21 Grammes

Caméra sale, sombre et tremblante renforce le réalisme du monde observé. La désorganisation chronologique des trois histoires individuelles qui se croisent favorise la réflexion sur la création de liens. À l'origine, les histoires devaient se dérouler de manière sérieuse, l'une après l'autre, comme dans "Amores Perros", mais le réalisateur a choisi une variante plus "chaotique". Ce morceau ambitieux suit les tourments émotionnels des personnages et finit par l'emporter. Il est intéressant et émotionnellement puissant. Mais il ne l'emporte pas totalement. Il ne s'agit pas d'un montage génial avec un agencement unique des points de rencontre, comme dans "Memento", car on peut simplement sentir que la dispersion des intrigues n'était pas nécessaire et que son seul but est de transformer l'argent en or. Et il ne s'agit pas non plus d'un feu d'artifice émotionnel destructeur, comme dans "Magnolia", car même si le réalisateur évite le sentimentalisme (ce qui est bien), il a peur de révéler l'intimité humaine sans limites et cruelle à la manière de Trier (ce qui est dommage). Il filme ses personnages habillés et les respecte davantage. (09/03/2004)

Another Iñárritu version of Amores perros, but this time with Hollywood actors. I still don't feel any particular connection or empathy for the characters that one might expect given the structure of the story and the escalating situations they go through. In short, 21 Grams is another example of manipulation of feelings. You need to subject the heroes to absolute suffering, then entangle and connect the stories, and then increase the suffering. That's what it's all about - about suffering, about denying yourself, about finding a way out. There’s too much violence in proportion to one meter of film. (15/06/2017)

A superb example of postmodern cinematic narrative – Iñárritu breaks the chronology of the story into small pieces and composes its narrative from these pieces. He does not tell a story in the traditional sense, but forces the viewer to co-create it in the spirit of postmodern narrative, to be a kind of second authorial voice. Unlike Anderson's Magnolia, however, he goes even further in the deconstruction of the story – ignoring the rules of conventional space-time and serving the viewer a meddling of plots that are not anchored by the unity of time and place. The result is a riveting narrative form that prevents the perceptive viewer from tearing his eyes from the story, from missing the plot. The experience of the film is enhanced by the way it is captured - the handheld camera indulges in neurotic tremors and unpredictable movement the way Trier does it. All this is approached by excellent work with a soundtrack in which monotonous sound surfaces appear at key moments in addition to natural sounds, amplifying the emotional experience even more. Alejandro González Iñárritu is a true master of modern dramatic form, although from my subjective point of view his formal brilliance lacks the immediacy of experience and intimacy that is characteristic, for example, in the works of Lars Von Trier. Something even more absorbing. A subjective experience. Perhaps the fact that I felt that I was unnecessarily one step ahead in uncovering the plot... Otherwise – praise for the acting performances (I don't know who is the best, but probably the riveting culprit Benicio Del Toro wins after all), for the script, theme and inconspicuous music. 21 Grams is one of the best films about guilt, punishment, forgiveness and compassion that can be seen today. It definitely belongs in my TOP 3 for 2003 right next to Burton's Big Fish and Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation. (28/03/2004)

This is an example of how an untraditional approach to narration serves only as an effective gimmick to turn a film into something more interesting than it actually is. I’m quite surprised at how many people say that 21 Grams is very emotional, I think it would be almost impossible to deal with a similar topic in a colder way. (14/02/2009)

Thank God for the fact that they still make films that can tug at your soul. I love films that don't lead me by the hand, that make me ask questions, think about them; 21 Grams is exactly that. Iñárritu's consistent disruption of the temporal sequence is a clear win in my eyes, piecing together the mosaic of temporal shards was exciting and thrilling in its own way. This great impression is enhanced by the handheld camera and the interesting work with sound in places. Standing above these technical matters is the emotionality and depth of the script and the performances. Benicio, Benicio, you are awesome, I’ve not other words to say it. It is good to know that despite all the messiness of life, there is always hope, that bright spot in the distance, and that great movies are still being made. (07/08/2004)