Beautiful People (2000)

The Age of Commercialism

I wanted to but couldn't!

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

I am going to limit my comments basically to all those people who rated this movie below a nine or ten. For most people this is a movie that must be watched twice, but if you don't feel your heart pounding at the end of the film and tears in your eye, no matter how many times you watch, YOU, viewer needs to take stock of your own heart, imagination, empathy for different people (true diversity) and your ability to respond appropriately to truly great films. I tire of people who tell me about books and plays and movies:"It's just your opinion." Well, sometimes that is true. But if your soul and imagination has not been properly educated by reading good books (especially poetry), seeing good plays (especially Shakespeare, and seeing quality movies and distinguishing them from the meretricious and the bogus. This is not a time where it is just my opinion. This is a movie that celebrates life in the most difficult of situations and blends together various characters' lives into a seamless whole--a kind of good Magnolia, to which it has been fatuously compared. The story is set in diverse modern day London--all classes, different ethnic groups etc. The writer/director Jazmin Didmar is a magician weaving a tapestry of humanity that screams at the viewer: "LIfe is tough, but there is still a place for love and beauty, even in the direst circumstances." I am so fed up with American movie goers who can't tell diamond from glass. This is a wonderful movie which deserves a 10+ rating. I quote from one of the characters, who is having troubles in his personal life and in his profession. But he comes through at the end of the movie happy and smiling with an ending comment: "If life works just a little bit in your favor, it can be beautiful." SEE THIS MOVIE. (p.s. Americans can be forgiven their lack of discernment in films, because they grow up on wretched American t.v. By the way I am a natural born surfer boy from SoCAl--actually Orange County).

War-torn Bosnia and multicultural London don't look so very different in Jasmin Dizdar's raucous, riotous, kaleidoscopic film 'Beautiful People'. An initially merciless portrait of both Britons and Bosnians gradually mutates into something more sympathetic, but the picture remains extreme: this is not the subtlest of movies. But there are some fine moments of black humour, and a strong performance especially from Nicholas Farrell as a doctor worn down by life. It's also nice (but sad) to see the late Charlotte Coleman in one of her last screen roles. There's less political content here than you might expect: it's a shallower film than 'Welcome to Sarejevo', and less madly surreal than 'Underground'. But it's still worth watching for odd snippets of brilliance in among the chaos.

"Beautiful People" spreads it's story of the effect of the Bosnian conflict on Brits and others thinly over a broad and varied cast of characters with the feel of a documentary in spite of considerable implausibility. Mostly shot in the UK sans any Hollywoodesque appointments, this film weaves several very short and loosely interconnected stories into it's sometimes harsh, sometimes humorous fabric. "Beautiful People" - which are scarce in this austere film - leaves little room for audience empathy but is replete with ironies. The film will play best with those who appreciate British cinema.

This is a very difficult film to get a handle on, or at least it was at first. As I got to know the characters, I came to love every last one of them, as the film took its time delving deeper into their lives, and eventually, into their souls.What it found was the most beautiful and sad, beautiful and happy parts of our lives, however fleeting they may be. The film is at least a 9/10, and I'd like to cast an 11/10 for the film's poster. The most memorable film image of the decade, if not the century.On the other hand, I could be wrong. I'm just an American.