Perfect Sense (2011)

Directed by: David Mackenzie | 92 minutes | drama, romance | Actors: Ewan McGregor, Eva Green, Connie Nielsen, Stephen Dillane, Ewen Bremner, Denis Lawson, Alastair Mackenzie, James Watson, Richard Mack, Caroline Paterson, Shabana Akhtar Bakhsh, Malcolm Shields, Adam Smith, Liz Strange, Duncan Airlie James, Gillean young

It can always be worse. In the 2008 novel adaptation ‘Blindness’, an epidemic hits a southern European city, in which the blinded population loses all form of civilization. In the Scottish film ‘Perfect Sense’ the entire world is in the grip of an epidemic, in which all senses are lost one by one. Surprisingly, the effects are a lot milder than in ‘Blindness’.

We experience the progress of the epidemic through images of the affected world population, accompanied by a voice-over from the New Age school. On a micro level, we experience the epidemic by following the amorous young couple Michael and Susan. As much as the two are affected by the loss of senses, the mutual love keeps them and their relationship together.

More than a simple story, ‘Perfect Sense’ is a parable of spiritual and humanistic insights. The spiritual message, familiar to those who meditate regularly, is that pure sensation is only possible when you throw emotions overboard. In ‘Perfect Sense’ the loss of a sense is always preceded by a strong emotion. Those who are angry can no longer listen, those who are overcome with fear will no longer have any taste. Of those things.

The humanist message is about the adaptability of humans. Whoever loses his hearing sees more intensely than before, whoever loses his taste enjoys the color and composition of a dish even more, whoever loses almost all senses, still feels the heartbeat of a beloved body.

Optimistic messages, and also in a film that is occasionally really funny and in which the acting is excellent. The fact that ‘Perfect Sense’ is anything but perfect is due to the contrived way in which the larger message is illustrated on a smaller level. Emotional outbursts sometimes come completely out of the blue and are barely motivated by the events. As a result, the characters lose credibility, which means that empathy is not always easy.

Fortunately, ‘Perfect Sense’ does not succumb to its own ambitions. The film is too intriguing and too much of an act of craftsmanship for that. David Mackenzie takes revenge for raunchy predecessor ‘Spread’, although he doesn’t reach the level of older work like ‘Young Adam’ and ‘Hallam Foe’. Highly recommended, although you have to be able to stand Scottish spirituality. Which is really different from Scottish spirits.