Reconstruction (2004)

As an art film, Reconstruction is a bit pretentious and emotionally distant, but the story and acting carry it better than Run Lola Run though lesser than Memento. The director in his first film commits the sin of tendentiousness in the opening and closing scenes by saying straight out “This is a film about love” and “It may be only a film, but it still hurts.” (What a way to spoil the magic, Boe. The only way to be more maudlin is to call the movie Metaphor and use a mime instead of a street magician to open and close the didactic verbal bookends.) The musical number “Night and Day” sounds cheesy (sung off-beat and as if through a vintage microphone) and the grainy, swoopy camera shots together invoke all that gives art films a bad name. However, the story gradually unfolds into multiple layers that, it turns out, affect each other and should leave you guessing. The swoopy shots make integral artistic sense once the story reveals its complexity. The story’s true solution may not exist or prove lesser than that of Memento, but the characters and the acting carry the film ably, esp. considering the real-life consequences of marital infidelity. Maria Bonnevie is a glowing vision -- and I didn’t catch until after the viewing that she plays both girlfriends. 4.5 stars.