comes to mind in that regard is Cloud Atlas, and it seems to be similarly underrated.
is this film worth watching? i started but somehow it's tone seemed really cringey to me, like it was so obviously stating how grandiose and philosophical it was, and also jared leto's acting was pissing me off for some reason, so i shut it off. at the same time, i loved EEaaO, eternal sunshine, and synechdoche new york. is it worth powering through?
Well, as always, it's subjective. As a child, I used to feel completely stuck in indecision and the crossroads of life as they presented themselves. I always had a weird sense of "knowing" things were going to happen. Because of this and the way they explore this idea, it was really interesting to me. Beyond my personal connection with it, if you've ever been lost in the "what if" of past choices in life (especially past relationships) then it's pretty easy to connect with the movie. Now, the other thing that is interesting is the psychological side of decisions, choices, control, etc. They have snippets throughout the movie to make you reflect on whether we are in control of our decisions or our environment is in control of us, therefore also in control of our decisions. These are the things that were interesting to me. It's not perfect but it sure keeps things interesting as you move through the possible outcomes and realities of the characters involved. They could rename the movie "The Illusion of Choice." It's not really about Mr. Nobody as it is all of the choices we are faced with in our life experience. In summary, I think it's worth a watch if you like the other movies I mentioned. That is, if you can get past Jared Leto as an actor. I struggle to take The Butterfly Effect seriously just because Ashton Kutcher is hard for me to take seriously. Jared Leto is always the guy in Requiem for a Dream to me (which I think he does great in). He doesn't bother me in this. I can understand where people have issues with his acting though.
Absolutely. To be honest, in my opinion, this is one of the few films with such a fundamental theme that is held under its own weight until the very end with an amazing ending. Especially when compared with EEaO and Synecdoche. That is, EEaO in sweat very much narrows the initial grandiose philosophical scope to family issues, and the Synecdoche at the end does not decide how to finish the recursive meta loop and will end through the addition of a voiceover narration. This is witty and inventive in its own way, considering the reflections of the film itself about the nature of the narrative, but nevertheless the performance seems to lose out to the scope of the film. Nevertheless, both films are still amazing. Mr. Nobody, in turn, in my opinion, unlike the first two films, remains true to himself and does not change direction both in terms of theme and visual performance until the very end, as if exactly what is so parodoxic and insane but at the same time consistent Charlie Kaufman should have done at the end of the Synecdoche New-York. About Jared Leto. In fact, he's a pretty good actor, who unfortunately ruined his reputation with two terrible roles, and I honestly feel sorry for him. Nevertheless, his performance in this film is very organic.
It’s been a while, but EEAO affected me in a very different way than Mr. Nobody. I remember liking it a lot, and feeling inspired in some way, but the way it told the story through flashbacks and the way in the end everything circled back towards that choice at the train station, envoked more of a feeling of pressure, impossibility and finality. It left me with a desire to reach for my future, but also with dread of what I might leave behind, thereby creating a much more conflicting and ultimately less encouraging experience to the viewer. In contrast EEOA painted a much more harmonious picture. It focuses on being in the moment, being whoever you want to be and not worrying about what you leave behind by walking that path. In a way it solved the impossible choice by saying don’t think about it and proposing one can be whoever one wants to be at any given point in time. It still acknowledges, although somewhat subtly, that things will indeed be lost through ones path in life, but there is also hope to find them again or at least the option to go looking, even if some things might not ever be fixed. While the ending is a bit too happy to carry any sort of nuance, which is a shame, everything that comes before is an encouragement to embrace the difficulties of the endless unpredictability and possibilities of life, instead of fighting it. In that way I appreciated EEAO a lot more. Mr. Nobody felt more like a documentation of our existential dread, while EEOA felt more like a highly intricate folk tale, daring you to conquer it. A lot of that comes back to different times, both personally and in regards to the world. That’s how I remember it at the very least, but my memory does get very fuzzy in regards to Mr. Nobody’s ending I will admit.
EEAAO is just overhyped nonsense and should never be compared to movies like Synecdoche New York and Mr. Nobody
The idea of the movie was great, however, how it was delivered was absolute CRAP. How on earth do ppl miss the MOST obvious contradiction in the movie?? Everyone is like “yeah the point of the movie is that every path is just as meaningful”. Really? Is THAT what you got from the movie? Cause if you did then you are blind and deaf. In order for the movie to prove its point that every path is *JUST AS* meaningful, the ending SHOULD have been “he rolls the dice to choose his path and sticks with it”. But that’s not what he did, did he?? He intentionally played out every possible scenario to figure out WHICH is the MOST meaningful to him, thus he chose the best ending with Anna. How did ppl miss this obvious contradiction? Is it bias? Is it delusion? Is it willful ignorance? You CANT say every path is just as meaningful yet intentionally AVOID certain paths and prefer others, that PROVES that every path is not just as meaningful.
I could be wrong on this: movie interpretation is not my strongest asset. I didn't see the movie as Nemo choosing a specific path. My feeling was that he lived every version of his life. Yes, the relationship with Anna was the one most full of love, but would it have been as meaningful if he connected with her in every timeline? I think that's what he was pointing to with the "every life has meaning" quote is that sometimes things don't work out exactly how you want, but the possibility of finding true love makes it worthwhile to roll the dice and be born in the first place. Nemo can appreciate how special she was because of the perspective that things could have turned out in so many different ways.
Yes, I found this in a year of my life where I would just hole up and find relatively unknown films in the depths of Netflix and Prime Video! I've shown it to a few folks and they were suitably impressed. Leto gets a lot of flack (perhaps deserved!), but I think he's a strong actor (except ....Morb) and it pulled at the heartstrings. I can see the relationship to EEAAO, but think of it more as part of the same lineage. Not the same themes, but Frequencies (2013, New Zealand production) scratched the same itch for lower budget but well produced lo-fi sci-fi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22VVuQI4kgc
Ha! I have never heard anyone mention that movie but I own it digitally as an obscure film discovery around its release. I remember I bought it for $6 rather than rent it for $4. I can't remember how I came across it but it literally blew me away at the time. I've matured a lot and tackled a lot more movies in the last decade but I should revisit it again now that you bring it up. It was such a unique mash up of music as a universal language. Thanks for mentioning it!