A Few Days In September

It always makes me kind of sad when I see an intriguing movie and discover later that a lot of folks just didn't get it and then totally slam it. You know what that means? Of course you do. It means that a lot of people who actually would love it, will totally miss out on a gem because they listened to someone who couldn't wrap their minds around new concepts. (Sigh)

I said all of that, because over the hectic weekend I managed to squeeze in a foreign movie called A Few Days in September, directed by French-Argentinean director Santiago Amigorena.

It's dubbed an international thriller, where a secret agent (Juliette Binoche) tries to unite two step-siblings (Sara Forestier and Tom Riley) with their fugitive father (Nick Nolte) a former CIA operative, but run into trouble when the father's ex-partner (John Turturro) stalks the agent and syblings to get to the father to permenately terminate their ties. No one has seen the father in years, which makes him all the more enigmatic. This is the first time the daughter and step-son meet (both grown but still referred to as children). And while the agent, daughter and step-son are trying to shake the psychotic hitman, an uncomfortable tension grows between the half-syblings as they flee to Venice to finally see Daddy again and get the answers they need because everyone seems to be looking for him.

The movie is pretty artsy and quirky to be so political. It clearly has a message, rather overt which can be a little annoying but you can't take it personal. There are a few scenes that seem to be without a point, but maybe I just missed it. However despite some of the hiccups, it is telling the audience something that is bigger than this movie and bigger than than the microcosmic lives of people all over the globe. Of course most people will probably dismiss it as just being part of the writer's imagination. There is one line in the movie that alludes to the point, and it happens when the step-son asks the agent what his step-father REALLY did for a living. The daughter interrupts by telling him that her father negotiates for those on the opposite path of diplomacy. He doesn't get it, so she explains. Diplomacy is a policy to create peace, and the opposite would be a policy to create war.

Please check out this movie for yourself, and ignore the reviews.