AmnesiA

Just saw this at WorldFest Houston. Have to say it was my favorite film there. Amazing performances, great twisted, dysfunctional story. If you get the chance to catch this film, do it! You won't regret it.

Extremely well acted film about a twin brother (both played by a great Fedja van Huêt). Lots of suspence, mystery AND... humour! Saw this bizarre film already at the Rotterdam International Film Festival and was very enthusiastic, as were many others. Check it out.

Twin brothers Alex and Aram meet at their family home which has fallen into disrepair since the death of their father. Alex is a plodding photographer with obvious trauma issues while Aram is a low-level mobster. Aram drags his partner in crime to his home and leaves him in his bed instead of seeking medical assistance for the bullet in his belly. Alex and Aram butt heads again and again until Aram's boss arrives to pick up the package Aram stole in the botched robbery. This modern, somewhat Freudian take on Cain and Abel will leave some viewers confused, but those looking for a surreal experience with some outstanding cinematography and color theory will very much enjoy AmnesiA.

The great virtue of this movie is that it doesn't try to overreach. It doesn't attempt to dazzle the viewer with breathtaking photography, it doesn't try to stun the viewer with incisive dialogue, it makes no effort to sublimate the ham-fisted psychological drama.

Rather than risk likely failure trying to develop a genuinely original view of human psychology it wallows gratefully in stale and literal-minded Freudian psychoanalysis, replete with Oedipean theme.

There's some occasional bittersweet humor, but never too bitter or too sweet.

Wholly uncharacteristic for this movie is the stellar performance by Fedja van Huet as Alex/Aram, but the director uses all means at his disposal to prevent it from upsetting AmnesiA's deeply cherished drabness.

Amnesia is probably the best Dutch film I've seen so far, great performances all around (van Huet is absolutely fabulous as both twins) and the movie has a nice buildup of suspense. And I had a great laugh too! My eyes were glued to the screen.

8 out of 10.