Mr. Nobody - DVD

Film: Thirteen years after his last feature film, Jaco Van Dormael, director of the award-winning films "Toto the Hero" and "On the Eighth Day" presents another minor masterpiece with "Mr. Nobody".

In a world where people no longer die thanks to constant cell renewal, Mr. Nobody, the last mortal man, remembers his past. Of a life filled with important choices and opportunities. He remembers standing on the train platform as a young boy with his newly separated parents, having to decide whether to stay with his father or leave with his mother. What are the consequences for his life of this decision? Playing out in the mind of Mr. Nobody are the different versions of his life, which has once again come to a crossroads with his choice of the right woman. Is Anna, his great love, the one? Or rather Elise, who is passionate but also extremely complicated? Or is it Jeanne, with whom his life could be almost perfect? What life has Mr. Nobody really lived? What is dream, what is reality? One thing Mr. Nobody knows for sure: no matter what he chose, either possible life would have been worth living.

"Mr. Nobody" is a surreal rush of images that can hardly be described in words. This film is not just seen, it is experienced. Wildly, the plot jumps back and forth between the distant future, the present, and the past, constantly shuttling between the various possibilities without giving a single hint as to whether any of them represent actual reality. In between, Van Doramel occasionally throws in little collages of images or unceremoniously relocates the action to Mars.

Now this may all sound rather confusing. And to a certain extent it is. Because once you get into this film, it becomes clear that every word and image here meshes together to make a magnificent, poetic whole. It's no wonder that over a year was spent on the editing of this ambitious work alone. The way the different levels of action, reality and time are woven together is a real feat. But the images conjured up on the screen here also add to the fascinating overall picture.

But what actually makes "Mr. Nobody" so wonderful in the end is that behind the artful facade are some very simple truths that are probably very rarely conveyed in this way in cinema. Van Doramel has succeeded in conveying the feeling of great love in a simple visual language, but one that gets to the heart of this wonderful feeling. These are images full of poetry, full of passion and tenderness, which burn themselves deeply into the mind and heart of the viewer.

"Mr. Nobody" is not a film for a broad audience, for that the whole thing is simply too convoluted, too complicated and too unwieldy. But if you just surrender to the rush of images and get involved with the convoluted narrative, you will be rewarded with a film experience that unfortunately can be experienced far too rarely. Absolutely recommendable!

The Director`s Cut: On the double DVD, the viewer can choose between the theatrical version and a significantly longer long version, which offers about 16 minutes more material. Much does not change thereby, but the viewer gets here still some very nice moments offered. However, the already long events drags a little tamer, which is why this director's cut is only partly an alternative to the theatrical version.

Picture + Sound: The sometimes truly fascinating images are transported on the DVD in good quality on the home screen. At the same time, just the color mix always changes depending on where and when just the action takes place. The sterile future is rather undercooled, the childhood filled with love and hope warm and bright, Mars rather gloomy and immersed in red colors. The picture is clean and pleasantly sharp overall, but has slight weaknesses in contrast, which is especially noticeable in the darker sequences. Overall, the sound is rather subdued and is dominated by the film's score, dialogue, and selectively applied sound effects. Every now and then a slight dynamic emerges, but on balance the tonal events remain rather unspectacular.

Extras: In addition to the longer film version, the double DVD has a few more extras to offer. For example, on the second disc there is a good making of of just under 45 minutes, a behind the scenes look of about 16 minutes, and 6 more minutes of cut scenes. Optional German subtitles are available for these extras. Worth seeing!

Conclusion: "Mr. Nobody" is not a film for a broad audience, even if the ambitious work would have deserved this in any case. The double DVD can score with two versions of the film and some extras worth seeing. For lovers of cinema films of the more experimental kind, this visually stunning dream world is therefore also absolutely recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp