A hotel concierge and a hotel guest share a love affair. Early on he takes her to a house with large signage atop the building that reads 'Dreams', she enters... this I believe is symbolic and holds hidden importance, beginning a quirky, unsettling, surreal feeling take on young romance between an easy going man who is just looking for companionship, and a somewhat disturbed woman who has a neurological dysfunction relating to distinguishing between music. Her musical dysfunction has been an ever-present weight throughout her life, and musical expression an important influence on his.
This is an exceedingly good looking, well shot film - which will always win points with me. Good performances - the romance was believable and not at all Hollywood, I felt with and for them. The main strength was how it was so confidently made to be tonally free from constraint. There were moments that had a surreal, almost experimental feel (helped by the sets and sound design). Between this aspect and certain shots that use interesting background symmetry and a lively, intoxicating colour scheme at points, it felt like work of an amalgamation of David Lynch meets Wes Anderson.
I thought there was an awful lot to like about this, the overall feel and the beautiful imagery especially are now burnt into my memory. The genre of a story of young lovers told in a remarkable way must resonate with me as there are a handful of them that I really rate or love; Badlands, Natural Born Killers, Wild at Heart and one of my all time favourites Portrait of Jennie. I liked Amusia so much that it isn't entirely out of its depth on this impressive list.
4.5 out of 5
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