directed
by Sally Potter
United Kingdom 2004
Conceived in the days following September 11, Potter wrote
”Yes!” in response to the, in her words, rapid demonization of the Arabic
world in the West; a West, who was more occupied in perceiving Arabs as a
symbol, rather than understanding them as human beings.
Rather than creating direct politic metaphors, Potter sets up contrasts of
existence, making her characters abstractions, simply naming her protagonists
He and She, noting upon the universitality of her ideas.
She, played by Joan Allen, is a microbiologist, who spends her life creating
logic and scientific definitions of what life is and when human life actually
begins, against emotional, ideological and theosophical arguments.
Her world is sterile. Her workplace is clinically sterile, white and clean.
Her home is impeccable cleaned, white and sterile. Her marriage is without
emotions, as she and her husband, a disillusioned politician, played by Sam
Neill, do little but avoiding each other.
It all changes, when she meets He, played by Simon Abkarian, a Lebanese
surgeon, who fled his country and now works as a cook / waiter. His world is
colourful, full of emotions.
Her most daring work ever, with dialogue written entirely in blank verse, one
is tempted to view “Yes!” as almost Shakespearian. It even has a narrator,
opening the scene and closing it. Here in the role of a cleaning woman, who
points out, that cleaning is an illusion; You cannot ever clean anything, only
giving it the illusion of being clean, talking about mites, microbes and
viruses.
This metaphor is important, as it suggests, that we tolerate a certain level
of ignorance, in order to live our lives. If people knew how many millions of
mites exists in fabrics, they would never touch it again, says the narrator,
that, and that they live of what is dead to us.
The same level of ignorance is dominant in the life of She, both in her
marriage, and in her work. If she can find a scientific reason to base a
decision on, she can ignore other arguments. The same can be said about her
husband, just with political instead of scientifically. This also is true for
the romance between He and She. As long as they have bliss, they ignore
everything else; most directly noted by She deciding not to answer a phone
call from her daughter, as she wants to be with He.
As a moral tale, the illusion of happiness breaks, when He realises, that he
is perceived as a symbol of evil, which hurts him so much, that he has to hurt
Her. Potter then sets up her third act, allowing She and He to come to terms
with her past and her feelings.
Facing death, in form of her dying aunt, She realises, that one only has this
life and one has to live it here and now. One has to stop ignoring and see
things as they really are. One has to stop making arguments to say no, when
yes in the end is the only word to say; here said by the narrator at the end
in her soliloquy:
There's no such thing as nothing, not at all.
It may be really very, very small.
But it's still there. In fact I think I'd guess.
That "no" does not exist. There's only "yes."
More than just having a distinct Shakespearian quality to her verse dialogue,
"Yes!" also alludes Ibsen. Just as Ibsen challenged the idea of the theatre of
his time, that plays had to have a morally appropriate conclusion, so does
Potter challenge our point of view of ethnicity. Just as Ibsen shattered the
illusions of his audiences, so does Potter of her protagonists. One may even
go so far as to say, that just like Nora left her life behind as her illusions
were shattered, so does She.
An extraordinary work of beauty and poetry, “Yes!” is Potters most
accomplished and best film to date. One never feels as if the actors are
acting, even when speaking in verse. Potters sets her scene with so much
tenderness and precision, that everything comes together into great art, both
cinematic and literary.
More than that, Potter takes full advantages of this being cinema, creating
contexts by having the protagonists thoughts be spoken out at the same time as
they speak their lines, showing the differences between what one says. This
simple devices is used to full effect in the break-up scene, where the
thoughts of She for the first time is equal to what she says.
Perhaps a naïve romantic, Potter has still created a work of pure poetic
bliss. Her mise-en-scene is breathtaking, her words melt in the mouths of her
actors, and goes straight to the heart. She allows both her actors and her
audience to feel her mind and to think with their hearts.
Poster
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Theatrical Release: September 4, 2004 (Telluride Film Festival)
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
DVD Review: Optimum - Region 2 - PAL
Big thanks to Henrik Sylow for the Review!
| DVD Box Cover |
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CLICK to order from:
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| Distribution |
Optimum Region 2 - PAL |
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| Runtime | 1:35:51 (4% PAL speedup) | |
| Video |
1.78:1 Aspect Ratio
16X9 enhanced |
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NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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| Audio | 2.0 Dolby Digital English, 5.1 Dolby Digital English | |
| Subtitles | No subtitles | |
| Features |
Release Information: Studio: Optimum Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details: Chapters 17 |
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| Comments | A flawless
presentation. Not even when zooming in does any compression artifacts
appear. Details are strong, color scheme is strong. Sound comes as 2.0 Dolby Digital and 5.1 Dolby Digital, and the latter is preferable, as it allows the score space. The featurette "Finding Scene 54" is of great quality, showing with what care and time, Potter creates an important scene. |
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CLICK to order from:
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| Distribution |
Optimum Region 2 - PAL |
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Mail cheques, money orders, cash to: or CLICK PayPal logo to donate!
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Gary Tooze
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Thank You!
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