Movies that make you think...

Have you ever watched a movie that your couldn't stop thinking about?  I have, but only a couple of times really.  I am talking about something maybe controversial or one of those vague movies that has you reading reviews, message boards, etc...  I think about a lot of movies, but on a different level if that makes any sense.

If you know me at all, you know that if I like an actor I will watch just about anything that they make!  I just finished the most recent series of Doctor Who and I wanted to watch Matt Smith is something different so I got  a movie that he made just prior to filming his first season as The Doctor.  The movie is called Womb and to say it's slightly uncomfortable to watch is an understatement.  It stars Matt and Eva Green.  Now I don't care for Eva since watching Camelot, but I figured I would suffer through her to see Matt.  In actuality, Matt is only in about 1/3 of the movie maybe less.

Now if controversial subject matter makes you uncomfortable this is not the movie for you.  Also if you don't like artsy/indy films it's not for you.  Also, this is going to be a spoiler so if you think it's something you may watch, you might want to quit reading this now!

The basic plot is that they meet when they are 9 and 10, they spend the summer together then she moves away to Japan.  Rebecca returns 12 years later, they re-kindle their friendship, it starts to turn into more of a romantic relationship, but before they can explore it Tommy is killed in a car accident.  This is set sometime in the near future where human cloning is an available option.  She gets his father's permission to extract tissue so that she can have him cloned.  She carries the clone to term, delivers him via c-section and raises him as her child.  The skip through most of the baby/toddle years and jump to him as a 10 year old where he looks just like the 10 year old that she met originally.  As things progress you can see where the movie is headed...they skip to him coming home from University.  He brings his girlfriend with him.  This is where he starts to realize that this upbringing may not have been exactly normal.  There are little hints throughout the movie that give you the sense that she isn't really thinking of him as her child, but as the boy she met when she was a child.  You see this much more vividly when  he brings his girlfriend home.  Rebecca is jealous, Tommy at this point in his life is the same boy that she went back to and the same Tommy that was killed.  His girlfriend sees that something isn't quite right with their relationship.  Things take a turn when Tommy's biological mother shows up, he doesn't know who she is, but he has a sense that he should know her.  This leads Rebecca to reveal who or rather what he really is.  This in turn brings the story full circle.  The ending really ties right in to the opening scene where an older Rebecca is sitting outside looking at the sea, caressing her obviously pregnant belly.  Her thought are that he was gone, but he left her with the one "gift" that was possibly the only thing that she needed from him all along...

Like I said, pretty controversial, uncomfortable subject matter.  There is the obvious moral/spiritual issue of cloning in and of itself, but then you add to it the fact that she essentially carries and raises her soul mate as her child.  She never really lets go of the fact that while this is a clone of the Tommy she loved he is not the Tommy that loved her.  There is a somewhat maternal feel to their relationship, but there is also that undercurrent of tension that he senses even as a child.   There is very little dialogue in the movie, most of the feel of it is conveyed through action and scenery which is really very beautiful.  I don't think this movie, due to the subject matter, ever got a wide release.  It may be pretty hard to get a hold of even if you did want to watch it.  I am not normally and indy film watcher, but I did enjoy this one, even if only for the reason that it made me think about it.  One of the only other movies that did this for me was Swimming Pool...I thought about that one for days!

Ok, that's it for me today!  Have a good one...