Don't Look DownReviewed by Blair Jones, 2010-03-02
I guess I'm just too old to enjoy this film. While it was
beautifully photographed I kind of felt I wasted time watching it.
I love foreign films but this one is mediocre. Its not because of
the sex. Its because, (and I know I will get pelted for this but
its my opinion) it really is just soft porn.
The storyline was weak and the mysticism was an excuse to show
naked young people. I don't care if sex is in a movie as long as
its relevant to the storyline and not overkill. Would the audience
appreciate the "beautiful coming of age story" if the stars were
lumpy and out of shape? (A young Jack Black...zoinks shiver me
timbers!)
I'm sorry to disagree with everyone but I did give it a try. I
started watching it wanting to like it. I wanted to identify with
the character because as it was advertised I saw some parallels
with my own life. (Lost my father not so long ago, met my second
husband not long afterward in a way that could only be described as
fateful) Yet in the end I felt let down. The attempt to be deep was
lost.
The only time I experienced true depth was at the end when Eloy's
father appeared to him and told him life is about saying goodbye
but don't let that stop you from living. That to me was what the
film was supposed to be about and yet it ventured off down the road
of positions and thrusts.
In any case just my two cents worth, not trying to offend anyone.
An encounter with tantric view of exualityReviewed by R. E. Roper, 2009-06-01
This movie was well executed and delightfully wrought with the human experience of having or sharing sex with another.
Tender Love StoryReviewed by Daniel G. Lebryk, 2009-05-11
This is a tender love story between a young 19 year old
inexperienced boy Eloy and a wise 28 year old woman Elvira. Eloy's
father has died and he begins sleepwalking. His brother sets traps
for him so that he will wake up and stop sleepwalking. Instead Eloy
walks the roofs off buildings and eventually falls into Elvira's
bed through her open skylight. From there the whole sexual
awakening and teaching happens. Eventually they fall deeply in love
and the story ends happily ever after.
In a way, this sounds like a wonderful, sweet movie that most would
enjoy. Sadly, it's pretty far from what happens in the film. The
viewer is treated to some pretty awful film techniques, needless
slow motion, bad editing, over use of tracking shots, and just
plain poor story telling.
To read the marketing description a person would think this is a
treatise on the Kama Sutra and Tantric. It is so not that at all.
Yes there are very very intimate scenes, these two lovers are very
handsome without their clothes on. But an exploration of these two
techniques? What we are treated to is a count down by Elvira. How
many times can Eloy thrust before his nirvana? We see this scene
played over and over again with Eloy becoming obsessed with that
count - he has to reach 81! The pay off is him being mentally
transported to a new city whenever he's reached between 80 and 100.
This is no joke, that's exactly what is said in the film.
The film is supposed to have some mystic level. Eloy communicates
with his dead father. He rides his bike through a cemetary every
day and the dead line up doing hand motions to him, which, well,
vaguely resemble the motion of self pleasuring. The Grandmother is
some mystic able to see auras arounnd people. And Eloy and Elvira
seem to have some mystic ESP connection. Frankly, it kind of all
boils down to a pretext to see these two lovely people in bed. Of
which there is roughly 1/3 of the film at this state, beautifully
photographed.
The film is all about expectations. It is very far from a study of
the Kama Sutra or the art of Tantra. Nobody will learn anything
from what is in this film (there are many more infintitely more
educational films than this one). If the viewer expects some
elementary exploration of mystic ideas, a semi-sweet coming of age
/ love story, and doesn't mind intimate movies then they may well
love this film. It was a bit too sophomoric for me.
The film is not rated by the MPAA. It has an R rating in Canada. As
noted, roughly 1/3 of the film is of two people naked, making love
or talking about love making, with full frontal nudity. There are
no views of penetration or a male losing his seed (to quote the
film). There's no violence. The infrequent use of strong language,
mostly related to sexual acts in context.
Erotic and SexyReviewed by Amos Lassen, 2009-03-02
"Don't Look Down"
Erotic and Sexy
Amos Lassen
Strand Releasing's "Don't Look Down" explores sexual awakenings and
imaginations as well as mysticism and spirituality. Eloy is
nineteen and one night while sleepwalking, he falls through the
roof of a beautiful woman, Elvira. She is an expert on the Kama
Sutra and she shares her knowledge with Eloy.
Eliseo Subiela, the Argentine director, brings us a film that is
charged with eroticism. This is a magical coming-of-age film that
looks at sexual knowledge and how it relates to the mysteries of
life and how it balances the spirit. Elvira is sex personified but
she is also a respected woman and she is the wise one
sexually.
The movie is a compilation from the tantric tradition, the Kama
Sutra which is a manual for different sexual positions. The word
"tantra" is Sanskrit and it means to explore, to spread and to
manifest. In other words sex is a combination of different
energies--thoughts, actions and physical matter. In tantric sex,
lovemaking is prolonged so that the sexual union is perfect and
harmonious. The sexual act changes from an act of doing to an act
of being and becomes a spiritual as well as a physical
experience.
"Don't Look Down" is an attempt at translating tantric sex into
terms that can be related by a movie. Eloy at 19 is something of a
mystic as he feels the spirit of his recently dead father passing
through him and also sees the dead residents at the cemetery near
his home. He has a simple job--he walks the streets of Buenos Aires
on stilts selling sandwiches. After his meeting with Elvira, he
learns of her expertise of tantric sex and he begins to spend
afternoons with her. He is made aware of the meeting of sexuality
and mysticism and how to have sex without ejaculation. He discovers
that he can travel out of his body and end up where he wants
to.
We learn that Elvira is only visiting Buenos Aires and when she
tells Eloy that she must leave to return to Barcelona, he finds it
difficult to let her go. The two that have come together must now
come apart but Eloy is the wiser.
I am not sure what constitutes eroticism as I found the movie to be
very erotic and another reviewer said he found no eroticism and in
fact he found the movie uninteresting. That is the beauty of good
cinema--we are allowed to come to our own judgments.
SubielaReviewed by G. MCGOFF, 2009-02-12
If you enjoyed Subiela's Don't Die Without Telling Me Where You Are Going, then I'm sure you'll like this. I would give this 4 and a half stars perhaps, but I'll round up for Subiela's bravery in handling the subject.
