Based on the book "Waltz Into the Darkness", by Cornell Woolrich, Original Sin (Original Sin, 2001) had everything to be a great movie: interesting plot and two great protagonists. But director Michael Christopher gives us a very weak product, which saves only one of the best sex scenes in cinema, between Antonio Banderas and Angelina Jolie. And only. Received with great displeasure by a good part of the critics on its launch occasion, Original Sin starts from a good idea and has a very sensual and attractive atmosphere, lost amidst the novelistic tone.
Here, we follow an aesthetically refined story about Luis Vargas (Antonio Banderas), a powerful man who owns a coffee exporting company in Cuba. Excited by the idea of leaving an heir in the world to carry on his empire, he orders an American bride, Julia Russell (Angelina Jolie), a woman he meets through an exchange of letters. Vargas does not initially aim for romantic love. He just wants the basics of it, a relationship of exchanges, however, he ends up falling in love and together, they star in scathing eroticism scenes, with a lot of delivery from the duo of actors who, regardless of the dramatic quality of the story, duly fulfills their roles.
The problem is that later on, she disappears with her fortune and in the crusade in search of the crook with a magnetic and sensual look, Vargas is filled with rage and suffers the devil to get his honor back. Mysteries and twists demarcate the narrative that can initially mislead us and present false information about Julia. Or not. You will have to watch to know, dear reader, after all, is there a possibility that the girl is not who she says she is, but someone named Bonny Castle? Does she walk alone on her supposed wandering trajectory or does she have support from a small criminal network? Many are the questions, all answered until the closing credits arrive.
Dragged in some passages, the plot invests in many sudden maneuvers, resources to appear more complex than the plot really is. The directors lacked a drydown in the long sequences of little addition to the general context, but even we were dazzled by the images coming from the beautiful production design of David J. Bomba, manager of Beth A. Rubino's sets, enveloping and exquisite architecture. Signed by the Mexican Rodrigo Prieto (photographer of Amores Brutos), the cinematography of Original Sin is dark, in "dirty" tones, trying to give a "noir" flavor to the narrative.
Perhaps the worst problem with Original Sin is the progress given by director Micheal Christopher - who had already directed Angelina Jolie in the award-winning HBO telefilm Gia - Fame and Destruction -, who sins too much in the development of the plot and characters, making the film practically boring. Fully. The characters are poorly worked and presented, giving the impression that the story often jumps in time. The screenplay adaptation tries to romanticize each dialogue, invested in awful dialogue, like "I want to take everything from her and give everything to her." and my favorite "I am a different person with you. Someone more like myself." A dynamic and agitated camera tries to account for the various unexpected events that permeate the plot, but not even the beauty of Angelina Jolie and the charm of Antonio Banderas will be able to make the story grow, which begins vigorously, but loses its intensity as the facts unfold, which happen in an unattractive way. One can easily conclude that the plot had enormous potential, untapped by Christopher. When the very weak and pathetic finale finally arrives, we don't care about the movie anymore. And not even the ravishing beauty of Angelina Jolie arouses us as much interest in what happens on the screen.
The feature that had all the elements to become at least a sensual thriller, goes down to the corniest Mexican drama. Appealing, unlikely and poorly done, not even the much-talked-about nude scenes of the protagonists make up for it. Nothing that "9 ½ Weeks of Love", "Invasion of Privacy" or "Burning Bodies" didn't show and with much more eroticism. The story is predictable and makes you lose interest halfway through the movie. Some scenes are so badly cut that it is possible to think that perhaps the film was extremely cut for the purpose of lowering the rating.
The film's purpose isn't really to tell its story, anyway, but to use it as an engine to put Banderas and Jolie through scenes of eerie melodrama, dramatic ultimatums, and stunning revelations. In fact, none of the characters in "Original Sin" are worthy of our respect. Maybe it's the acting. Antonio Banderas was supposed to be a passionate but doomed lover. He ends up behaving like merely stupid and a teenager. Angelina's character isn't even a true villain; she's just a victimized puppet, a woman who doesn't believe she's lovable. In the end, she believes that she is truly loved, but not much has changed. And Billy.... Ah yes, Billy, our villain. She should clearly represent lust. Unfortunately, he seems totally unreal. His eccentricity is the kind of eccentricity you find in novels. It's a weird sexuality because of the weirdness. But Billy's evil doesn't affect the viewer. We neither hate nor fear him. He makes us laugh because no one like Billie has ever lived on the face of the earth.
