mr. Nobody (2009)

Directed by: Jaco van Dormael | 138 minutes | drama, romance, fantasy, science fiction | Actors: Jared Leto, Diane Kruger, Sarah Polley, Linh Dan Pham, Natasha Little, Rhys Ifans, Toby Regbo, Juno Temple, Clare Stone, Thomas Byrne, Audrey Giacomini, Laura Brumagne, Allan Corduner, Daniel Mays, Michael Riley, Harold Manning Roline Skehan, Pascal Duquenne, Noa De Costanzo, Chiara Caselli, Nathan Boydell, Vincent Dupont, Juliette Van Dormael, Léa Thonus, Anaïs Van Belle

The principle is very simple. Imagine if your parents had emigrated to Chile in the past. Then you would have led a very different life. And imagine that one day in that other life you had not turned left but turned right. Then you would never have met the woman you would later marry. In short, with every choice you make or that others make for you, an alternative life is lost. If you add up all the choices in your life, you could have lived a thousand other lives.

The international co-production ‘Mr. Nobody’ is completely built around this principle. A 120-year-old man on his deathbed looks back on all the lives he could have led. As different as those lives may be, they harbor the same colossal truths: that death awaits in the end and that the Beatles were right when they sang that all you need is love. Because no matter how difficult life is, no one can do without love.

It results in an entertaining film that is a mishmash of ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ (especially the heavy-handed romance), ‘Lola Rennt’, ‘The Butterfly Effect’, ‘The Girl who Leapt through Time’ and ‘Sliding Doors’. ‘. What director Jaco van Dormael brings in himself is the wonderfully playful style, as we know it from his debut ‘Toto le Héros’. The film is full of visual play, from a drop of fate filmed from above to an original look at the year 2092.

As befits a slightly philosophical subject, ‘Mr. Nobody’ a lot of scientific tidbits past. From chicks’ inherited fear of birds of prey to the famous second law of thermodynamics. These facts are also played playfully, but together with the high tempo and the long playing time it sometimes becomes a bit much. Because the love entanglements in the middle part also get a bit syrupy, ‘Mr. Nobody’s best with half an hour less.

This does not alter the fact that this is a must for lovers of intelligent and imaginative films. For those who don’t like that, there is still the good music (Eurythmics, Pixies, Satie) the parade of beautiful people (Jared Leto, Diane Kruger) and an acting masterclass from Sarah Polley.

And for those who still don’t understand the principle: imagine if this reviewer had opted for a decent career instead of this noncommittal fiddling. Then you, reader, might not have chosen this fine film, where you met your future wife who now wants to divorce you, taking half your capital with you. Because that’s how things go.