There's more to this controversial and aesthetically cold film than just its explicit sex scenes. Honest.
Comment
04/01/06
Battle in Heaven (2006)
43 %
Reviews Counted: 53 Fresh: 23 Rotten:30 Average Rating: 5.1/10
Consensus:
Though it tries to be provocative, Battle in Heaven is lethargic and mind-numbing.
Rated: 18
Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins
Theatrical Release: 28-10-2005
Synopsis: Cast entirely with non-professionals, Battle in Heaven tells the story of Marcos (Marcos Hernandez), the middle-aged chauffeur of Ana (Anapola Mushkadiz), daughter of a Mexican general. Marcos is the only member of Ana's household who knows she leads a double life. Although a child of... [More]
Genre: Foreign Films
Starring: Marcos Hernandez, Anapola Mushkadiz, Bertha Ruiz
Director: Carlos Reygadas
Screenwriter: Carlos Reygadas
Producer: Philippe Bober, Susanne Marian, Carlos Reygadas, Jaime Romandia
Screenwriter: Carlos Reygadas
Producer: Philippe Bober, Susanne Marian, Carlos Reygadas, Jaime Romandia
Reviews
Top CriticClick to read the article
02/09/06
Top Critic
Inventive throughout, Reygadas' imagery becomes breathtaking in the closing scenes of religious pilgrimage, where Marco's existential crisis is brought to a harrowing head.
12/24/05
Top Critic
Battle In Heaven suffers from an infuriatingly slow pace and a certain air of impenetrable arthouse movie but it's worth persevering with for some striking imagery and some genuinely shocking scenes.
12/24/05
To follow up Japón, Reygadas goes even further into Mexican metaphysics ... but he loses us in the process.
08/26/05
No amount of thoughtful dissection can make up for the unpleasant, uncomfortable and unnecessary experience of actually sitting through the thing.
09/17/07
rich in allegorical theme and symbolic imagery, transforming the most banal of materials into miraculous epiphanies... but all too aimlessly hypnotic to get a firm grip on the viewer's attention.
07/02/07
The outcome often amounts to an impressive slideshow instead of a fluid, substantial piece of work that involves and challenges us.
03/01/07
Click to read the article
11/11/06
Reygadas proves that rare filmmaker interested in tackling both the personal and the political through expressly confrontational means.
08/24/06
Reygadas' direction seems to wander from time to time, as when Marcos walks around in the hills for long minutes without a purpose, but he always brings it back home. He's a perplexing, but voraciously talented filmmaker to watch.
07/08/06
Click to read the article
05/13/06
Top Critic
Reygadas' artful but ponderous camerawork succeeds only in turning the intimately exploitative ... into something emotionally distant and stupefyingly dull.
05/12/06
he film’s pallid emotional tone, which is in sync with the constancy of the dull gray sky overhead, can make it a hard story to embrace.
05/06/06
There is a stillness to the film that is initially fascinating, but it wears thin quickly.
04/14/06
The only battle I had was deciding whether to watch the whole movie or get out while the getting was good. Unfortunately, I opted to stay to see if it got better... it didn't.
04/05/06
A spectacular failure, despite further evidence of the director's keen eye and bold cinematic ideas.
03/31/06
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