The film overflows with sex - marital, weird and others. One guy plants a big kiss on another's mouth. Because? I think because it's there. The movie seems to be saying that love bears everything for the beloved. But there is certainly some discernment in all this giving. Surely those who love should have a conscience... let alone a mind. Certainly passionate love stops at the suicide attempt. Someone should have told Luis that there is a big difference between love and masochism. In the end, the hero loses his nobility and becomes a liar and a cheat. Ah, the transforming power of love!
The film that had all the elements to become at least a sensual thriller, goes down to the corniest Mexican drama. Appealing, unlikely and poorly done, not even the much-talked-about nude scenes of the protagonists make up for it. Nothing that "9 ½ Weeks of Love", "Invasion of Privacy" or "Burning Bodies" didn't show and with much more eroticism. The story is predictable and makes you lose interest halfway through the movie. Some scenes are so badly cut that it is possible to think that perhaps the film was extremely cut for the purpose of lowering the rating.
The film's purpose isn't really to tell its story, anyway, but to use it as an engine to put Banderas and Jolie through scenes of eerie melodrama, dramatic ultimatums, and stunning revelations. In fact, none of the characters in "Original Sin" are worthy of our respect. Maybe it's the acting. Antonio Banderas was supposed to be a passionate but doomed lover. He ends up behaving like merely stupid and a teenager. Angelina's character isn't even a true villain; she's just a victimized puppet, a woman who doesn't believe she's lovable. In the end, she believes that she is truly loved, but not much has changed. And Billy.... Ah yes, Billy, our villain. She should clearly represent lust. Unfortunately, he seems totally unreal. His eccentricity is the kind of eccentricity you find in novels. It's a weird sexuality because of the weirdness. But Billy's evil doesn't affect the viewer. We neither hate nor fear him. He makes us laugh because no one like Billie has ever lived on the face of the earth.
The film overflows with sex - marital, weird and others. One guy plants a big kiss on another's mouth. Because? I think because it's there. The movie seems to be saying that love bears everything for the beloved. But there is certainly some discernment in all this giving. Surely those who love should have a conscience... let alone a mind. Certainly passionate love stops at the suicide attempt. Someone should have told Luis that there is a big difference between love and masochism. In the end, the hero loses his nobility and becomes a liar and a cheat. Ah, the transforming power of love!
Here, we follow an aesthetically refined story about Luis Vargas (Antonio Banderas), a powerful man who owns a coffee exporting company in Cuba. Excited by the idea of leaving an heir in the world to carry on his empire, he orders an American bride, Julia Russell (Angelina Jolie), a woman he meets through an exchange of letters. Vargas does not initially aim for romantic love. He just wants the basics of it, a relationship of exchanges, however, he ends up falling in love and together, they star in scathing eroticism scenes, with a lot of delivery from the duo of actors who, regardless of the dramatic quality of the story, duly fulfills their roles.
The problem is that later on, she disappears with her fortune and in the crusade in search of the crook with a magnetic and sensual look, Vargas is filled with rage and suffers the devil to get his honor back. Mysteries and twists demarcate the narrative that can initially mislead us and present false information about Julia. Or not. You will have to watch to know, dear reader, after all, is there a possibility that the girl is not who she says she is, but someone named Bonny Castle? Does she walk alone on her supposed wandering trajectory or does she have support from a small criminal network? Many are the questions, all answered until the closing credits arrive.
Dragged in some passages, the plot invests in many sudden maneuvers, resources to appear more complex than the plot really is. The directors lacked a drydown in the long sequences of little addition to the general context, but even we were dazzled by the images coming from the beautiful production design of David J. Bomba, manager of Beth A. Rubino's sets, enveloping and exquisite architecture. Signed by the Mexican Rodrigo Prieto (photographer of Amores Brutos), the cinematography of Original Sin is dark, in "dirty" tones, trying to give a "noir" flavor to the narrative.
