FAR SIDE OF THE MOON DVD REVIEW

Writer director actor Robert Lepage was entirely unknown to me when I saw Far Side of the Moon but I have since found out that he is a renowned multi disciplinary creative force having written and helmed Peter Gabriel’s historic Secret World Tour, Cirque Du Soliel’s Ka and this film, which has won numerous awards and universal critical acclaim. Though often referred to as an artist of the Avante Garde it’s harder to imagine a more accessible body of work. Even if one doesn’t always understand his stuff at first (count me in this group) it evokes such wonder that the sense of spiritual uplift is inevitable. His only quote in the IMDB is “Truth is Bliss.” And I indeed sense that I have been in touch with just that after viewing and reviewing Far Side of the Moon.

Lepage plays estranged twin brothers brought together again by the death of their mother. One, a gay TV weatherman, and the other, a disillusioned angst ridden Doctoral candidate in search of a unified theory for why people suffer, have very different approaches to their life but as one begins to gradually realize they are both trapped within their own egos. One is a successful professional, one barely employed as a telemarketer. Lepage’s film uses much lunar/space travel imagery and his metaphor is pretty clear, having to do with the effect of gravity (or tragedy) on the human soul. But rather than simply noodle through scenes involving characters emoting at one another Lepage actively makes use of the environments they are in to mirror their emotional state. It’s visually stunning and winsomely moving suggesting our struggle for meaning is lighter than air while stopping short of labeling that struggle absurd. You get a visual effects featurette and trailer. In French with English subtitles.