Sometimes it’s hard to judge a film by audience reaction, but from the amount of people who waited for the very last film credit I’d say this movie went down well. Director Mike Figgis (who brought us the cheerful, sorry, tearful “Leaving Las Vegas”) breaks new ground with this concept whereby the screen is broken up into four parts, each quarter displaying a unique camera angle and all views filmed simultaneously in real time.

The trailer poses the question “would you like to know where your partner goes when they leave your side” and I had assumed this referred to the fact that they would then be picked up by another of the four cameras in this film and we (the audience) would see for ourselves. Actually it has a double meaning because one of the characters in the film manages to find out what her partner is doing when they are apart, but not with the aid of our multiple viewpoints.

[SPOILER]

Jeanne Tripplehorn places a small microphone on her suspected cheating lover Salma Hayek, and her worst fears are confirmed when she hears her girlfriend having an affair with a film producer called Alex. Just to give you an example of what is on-screen at any one time - we have (1) Tripplehorn’s shocked reaction as she listens to (2) Hayek and the “Alex” character making love behind a film screen, (3) a group of movie executives previewing a film on the same screen but oblivious to what’s going on behind it, and (4) Alex’s wife (Saffron Burrows) who is wandering around aimlessly after telling her husband she is leaving him. The audio fades in and out so that you aren’t overwhelmed, usually one but no more than two views are made audible at any one time.

The film _was_ made in one continuous shoot at 3 PM on 19-11-1999, and this makes the film surprisingly easy to follow as no Pulp Fiction chronological brain adjustments are required but we still get the four (or more) separate stories. Glenne Headley, Holly Hunter and Kyle MacLachlan also star in supporting roles. I’m not sure how well this film will transfer to the small screen (if at all), perhaps if they release it on four separate video tapes or discs it could then be watched on four TV screens!

Watch out for the earthquake tremor scenes as they are very well choreographed, I did think I saw an extra hand keeping a door open for a cameraman at one point when Hayek entered the bathroom - with so much going on it’s the kind of film you could go see again and again.

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