Highly Overrated But Still Good

Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Can't really say that I though that this movie was a very good one to watch but it at least is being different in its approach and storytelling, which does keep you watching.Make no mistake about it, this is an art-house movie alright. It's using a strange storytelling approach, that doesn't even necessarily feel like it's following a main plot line. It does add to the rawness and realism of the movie but then again, it distance itself from its viewers again by being vague and desperately metaphorical at times. A true mixed bag of a movie, that on the one hand does some stuff nice and originally, while on the other it's not always being a good or pleasant enough movie to follow, mostly due to its unusual approach.I do admit that I got more in this movie as it was heading toward its ending. Suddenly the drama started to develop better and in a more interesting way and the movie also ends on a good note.I couldn't really care for its first half though. This is probably also partly because of it that the characters don't really get developed enough, so you won't feel anything for them, or what they are going through. This is done all better in its second half, when we as the viewers are also more accustomed to its characters and the overall style of the movie. It really is a watchable enough movie but I still can't think of any good reason why anyone should ever watch it though. Maybe only if you have a true love and passion for art-house cinema or are a big Stellan Skarsgård fan and want to see him playing a lead role, in an English spoken movie (well, some Greek as well).6/10 http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

"Signs & Wonders" is a minimally interesting psychodrama about a man (Skarsgard) involved in an affair who tries to reclaim his family as things slowly get out of hand. There is little meat on the bones of this flick which plods along to the strains of peculiar background music in a feeble attempt to create suspense in the absence of a real story. Barely worth the time.

I loved this film, despite some flaws. It offers complexity, ambiguity, innovation, political inference and imagination. In Athens, a married stockbroker, an American, with two children is having an affair with a co-worker. He confesses to his wife, promises to leave his lover, but is drawn back to her after a seemingly unexpected encounter. When he tries to return to his wife, she rejects him, is now in love with a Greek, anti-American political activist. His young daughter, distraught over the separation and devoted to her father, commits some very destructive acts. Ironically, her father is accused of one of them, is jailed. He then realizes what the consequences of his act has wrought, particularly in relation to his daughter. The ending is a bit over-ploted..yet has significance.The film is deliberately fragmented and ambiguous, which suits the depiction of the husband, with his vacillating emotions and misreading of the signs and symbols he appears to believe in. The performances by Stellan Skarsgard, Charlotte Rampling, Deborah Unger and Dimitris Katalifos are splendid. But the highest praise goes to Jonathan Nossiter for his co-writing and directing of this fascinating and visionary film.

Shot in DV the film shows the fascinating possibilities with the new small cameras: Special atmosphere (strange but realistic), permanent changes of perspectives, authentic locations.It will be worth to discuss now all the losts and founds of this new kind of filmmaking. Besides these esthetic questions, the narrative structure of this film becomes more and more fascinating if you don't give up the attention after the irritating impressions at the beginning. It is only another story of dissolving the family structures under certain circumstances, but Nossiter shows that this can still have real suspense and a cool and analytic story-telling. Deconstructing love and family values. Good film!