Signs & Wonders (2000)

A Haunting, Gorgeous Film...

As both a Stellan Skarsgaard and Charlotte Rampling fan, seeing them give such fantastic performances is a real thrill. The girl who plays their daughter gets kudos, too. As does Athens and the countryside around it.

But most striking for me is that this movie perfectly illustrates a descent (perhaps more precisely an ascent) into florid, psychotic manic depression. The way Stellan as the father finds layers and layers of symbols and connections and shares them with his young daughter, drawing her into his mania, is almost chilling once you see the scenes in which he is fully hallucinatory, and his daughter acts out the ultimate symbolic ending, in one of the eeriest scenes captured on film.

A must-see film for fans of Skarsgaard and Rampling, people with an interest in Greece, especially its recent history (1970's and forward), and ESPECIALLY for anyone who would like to know what it feels like to go into full-blown psychotic mania. December 1, 2004

Saved by the actors

Jonathan Nossiter's "Signs & Wonders" can't decide if it wants to be Ingmar Bergman's "Scenes From A Marriage" or Nicholas Roeg's "Don't Look Now". The amazing Stellan Skarsgard, who can skate effortlessly between "Dogme 95" and Hollywood without a slip, plays the married American businessman, living in Greece with his family, who is having a passionate affair with a co-worker (ice-queen Deborah Unger). Long-time art-house favorite Charlotte Rampling gives a believable, measured performance as the betrayed wife who eventually finds her own lover. Unfortunately,after the involving first third, the story meanders into too many dead-end directions. For instance,in one scene Unger drops a bomb on Skarsgard that hints at noirish intrigue and conspiracy, but this is never explored, nor mentioned again. An underlying theme of destiny, precognition and/or superstition is interwoven with the story, but if all the ominous foreshadowing is meant to point to the completely out-of-left-field "Bad Seed" ending, then the film is ulitmately false and little more than a pretentious excercise with pretty Mediterranean scenery. Skarsgard and Rampling have such great on-screen chemistry that one hopes they can work together again with better material. A guarded recommendation. March 17, 2003

KWINKYDINKS AND BEYOND

More than sex, food or survival, we are creatures driven to find meaning in our lives (or so it's said by those who claim to know such things). A recent film that tap into that mindset, with varying degrees of success, is now available in a fine digital edition.

In SIGNS & WONDERS, the once happy 17 year marriage of Marjorie (Charlotte Rampling) and Alec (Stellan Skarsgard) comes undone and Alec begins making decisions based only on coincidences and superstitions.

Complex and strangely mesmerizing, this original film is especially unsettling as Alec ever more desperately seeks to understand signs that he believes will explain what is happening to him and give meaning to the tragedy that has befallen him, his adulterous wife and their two children. Special features include director Jon Nossiter's video diary.

Different and disturbing because it hits close to the desperate sanity we all share in our fragile and perilous world view. March 4, 2003

(In)Security Guard --- and the human condition

I've never had an emotional experience while viewing a film comprable to that which overwhelmed me while watching Signs an Wonders. Strangely enough I was most moved by the scene of Skasgard entering the embassy. This was a minor masterpiece of taut directing, cinematography, and acting--I was strangely touched by the actor playing the security guard, who with only the slightest of gestures somehow conveyed the essence of the human experience. A must see for all serious lovers of the cinema. December 27, 2002

A very good unconventional movie.

...

I am a big fan of Stellan Skarsgard so my opinion is probably biased. ...I really enjoyed it. It's about a guy who makes some major decisions about his life based on superstitions and coincidences, and the affect it has on those close to him. He is constantly looking for signs around him and tries to understand what the signs are telling him about his life. It is a very complex movie, and you don't know whether to feel sorry for him or just dislike him. There are some twists and turns in the movie that keep you interested, wondering where they are going with the story.

... April 17, 2002

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