This is something that I wanted to see for a long time and to my biggest regret, local cinemas just breezed it trough their programmes, without giving me chance to actually enjoy it on the big screen. I am also aware that there is a much older, 1947 black & white version available on youtube (with than current heartthrob Tyrone Power in a main role, going against the typecast) that I definitely must check out. But mainly, this is all-star cast and director is brilliant Guillermo del Toro whose "Pan's Labyrinth" is one of my all-time favourite movies so I really, really, really wanted to see this and was even ready to go to cinema by myself if no one wanted to keep me company. It surfaced online, Disney or one of those platforms, messed up my brain the whole evening, it was fantastic.
Not sure how much it differs from the original black & white version - somebody supremely gifted as del Toro has probably twisted it all around and gave it his own signature - but in this 2021. version, we follow a mysterious stranger Stanton Carlisle (Bradley Cooper) who is on the run from something and by chance he ends up finding a temporary job in a travelling carnival show with freaks, clairvoyants and sideshow attractions. Where he befriends the owner (Willem Dafoe) and seduces clairvoyant (Toni Collette) but his heart is taken by fellow performer Molly (Rooney Mara). Almost everybody here - except Molly - is some kind of freak and they all cheat, steal and lie - there is a specially gruesome scene where Dafoe explains him how he drugs lonely homeless alcoholics and keep them imprisoned in his freak show. With time Stan learns the tricks of the trade and becomes very successful as a mind reading medium - but its all a lie, since this is a technique that depends on coded messages and body language.
This is only first part of the movie. In the second part we have ice queen Cate Blanchett as a psychologist Dr. Lilith Ritter who lives in some sort of crazy Metropolis-type buildings and plays a game of cat & mouse with Stan. It really gets very convoluted and difficult to follow - movie just goes on and on - maybe even better that I did not watch it in the cinema, after all. If anything, it feels almost like too much of a good thing - apparently the filming was stopped during lockdowns and director had time to fiddle around with it, but I had impression that it was almost overcooked. Like he had too much time on his hands and did not know when to stop adding more and more ingredients. So finally when the darn thing ended (after almost two very long hours) I sighed with a relief. I was constantly telling my companion that I don't get it and where is this movie going. But in retrospective I loved it and should probably watch it again. And definitely must see old black & white version.
What I personally find very interesting and fascinating in the movie is how we learn that these are all tricks and cheats but on several occasions there are moments where everybody (from Stan to Dr.Ritter) almost believes this is a real thing and its heartbreaking for both them and us as a audience to witness the disillusion and disappointment in their eyes, once they realise it was all just a trick.