Perhaps the worst problem with Original Sin is the progress given by director Micheal Christopher - who had already directed Angelina Jolie in the award-winning HBO telefilm Gia - Fame and Destruction -, who sins too much in the development of the plot and characters, making the film practically boring. Fully. The characters are poorly worked and presented, giving the impression that the story often jumps in time. The screenplay adaptation tries to romanticize each dialogue, invested in awful dialogue, like "I want to take everything from her and give everything to her." and my favorite "I am a different person with you. Someone more like myself." A dynamic and agitated camera tries to account for the various unexpected events that permeate the plot, but not even the beauty of Angelina Jolie and the charm of Antonio Banderas will be able to make the story grow, which begins vigorously, but loses its intensity as the facts unfold, which happen in an unattractive way. One can easily conclude that the plot had enormous potential, untapped by Christopher. When the very weak and pathetic finale finally arrives, we don't care about the movie anymore. And not even the ravishing beauty of Angelina Jolie arouses us as much interest in what happens on the screen.
The feature that had all the elements to become at least a sensual thriller, goes down to the corniest Mexican drama. Appealing, unlikely and poorly done, not even the much-talked-about nude scenes of the protagonists make up for it. Nothing that "9 ½ Weeks of Love", "Invasion of Privacy" or "Burning Bodies" didn't show and with much more eroticism. The story is predictable and makes you lose interest halfway through the movie. Some scenes are so badly cut that it is possible to think that perhaps the film was extremely cut for the purpose of lowering the rating.
The film's purpose isn't really to tell its story, anyway, but to use it as an engine to put Banderas and Jolie through scenes of eerie melodrama, dramatic ultimatums, and stunning revelations. In fact, none of the characters in "Original Sin" are worthy of our respect. Maybe it's the acting. Antonio Banderas was supposed to be a passionate but doomed lover. He ends up behaving like merely stupid and a teenager. Angelina's character isn't even a true villain; she's just a victimized puppet, a woman who doesn't believe she's lovable. In the end, she believes that she is truly loved, but not much has changed. And Billy.... Ah yes, Billy, our villain. She should clearly represent lust. Unfortunately, he seems totally unreal. His eccentricity is the kind of eccentricity you find in novels. It's a weird sexuality because of the weirdness. But Billy's evil doesn't affect the viewer. We neither hate nor fear him. He makes us laugh because no one like Billie has ever lived on the face of the earth.
The film overflows with sex - marital, weird and others. One guy plants a big kiss on another's mouth. Because? I think because it's there. The movie seems to be saying that love bears everything for the beloved. But there is certainly some discernment in all this giving. Surely those who love should have a conscience... let alone a mind. Certainly passionate love stops at the suicide attempt. Someone should have told Luis that there is a big difference between love and masochism. In the end, the hero loses his nobility and becomes a liar and a cheat. Ah, the transforming power of love!
The film that had all the elements to become at least a sensual thriller, goes down to the corniest Mexican drama. Appealing, unlikely and poorly done, not even the much-talked-about nude scenes of the protagonists make up for it. Nothing that "9 ½ Weeks of Love", "Invasion of Privacy" or "Burning Bodies" didn't show and with much more eroticism. The story is predictable and makes you lose interest halfway through the movie. Some scenes are so badly cut that it is possible to think that perhaps the film was extremely cut for the purpose of lowering the rating.
The film's purpose isn't really to tell its story, anyway, but to use it as an engine to put Banderas and Jolie through scenes of eerie melodrama, dramatic ultimatums, and stunning revelations. In fact, none of the characters in "Original Sin" are worthy of our respect. Maybe it's the acting. Antonio Banderas was supposed to be a passionate but doomed lover. He ends up behaving like merely stupid and a teenager. Angelina's character isn't even a true villain; she's just a victimized puppet, a woman who doesn't believe she's lovable. In the end, she believes that she is truly loved, but not much has changed. And Billy.... Ah yes, Billy, our villain. She should clearly represent lust. Unfortunately, he seems totally unreal. His eccentricity is the kind of eccentricity you find in novels. It's a weird sexuality because of the weirdness. But Billy's evil doesn't affect the viewer. We neither hate nor fear him. He makes us laugh because no one like Billie has ever lived on the face of the earth.
The film overflows with sex - marital, weird and others. One guy plants a big kiss on another's mouth. Because? I think because it's there. The movie seems to be saying that love bears everything for the beloved. But there is certainly some discernment in all this giving. Surely those who love should have a conscience... let alone a mind. Certainly passionate love stops at the suicide attempt. Someone should have told Luis that there is a big difference between love and masochism. In the end, the hero loses his nobility and becomes a liar and a cheat. Ah, the transforming power of love!