Liebestraum (1991)

Touches You

good back-story, and good acting

As Good As It Gets

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

If you go into "Liebestraum" expecting to see a conventional, tight thriller, you're outta luck: you'll find it too long and slow. But if you surrender yourself to its unique mood, you may find it thoroughly entrancing - like I did. To use the famous Alfred Hitchcock quote, Mike Figgis, the writer-director (who also did the hypnotic music score), plays the audience like a piano. Even the plot, which seems secondary and overall predictable much of the time (especially if you've seen the same year's "Dead Again"), turns out to have some real surprises in store. Every piece of the puzzle eventually falls into place. A remarkably underrated and under-appreciated movie. ***1/2 out of 4.

Shadows of the past hang heavily over the present in Mike Figgis' haunting tale of an adulterous affair that seems to be driven by the hand of fate. The chilling connection between the present-day affair and another one, three decades earlier, creates an uneasy atmosphere that's beautifully complemented by the Franz Liszt composition that gives this movie its title.Nick Kaminsky (Kevin Anderson) is a professor of architecture in upstate New York who visits the small Illinois town of Elderstown to visit his dying mother who gave him up for adoption at a very young age and now wants to tell him a secret from the past. When he looks out of his hotel window, Nick immediately becomes fascinated by The Ralston Building, a cast-iron structure that used to be a department store until it was closed over thirty years earlier following an incident in which an adulterous couple were apparently shot by the woman's jealous husband who subsequently turned the gun on himself.When he goes to take a closer look at the building, Nick's surprised to meet Paul Kessler (Bill Pullman) an old college friend who's been hired to supervise its demolition. Nick saves Paul's life when he quickly pushes him out of the path of a large metal object that falls to the ground from the roof of the tall building and Paul shows his appreciation by inviting Nick to a party at his place. At the party, Nick meets Paul's wife Jane (Pamela Gidley) who'd previously enjoyed reading some of Nick's books and shares his appreciation of the architectural beauty and significance of the building that's now due for demolition.Due to the seriousness of her condition, Nick's mother isn't coherent and so after being granted permission to study the interior of The Ralston Building, he spends a good deal of his time there with Jane who's a photographer. It transpires that Paul and Jane's relationship is a dysfunctional one and gradually Nick and Jane are drawn to each other with the same passion and inevitability that drew them to the building that they would both prefer to see saved from the developers who intend to replace it with a shopping mall. Through his own investigations, Nick gradually learns more about his biological mother, the dramatic events that took place over thirty years ago and eventually, some disturbing information that has a direct bearing on his relationship with Jane."Liebestraum" (Dream Of Love) is well-directed, visually stunning and fascinatingly mysterious. Its story unfolds in a style that's dreamy and creepy and not everything is as it initially appears to be. These qualities and its glacial pace combine effectively to create a rather hypnotic mood that's enhanced by a style of acting in which thoughts and feelings are so often, clearly felt without necessarily being expressed verbally. Kevin Anderson is particularly laconic and Pamela Gidley is also more reined-in than is initially apparent in this stylish tale in which lust, betrayal and jealousy all play important roles.

Kim Novak returned to films in this Mike Figgis film. During the shooting there was a lot of PR generated by the legendary star's return to films including an interview with Kim Novak by the Sunday New York times Movie Section, great advance PR for the film. The back story of this movie would have been a better film than what appears on screen. Ms. Novak fought bitterly with Mike Figgis who threatened to cut Kim Novak's part to shreds, and Figgis did. What resulted is a muddled film that stars Kevin Anderson a fine actor whose part must also have been edited. Ditto Bill Pullman. Liebestraum - a brilliant title- makes little sense as a film.Liebestraum started out as a Warner Bros film but ended up as a MGM film and that once fabled studio was going thru one of its periodic slumps and financial distresses and gave this film a very very limited opening in only two cities Los Angeles and New York. The New York Times favorably reviewed Ms. Novak in its review which should have given MGM and Figgis to open the picture more widely. The mystery here is not the film's murky subject but the fact that Kim Novak a worldwide star and a very under appreciated actress was given so little to do but moan. Novak is seen basically bed ridden and moaning during the film until a shocking windup. In a purely business observation, Kim Novak was at one time a huge box office draw with films such as Vertigo, Picnic, Bell Book and Candle, Pal Joey, Strangers When We Meet, The Mirror Crack'd et al and MGM and Figgis should have sold this as a Kim Novak return project and they would have made their money back on that. Instead, Kim Novak was ignored by Figgis who in turn ignored this film refusing to do any PR for the project upon its release and sadly this film ended the film career of Kim Novak. Madonna was supposed to do the female lead but told her then beau Warren Beatty she did not understand the script. Beatty wisely told Madonna if she did not understand the project do not do it. Pam Gidley stepped in to replace Madonna. Wise move on Madonna's part.

I was living in the upstate NY town that this was filmed in. I wanted to see the movie as soon as it was available, mainly for that reason and I was pleasantly surprised at this unique movie. The story line is quite intriguing and really draws you in, slowly but surely. So, not only do I have in my video library a fine, interesting film, but also on film a town that I grew up in and love. A definite must see! Note: I also loved the use of the classical music.