Youth Without Youth

Youth Without Youth (2007)

Ranking: Yeah
Trashiness: Moderately Trashy

When I heard the title of this movie, I thought it was probably going to be about inner city street gangs or something, and have had a difficult time getting rid of that idea, even after seeing the movie.

Really, it's about an old man (Tim Roth) who gets hit by lightning and starts aging backwards (alright!). He also develops a second personality and gets really weird. Avoiding Nazis who wish to experiment on him, he hones his magic powers and researches the origins of langauge. Eventually, he meets up with the reincarnation of his long deceased lover (Alexandra Maria Lara), who is frequently possessed by her other incarnations, which causes her to age twice as fast as normal.

The first hour of the movie is basically just Tim Roth lying around talking to himself really slowly about really boring ass shit, or walking around in a fedora concentrating. He was pretty annoying. Admittedly, I did find myself wondering aloud if anything was ever going to happen.

However, that was all set up. In the second half, when buddy meets up with chick chick, things sort of pick up a bit. Then we get into the tragic mortal-immortal romantic stuff, along the lines of The Fountain or, more to the point, Bram Stoker's Dracula. Although it was not so absorbing as The Fountain or as sexy as Dracula, it still did appeal to my more romantic side, wherever the fuck that is.

And it really did look nice when the camera wasn't turned upside down or sideways. There were lots of old cars. That's important.

Anyway, I kind of want to watch it again now that I know it gets good halfway through. I'm thinking maybe I can trick one of my friends into watching it with me (I hate watching movies by myself. It feels weird). I'll see what I can do about that.

END

Written and Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola, based on the novella by Mircea Eliade. Starring: Tim Roth, Alexandra Maria Lara, Bruno Ganz, André Hennicke, Marcel Iures, Alexandra Pirici, Matt Damon