Too much of everything

Pretty Good

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

I came across this after reading River Phoenix's interview talking about this movie which persuaded him to accept the role, Boy, in Dark Blood which is also directed by George Sluizer and I'm so happy that I got the chance to watch this wonderfully beautiful movie.The tension slowly builds up with Saskia telling Rex his dream of being stuck in an egg, then them being stuck in a dark tunnel, Rex dreaming the same thing and the antagonist being pulled over by the police for not wearing his seat belt gets away by pointing that he's claustrophobic; I don't know why I didn't see the ending coming. As a claustrophobic myself, I found this movie very very disturbing, and by disturbing I mean.. Good.It's not a horror movie to make you jump outta your seat from time to time, but it'll haunt you for a long time.

*** Spoilers ***Why Rex drank the drugged coffee?Rex must have felt that what happened to Saskia is partially his fault. After all, he left her alone and frightened in the dark tunnel, something for which he regretted when he realized how scared she was. Then he took an oath to not leave her ever again. An oath he couldn't keep even for a day, despite it wasn't really his fault.The point is, in my opinion, Rex was teared apart by guilt for 3 long years because he was feeling somewhat guilty. His remorse was clearly demonstrated by what he said to his new girlfriend Lineke: "If Saskia was alive I would choose you, but if I really have a choice, I would rather go back to that gas station three years ago to be with Saskia (paraphrasing)." Again, he remembers Saskia's dream about how lonely she was while trapped in a golden egg, floating somewhere in the Neverland. Forever, until her egg collides with a second one. Three years later, Rex is still constantly thinking about what happened to Saskia, and the days preceding her disappearance. Now his life is completely ruined – Lineke is about to leave him because everything Rex does, everywhere he goes the ghost of his former girlfriend haunts him; he is also probably deeply in debt and his career (and entire life) put on hold. Rex is already living in hell.Admittedly, his decision to drink the cup of drugged coffee is completely irrational. But then, again Rex's mind has already been broken by the time he and Raymond met. Do you remember how happy he looked with Saskia at the gas station? Probably the only other scene you will see him half smiling is when he discussed funny names with Raymond. Would you do that with the man who kidnapped and probably killed your girlfriend/wife? A sociopath and another person, who is aware of the sociopath's deeds, are bonding over stories told by the former, in fact, reveals how mentally damaged is the latter individual as well.The final push to Rex's illogical step towards his very plausible demise came when he found the coins buried (a great deal of "Golden eggs" symbolism is included in the flick) during the very last moments he and Saskia had together 3 years ago. In the spur of the moment, overwhelmed by the memory, guilt, and, of course, his obsession "To Know," and unable to think rational anymore, he does the unthinkable – he drinks the cup just like a suicide would ingest a poisonous drink. The analogy with a suicidal person is appropriate, I think, because they also do stupid things, which might seem illogical to every other person in the right state of mind. He drank it to drown his sorrows.Lastly, let's go back to the point of Rex feeling remorse about leaving Saskia alone…again, and his oath. Knowing that his fate is most likely sealed (no pun intended) if he proceeds to take the killer's bitter drink, Rex commits something similar to suicide. A part of him feels he deserves what is going to happen to him – the same thing happened to Saskia. But in his mind might seem more like a sacrifice. Rex finally embraces his fate. His desire is "To Know" and to reunite with Saskia somewhere as both being golden eggs, floating together until they collide.

Rex and Saskia are driving on a holiday. They have a fight and make up. At a gas station, Saskia disappears. Rex relentlessly searches for her. Raymond is outwardly a normal family man. In secret, he's been methodically preparing to satisfy his evil desires. He had kidnapped Saskia. Three years later, Rex is still looking for Saskia and has new girlfriend Lieneke. Evenutally Lieneke leaves him. He gets an offer from Raymond to reveal the truth of what happened.This is a cold-hearted character. The situation is intensely harrowing. It's not really a mystery because the killer is revealed quite early on. What it does is it shakes the viewer to the core. Raymond is unrelenting. We see this through Rex's eyes and it's a runaway train. The tragedy unrolls and the audience is helpless in its face.

No matter how good a movie is going it has to end well, And now a days I have watched a lot of European movies and see that most of the story ends in a way I am not satisfied and rather end up angry and really frustrated. The Koreans do it better than anyone. Oldboy was one of the greatest thrillers ever made. And when it ended it was perfect. The movie does not need to have a fairy tale ending, but this is disgusting, that's what it is DISGUSTING. I recommend not wasting your time if the end matters to you. To me when a movie is made well, like this one we recognize with the characters and then it leaves an impact on us, whatever happens to the characters. An evil movie. But very well directed, great direction, very good cinematography as well. But I could not waste my time after watching half of the movie I though it would matter how this ends, so I would rather check how this ends, I did and threw the DVD in the Trash, I literally broke it in two and threw it in the trash.