The Weight of Water – Heavy
The sixth film by director Katheryn Bigelow, The Weight of Water is a movie that I watched. I had a hard time with this one. It was overly long, had two very muddled stories, and failed to compel me or keep me interested. However the ending was very cool, no matter how predictable.
I’m going to keep it fairly short and to the point this week. I don’t have as much time as I’d like to write this as I am very busy moving in to my new home. Lots to do!
This film features two intercut storylines. The first takes place in the late 1800’s and follows the story of the murder of two young women by an unknown assailant. The second, taking place in the early 2000’s, is the story of two couples on a vacation to the island where the double murder took place all those years ago. One of the women, a historian, tries to decipher the clues in different letters and documents from the time.
A major problem with this film is that the two stories don’t converge thematically. Obviously the characters can never meet due to them taking place a century apart, but there is no narrative through-line whatsoever. Whichever of the two storylines I was watching, I couldn’t wait for it to switch to the other. Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy.
This was an unfortunate outing for Bigelow. It didn’t feel like she was as dialed in as usual. There were very few moments where I was admiring the cinematography or the acting like I have been for her last four films. This was a very hard to find film. It is not available for rent or streaming in the United States. I had to go to great lengths to view this. I can’t even find a good image on Google, so I’ll have to settle for the only high quality one I could find.
Bigelow Rankings:
Sadly, I did not enjoy this much.
- Point Break
- Strange Days
- Blue Steel
- Near Dark
- The Loveless
- The Weight of Water
Join me next week for K-19: The Widowmaker starring Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson. That’s a combo I never knew I needed. I’m cautiously optimistic.
