Three (2010)

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

I watched it with English sub-titles some of which were badly worded. I really liked the movie as it built slowly to a (pardon the pun) climax. You get to watch the three of them go about their lives and join in a train wreck. Some clever filming at the art exhibition which I liked. Some interesting thoughts on life and death. Some interesting hints from Simon that he is bi before he gets with Adam. I wondered how the would get to the end however they managed it quite nicely.A lovely unusual story of love and loss and reconciliation. If you like a soppy love story give it a go - you do need to get through the rather arty start and a couple of arty scenes in the middle - skip past them or persevere - I did both the first set of subtitles got out of sync and I had to find another and watch the beginning a second time.

Simon and Hanna have been together for twenty years, they've established the easy peace-that-follows-passion so common in relationships of a certain age. Simon and Hanna are happy. Not the fake-going-through-the- motions happy, but pretty content if not a little rut induced angsty. One day, while participating in a medical ethics symposium, Hanna meets genetic engineer, Adam, with whom she openly spars. She meets him again that night after she is stood-up by Simon at the theater. Meanwhile, Simon is distracted by those of his mother and his own health issues. For a third time, Hanna bumps into Adam, this time on a soccer pitch. They spend the day together drinking, seeing a soccer game, getting to know each other while Simon is being told by his doctor that he must be admitted to the hospital for immediate surgery. He is worried because he can't reach Hanna. While he is having surgery, she is beginning an affair. Hanna is there when he wakes-up and there while he is recovering. Simon is affected a lot by the surgery. I won't say what sort of surgery he had, but it can be quite affecting. Oh, the scene depicting the surgery is brief but pretty graphic. You've been warned. Simon is out one night at the local covered pool where he has an intimate, very intimate encounter with... Wait for it... Adam! Simon is confused, a bit startled and probably mostly curious. The three of them begin these affairs, cultivating new ideas about their sexual selves. Hanna and Simon also rediscover their sexual selves together. And that's just the first half of the film. You know from the set-up that there will come a reckoning, that the party won't last. When that moment comes, the three leads play it beautifully: the sudden sparks of recognition and piecing it all together are priceless. Where the film fails is in the editing. Shakespeare said it best, "brevity is the soul of wit." Some of the exposition could have been left on the cutting room floor. Surely any audience going to see this film could suss out the narrative. The use of the number 3 as part of the narrative falls a bit flat. Given the apparent love triangle, 3 would seem sufficient to reference just that. Where Tykwer works real magic is in his ability to make his actors go all-in. There is no trepidation or fear of laying it all bare before the camera. If you are a fan of the work of Whit Stillman, Wes Anderson or Noah Baumbach, you'll like "3." It's quite good.

.....strangely philosophical and sometimes wondrous take on the Lives & Loves of men and women in today's world. BUT, hold on a sec...hasn't the behavior being shown to us likely EVER been so....even in humankind's earliest days, in the dark protectiveness of caves? ....Well, whether that is the case or not--right now--today, a most perceptive Director of Film (Tom Tykwer) is giving us a stripped bare view into the lives of 2 Men and 1 Woman....the "3" making up this proverbial TRIANGLE. So, Dear Viewer, you need only sit back...relax...then watch and see: ....Their discovery, first, of love with one another---then, finally, their reaching a loving-union of the "3".I cannot tell you that the Male-Female Hook-up (can we call it "illicit") being shown us is any differently played out than in 100s of movie stories which have come before. BUT...on the other hand, and strikingly so...it is in the Male / Male "Connection" where you will find the Difference in this film. For in a mainstream production such as this, rarely will you ever see shown Physically Realistic (and Tender) lovemaking between 2 men....presented in such a forthright manner. Devid Striesow ("Adam") and Sebastian Schipper ("Simon") absolutely "ZING" in their scenes together. The word, Hot, does not describe it; though if written as HOT, perhaps it begins to do so. (WORD OF ADVICE: Director Tykwer's use of "split screen" techniques throughout, sometimes showing 4 to 6 activities occurring in one scene/shot, makes some of the "HOT actions" a bit difficult to follow and fully enjoy. Better you watch on video....rather than in the theater.)As to this movie's performers and their abilities, these "3" actors are highly competent and experienced (extensive film histories)....though perhaps not at the level of paparazzi-pursued, top tier German celebs. YET, what they truly give to us is BELIEVABILITY....bringing viewers to the point of SUDDENLY realizing their characters' origin: ....Perhaps from Earth's First Garden---but here, in our world today, we are being given a "Hanna"....a "Simon"....and, most especially, "The Enticer". So, this Enticer; what can be said about him? Well, maybe just this, Reader Mine: ....When your self-image is at its lowest...and your need to be desired is at its highest.....just stop and look around you. HE's out there, close by....waiting, waiting to enfold you in Tenderness and Excitement. Waiting to make the rest of your life its Happiest.I'll say Goodbye to you now...upon leaving this Garden of "3". And concede that this story may contain instances of over-dramatized familial and midlife crises---not to mention startling images of a male medical procedure. Nevertheless, this is a work which I will be re-watching on a somewhat regular basis---concentrating on the Male / Male action, of course. (Uh..oh).PS: For those interested, see the excellent Devid Striesow in the very good and "gay-tinged" 2004 film production: "BEFORE THE FALL". That is, IF you can find it available as a rental; used DVD copies are going for a high price. Oh, and for something very "different"...but very well done (in a "straight" love story mode), try Tykwer's 2002 "HEAVEN" (Cate Blanchett). You, likely, will not be sorry.****

Tom Tykwer has come of age as a director with this film, and has dropped his sparkling visual flair in favor of straightforward yet sophisticated storytelling. His camera and editing are spot-on yet smart, as he carefully weaves a layered tale of two lost adults who rediscover and remake themselves through their relationship with another man.His nuanced trio of characters deliberately play against gender types: Simon, the husband, is passive, quiet, artistic, and metaphorically female; Hanna, the wife, is assertive, successful, opinionated, and symbolically male; Adam, their paramour, a fertilization specialist who "brings life" to their dull routine, has both male and female sides.The way their lives intertwine is both surprising and entertaining, and Tykwer not only explores their raw cores of emotional and physical need, but deftly and expertly exposes the humor in Hanna and Simon's awkward fumbling for new purpose.What Woody Allen does for New York, Tykwer does for Berlin, showcasing the city as a vibrant center of art, culture, and yes, sexuality, filled with creative inhabitants who have gone there to remake themselves.His intermittent visual collages of the character's lives inject new vitality to the stale montages we've all seen a million times; it's not that the screen has never been subdivided this way before, but that Tykwer's method of visual construction is meticulous and succinct -- like every frame of this film.The result is an engaging, truthful, and non-traditional romance that leaves you feeling hopeful that love can tear down our seemingly permanent walls; yet another reason to set it in Berlin!Highly recommended.