Directed by: Mike Cahill.
Written by: Mike Cahill.
Starring: Michael Pitt (Ian), Astrid Bergès-Frisbey (Sofi), Brit Marling (Karen), Steven Yeun (Kenny), Cara Seymour (Dr. Simmons), William Mapother (Darryl Mackenzie), Archie Panjabi (Priya Varma), Kashish (Salomina).
For
those who believe in Intelligent Design, the human eye is often uses as the
prime example of why there must be a creator at some point along the line. It
is so complex, that many do not believe that it could simply evolve that way –
and hence, the human eye is proof of the existence of God. It’s a rather silly
theory really – but then again, Intelligent Design isn’t not really based in
scientific fact, but rather in theory. Mike Cahill’s I Origins, a follow-up to
his excellent Another Earth, starts as a movie about Ian (Michael Pitt) – a
scientist, studying the human eye, who hopes to once and for all end the
debate, and prove that the eye could in fact evolve. What’s interesting about I
Origins is that it never really takes a side in the debate at all – and ends,
like Another Earth did, on an ambiguous leaving the audience wanting to know
what happens next. Depending on your own beliefs, you can read the ending
however you want. But unlike Another Earth, I Origins just isn’t all that
interesting other than in its initial premise. It has a melodramatic plot that
verges on the ridiculous. The film is so subdued, where all the characters
betray such little emotion, even when they are supposed to be going through
emotional upheaval, the whole movie left me cold.
Ian (Michael Pitt) is a young doctoral student, doing
his work on the human eye – specifically how it has evolved. He attends a
Halloween party, and is immediately drawn to the eyes of a beautiful young
woman in a mask – the two have anonymous sex, with him never seeing her face,
but being mesmerized by her eyes – which (in a sequence both too complicated
and too ridiculous to explain) use those eyes to track the woman down. This is
Sofi (Astrid Berges-Frisbey), who is just as beautiful as her eyes. The two
fall in love – despite being complete opposites in how they view the world
(this kind of reminded me of the relationship between Stephen and Jane Hawking
in The Theory of Everything). I don’t want to spoil what happens next – but the
movie does take some strange turns, and ends up with Ian in India –trying to
see if he can find an identical set of eyes to Sofi's – something he thought
was impossible, as eyes are supposed to be like fingerprints – one of a kind.
I have always like Michael Pitt as an actor – he has a
quiet, intelligent screen presence, that sometimes verges on comatose, but in
the right role (like in Gus Van Sant's brilliant Last Days) he can be brilliant.
Here, he isn’t much helped by the screenplay or the direction, and so he comes
across more on the comatose side of things. The two main women in the film –
Sofi and Brit Marling’s Karen (as Pitts assistant) are also not really helped –
both are playing an idealized, unrealistic version of the perfect women –
although to be fair, they are still as different as they can be while still
being perfect.
I also didn’t really buy the numerous twists and turns
in the movie – all of which seem to be overly calculated and foreshadowed (I
watched the film with my wife, and we both could see every twist and turn
coming a mile away). That wouldn’t be such a bad thing, if the twists lead to
some interesting material – but it doesn’t here. The closing scenes, with Pitt
and a young Indian girl, are almost unintentionally hilarious (and, kind of
creepy when you think about it).
Cahill is still a director I want to see more from.
Like Another Earth, I Origins has a lot of interesting ideas running through
it. But unlike Another Earth, the execution does not match the ideas. It’s a
film that sounds really interesting – but doesn’t deliver on its promise.
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