The Life Before Her Eyes (2007)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Vadim Perelman

Writers:

Laura Kasischke (novel)
Emil Stern (screenplay)

Release Date:

5 September 2008 (Poland)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Diana's life is not what it seems.

Plot:

A woman's survivor's guilt from a Columbine-like event twenty years ago causes her present-day idyllic life to fall apart.

Plot Keywords:

Friend | Shooting | Best Friend | Flashback | High School

Cast

Uma Thurman	...	Diana McFee
Evan Rachel Wood	...	Young Diana
Eva Amurri	...	Maureen
Gabrielle Brennan	...	Emma McFee
Brett Cullen	...	Paul McFee
Oscar Isaac	...	Marcus
Jack Gilpin	...	Mr. McClood
Maggie Lacey	...	Amanda - adult
John Magaro	...	Michael Patrick
Lynn Cohen	...	Sister Beatrice
Nathalie Paulding	...	Amanda - teen
Molly Price	...	Diana's Mother
Oliver Solomon	...	Detective
Isabel Keating	...	Maureen's mother
Anna Moore	...	Blonde Student (as Anna Renee Moore)

Also Known As:

In Bloom (USA) (pre-release title)
Sem Medo de Morrer (Brazil) (Portugal) [pt]
Bir nefeste hayat - The life in a breath (Turkey: Turkish title) (video title) [tr]
Brosta sta matia tis (Greece) [el]
Das Leben vor meinen Augen (Germany) (DVD title) [de]
Davanti agli occhi (Italy) [it]
Det sista offret (Sweden) [sv]
La vida ante sus ojos (Spain) [es]
La vie devant ses yeux (France) [fr]
Viimeinen uhri (Finland) (DVD title) [fi]
Zendegi dar pishe chashmanash (Iran: Persian title) [fa]

MPAA:

Rated R for violent and disturbing content, language and brief drug use.

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS | DTS

Certification:

Poland:18 | USA:R (certificate #43660) | Netherlands:16 | South Korea:18 | Finland:K-15 | Singapore:NC-16 | Japan:PG-12 | UK:15 | Portugal:M/16

Filming Locations:

Darien, Connecticut, USA

Company:

2929 Productions

Trivia:

At the start of the movie, when 'Uma Thruman''s character is flipping through radio stations, one of the songs you hear is "About Her" by Malcolm McLaren. The same song was in Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004) which Uma also stared in.

Quotes:

Paul McFee: William James, that most American philosopher, once advised: "begin to be now what you will be hereafter". One might ask how? Our deepest guide in our beginning to be, is our imagination. Our ability to project, and mold our future selves from the myriad possibilities before us...

Movie Connections:

References "The Magic School Bus" (1994)

excellent

The sophisticated Perelman/Kasischke sensibilities will not be for all markets; this is essentially a rather highbrow film, with a surprise ending which will spoil it for some who want their movies to be straightforward, but which is essential to its philosophical heart. Thurman is outstanding as the older, pensive Diana, and Wood perhaps even better as the self-confident, rebellious younger version. Perelman's direction captures the dreamy lyricism contrasting with a sometimes brutal realism that is also found in Kasischke's beautiful and poetic 2002 novel. There won't be many better, genuinely adult movies this year, and most likely it will be ignored.