Perfect Sense (2011) [Blu-ray]
Drama | Romance | Sci-Fi

Susan (Eva Green, Cracks, Casino Royale) is a scientist whose research has caused her to neglect virtually everything else in her life, including love. That is until she meets Michael (Ewan McGregor, The Ghost Writer, Angels & Demons), a talented chef, and suddenly everything starts to change - not just in Susan's life, but in the entire world. While Susan and Michael are experiencing new and unforeseen depths of feeling, all around the globe a new epidemic is causing people to lose their sensory perceptions. Are Susan and Michael's increasingly intense feelings for each other in spite of the epidemic, or because of it?

A life-affirming look at what it means to love and be loved in turbulent times, director David Mackenzie's Perfect Sense is equal parts touching romance and chilling thriller.

User Comment: Stephen from United States, 26 January 2011 • When I read the synopsis for _Perfect Sense_, I was expecting an apocalyptic romance. I was wrong. Such a description is too neat. This is more than escapist entertainment. It is an experience to be savored.

Its story is deceptively simple. It weaves a richer fabric than any casual touch will detect. Those who think its central device capricious (the disease and its development) give themselves too much credit for discerning the logic of their own lives. An illness may seem to follow no obvious or satisfying plot, but who can say whether any "misfortune" fails to follow a narrative too subtle for the prejudice of those who feel injured by it? Those who require every story to have a tidy, forensic resolution, with an indictable perpetrator for every ordeal, on whom they can unleash their outrage in order to achieve "closure," are the victims of their own narrow interpretation. Most pain is not conspiracy. The shared affliction of this story is poetic metaphor; however, like most good art, this film is about its characters, not its literary devices.

The cast's performances are not only authentic, they are illuminating; particularly Ewan McGregor's and Eva Green's central couple. Were they mere victims, their story would be hopeless tragedy. Instead, theirs is the account of an ordinary and vulnerable man and woman with extraordinary resilience, who attack, then embrace each other, stumbling over their circumstances as they learn to transcend them.

**A Brief Response to ArizWldcat's One-star Review**

If those at the premiere who asked questions after the screening (during the Q&A) are a representative sample of the audience, few of Mr. Mackenzie's viewers got the "point" of his film. One person asked the director what message or meaning he hoped we, his audience, would take from his film. He looked nonplussed at this question. He responded that the viewer had to answer that for himself.

It seems that Mr./Ms. ArizWldcat was one of those who expected this film to be easily categorized and to reaffirm a specific, pre-determined view of the world, such as a feel-good romance or a psychological thriller. The guy gets the girl and they save the world in the process, all portrayed through a predictably formulaic sequence of events. Everyone lives happily ever after. By those prerequisites, we would also be forced to give _Hamlet_ or _Citizen Kane_ one out of ten stars.

_Perfect Sense_ is a film whose "point" is not to make its audience comfortable or to provide the adrenaline buzz of a "thriller." Its purpose is to portray authentic human experience in an impossible situation. It did so admirably. It is one of the most hopeful films I have ever seen.

Summary: Richer Fabric.

User Comment: Evangelia Synodinou from Greece, 30 December 2011 • I wouldn't want to say a lot about the story. Perfect Sense is a film you have to see, taste, smell, listen. It's not a Contagion - like movie, it's not a zombie one either, but it could definitely be a post - apocalyptic reality check.

We could, but we wouldn't want to imagine something like that happening, yet again "what if". How strong is the human heart and mind and how could we adapt in such a massive change? This film might suggest a hint.

Ewan McGregor plays a chef that somehow gets involved with Eva Green, a scientist. Then, all that matters is how these two characters cope with an epidemic that bursts, depriving people their senses.

I found this film quite enlightening, the performances intense, the music appropriate and, last but not least, the photography/ filming magnificent. Great work from the director David Mackenzie. The end was mind blowing, for me.

Keep an open mind, look at the big picture and it'll be worth your time.

Summary: Strong film.

User Comment: tharun mohan from United Kingdom, 27 September 2011 • I don't know where to start, but it was quite an eye opener, since civilization began there are certain things that we take for granted, The basic things like our senses you will only realise it when you lose them.... as they say "Perhaps only in a world of the blind will things be what they truly are".. To understand the true beauty of life, you need to know what being alive is all about. After watching the movie I felt that it answered some of my questions... I think everyone should watch this movie... you might find it a bit slow phased but believe me it's a ride worth going for.... Ewan McGregor has done a marvellous job and so did Eva Green, the direction is flawless and it moves like poetry. Please watch this movie....

Summary: Quite an Eye opener.

[CSW] -1.1- I suppose this non-Sci-fi film hoped to show that love conquers all… well they didn't make a believer out of me. I found that the sex scenes didn't add to the storyline whatsoever. The story line is closer to the fact of people getting old because with old age more and more of your senses are diminished. In this case the senses were completely cut off with the seeming assumption that the sense of touch was never lost. The only reason this film rates any points at all is because it fully held my expectation that the problems could somehow be resolved or at least addressed and all the way up to the end I was expecting that insight but in the end as the senses died so did this film.
[V-A] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box.

º º