If the idea of a “Wedding Crasher” sounds like a blast… what if two people upped the thrill by being
“funeral crashers?”
Young Enoch (Henry Hopper) runs into Annabel (Mia Wasikowska) at one too many memorial services, and it’s instantly love at first sight. The two not only dress the same black garb part but even go so far as to practice the lingo “I’m sorry for your loss”
or “Our prayers are with you.” But there’s more to these macabre seeking lovers as their individual stories unfold and we learn of their own tragedies. It’s then that we realize, the film is about two odd ball teens who find love during a time when the rest of their families can’t cope with tragedy… during a time when love should be enforcing limits but these two hearts know none.
Prior to the lovely Annabel, Enoch’s only friend was a ghost, Hiroshi (Ryo Kase) who died as a Kamikaze fighter pilot. Prior to Enoch, Annabel’s only friends were the hospital nurses and her imaginary love affair with Charles Darwin, and that of small birds of flight. Actress Mia Wasikowska is a delicate sparrow herself, reminiscent of a young Mia Farrow.
Together the two learn to surface their harbored resentment, digest their loss and denial, tie up their lose ends, with a curious zest for life – over the three months they’ll be together – then any of us could experience in a lifetime. A happy-go-lucky film about a young couple whose lives are purposely surrounded by death, but somehow leave us feeling light, playful and somewhat guilty. Maybe it’s the detail to toys – a Kaleidoscope, a Slinky, the board game Operation or Battleship that make it light, maybe it’s their rock-solid performances, or maybe it’s really good direction. One would suppose every director has a film like this in him, and that seems to be the case for Gus Van Sant, most famous for his two Oscar nominated films Good Will Hunting and Milk, starring Sean Penn. Three and a half tiaras