The Invisible Circus (2001)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Adam Brooks

Writers (WGA):

Jennifer Egan (novel)
Adam Brooks (screenplay)

Release Date:

23 February 2001 (Spain)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

A story of friendship, freedom and fate that could only happen in the Sixties

Plot:

A teenage girl travels to Paris in the 1970s trying to find out about her sister's suicide, and falls in love with her dead sister's boyfriend.

Plot Keywords:

Suicide | Paris | Father | Europe | Big Sister

Cast

Cameron Diaz	...	Faith
Jordana Brewster	...	Phoebe
Christopher Eccleston	...	Wolf
Blythe Danner	...	Gail
Camilla Belle	...	Phoebe, Age 10-12
Patrick Bergin	...	Gene
Isabelle Pasco	...	Claire
Moritz Bleibtreu	...	Eric
Philipp Weissert	...	Safehouse Leader
Nikola Obermann	...	Hannah
Robert Getter	...	American Statesman
Ricky Koole	...	Nikki

MPAA:

Rated R for sexuality, language and drug content.

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Netherlands:16 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Germany:12 | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:18 | Spain:7 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands

Company:

Fine Line Features

Movie Connections:

Featured in Return to Edge City (2005) (V)

Soundtrack:

Stay Away From Heaven

Beautiful portrayals of fascinating characters

The plot of this film is not complicated. A very attractive young girl goes to Europe in search of the reasons for her older sister's suicide ten years earlier. There she meets up with her sister's former boyfriend and together they travel to all the places her sister went, and gradually the reasons become clear.

But what makes this film so special, and soar above the limited plot, are the beautiful portrayals of the characters. Although the older sister's boyfriend is a drop-out hippie, he has noble ideals, moral standards and incredible strengths. And although the older sister, who we see in flashbacks, shares these ideals, she doesn't have a sense of limitation or balance, of how much is too much. And although the younger girl is fiercely loyal to her sister's memory, she gradually finds the strength to face the fact that her sister was only a normal girl, after all.

The most special moment in the film is when the young girl and the sister's boyfriend finally stop fighting their attraction to each other. I can't recall ever seeing more beautiful, touching, romantic tenderness in lovemaking in a film!

In all these ways this is a truly beautiful film, a film to be treasured, and to be seen again and again. 9 out of 10.