Things We Lost in the Fire

Posted Date: 10 December 2008 at 03:18:56PM

KHC were privileged to attend the Screen Australia for IndiVision screening of Susanne Bier's, Things We Lost in the Fire, last night at The Chauvel Cinema in Paddington. There was a special Q&A Session with the Danish Director after the show.

Things We Lost in the Fire is a fluorescent film. 'Fluorescent' because this is a prominent word in the movie and it literally means - lit from within. This simple definition, quoted by David Duchovny's character in one of the first lines of dialogue, is of a word commonly used to describe overhead lighting or flashing street signs. However, it sets the tone for the film and even during the heightened scenes of human struggle and raw grief, remains a glowing reminder of the overlying theme of Hope.

Benicio Del Toro and Halle Berry are incandescent (I'm on a roll). Each gives a performance on par with, if not better than, their previous dramatic roles. The little nuances that Del Toro emanates from his character are magical. He plays a heroin addict, but I've never been more in love with or infatuated by a character. His face is simultaneously full of darkness and light as though he were a charcoal drawing and this is further emphasized by Bier's provocative, but strangely comforting, extreme close-ups.

This is a film that provokes an array of emotions and reactions from the viewer - sadness, laughter, eroticism, compassion, empathy, fear. I sat still in my seat as I watched, but inside my heart and gut there was an intense game of emotional tennis going on. Usually, I am less inclined to watch a film that provokes sadness as grief is an emotion that I am all too familiar with and prefer not to re-visit, but this film was a joy to watch even in its darkest hour. It is a human story, it is artistic, it is beautiful and, as Bier herself would hope for any film, it is highly entertaining.

- AE

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