Limbo (1999; directed by John Sayles)

This is almost three movies in one. The first is an Altmanesque view of a variety of characters and stories in an Alaska town, sort of a "Lone Star Up North." Early on we see an outdoor party and we catch parts of a series of conversations, involving both the guests and the staff. As things go on, we learn more about most of these characters, and how they ended up in their current circumstances.

As often happens in movies, there is a romance which develops more quickly than it probably would in real life, but in this case that's exactly the point, since one of the people in question jumps from relationship to relationship without (apparently) ever learning anything about caution.

Then, in the second half of the movie, three of the characters end up in desperate circumstances together, cut off from the rest of the world and in immediate danger of being killed. So, the second half of the movie tells their story, and this puts a different light on the first half, since it shows that all the problems the characters had then were really a lot less critical than they thought. And the second half serves as a balance, since the first half showed the portion of Alaska which has been civilized and the second half shows the part which hasn't been.

Then there's the end (which I won't reveal). It's very surprising, and it caused a lot of debate as the crowd exited the theater where I saw the film. As for me, I think Sayles pulled it off. Initially it was a shock, especially from him, but in retrospect the signs were certainly all there. As the second half showed the first half in a different light, the end changes the whole film, revealing it to be a fascinating meditation on storytelling itself.

The cast is all excellent, including David Strathairn playing a very different role from the one he played in LA Confidential, but the real star of the film is Vanessa Martinez as Noelle, the youngest character we meet. She's the heart of the film, the character with the most possibilities (good and bad), and she's the storyteller, so the movie is really about her. This is only her second role (she had two short scenes in Lone Star, playing Pilar as a young girl) and she makes this movie work.

See this one. John Sayles' restless intelligence has done it again, providing us with a movie you'll be thinking about (and maybe arguing about) long after you leave the theater.

Also Recommended:

By John Sayles: Lone Star, Men With Guns

With David Strathairn: L.A. Confidential