 I had no idea that zither music could make me cry. Apparently, it can. I did not expect to learn this when I went to the movies last night. Surprises are everywhere.
This film is sweet, and funny, and odd, and I simply loved it.
We open with Darius, a sad and lovely girl who feels alienated from her own life since the death of her mother some years prior. She works a thankless job at a Seattle magazine as an intern who seems to be learning nothing about journalism other than that her boss is a harpy.
When an odd assignment arises to investigate an ad placed in a regional paper with the following text:
“WANTED: Someone to go back in time with me. This is not a joke. You get paid after we get back. Must bring your own weapons. SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED. I have only done this once before.”
Darius immediately volunteers for the task of accompanying the reporter pitching the story to find the ad’s author. Along with another intern, they travel to Seaview* to unearth the why and how of this oddity.
It quickly becomes apparent that Geoff, the journalist in charge of this excursion, is both a jackass and a blowhard with other ideas about what this trip to Seaview is meant to accomplish; nursing fantasies about a high school sweetheart and an erotic reunion, his interest in the story they have come to collect is passing at best. He sees the excursion primarily as a company financed lark to the coast.
After the interns manage to track down the man responsible for the ad, Geoff makes a clumsy attempt to speak to him. Kenneth can instantly sense Geoff’s insincerity and rebuffs his attempts to obtain any further information about his mission.
It is then suggested that Darius, being both weird and a woman, might have better success with a less direct approach. When she makes first contact, the connection between these two wandering souls is both instant and palpable; they seem to speak the same language in a land where they are frequently misunderstood.
Kenneth is clearly a wary sort, and not operating with the same expectations about “reality” that are the widely acknowledged norm. It is apparent from the start that though Darius cannot accept this worldview wholesale, she is both attracted to his premises, and his earnest oddity.
She approaches him with an authenticity that fosters the trust he needs to feel to allow anyone the proximity his mission requires. An intimacy develops between them both rapidly and achieves an uncustomary depth. Â It is clear they both sense this bond; it being rare enough in this life to be obvious when encountered. Though she hides the truth about the magazine piece, everything else she says and does clearly originate in the profound wonder he evokes in her. Â
Meanwhile Geoff achieves his end of finding his high school fling. While he is initially put off by the fact that she, like him, has aged and changed, he is scolded by both interns to follow through seeing this person who has occupied his imagination for so very long. When he does, he is utterly disarmed by the visage and merit of this very real person; thoroughly better and tangibly alive. All his bluster and artiface fail and we see the vulnerable beast beneath.
And then there is some zither music, which made me cry.
To tell more would undo the pleasure of seeing the film yourself, which I do not wish to be responsible for. It is full of wonderful surprises; far be it from me to spoil them.
Highly Recommended.
*A place I thought was fictional, but turns out not to be. Another surprise.
Comments are closed