Michael Neumann A mysterious intruder arrives in a Buenos Aires insane asylum, ostensibly just another madman who claims, with unnerving sincerity, to be a holographic image projected from another planet. His mission (so he says) is to study the superweapon with which mankind threatens the cosmos: not The Bomb, but simple human stupidity. It might sound familiar, but don't mistake this modern Passion Play with science fiction. The film instead presents an intriguing philosophical dialogue between the 'madness' of the title character and the troubled sanity of Dr. Denis, a lost soul himself after serving too long the needs of the mentally ill. If there's a fault to the scenario it would have to be the lack of ambiguity about the stranger: Dr. Denis remains skeptical, but the audience is never in doubt of his otherworldly origins. A little ambivalence might have added some dimension to the sanity/insanity debate. The uneasy mood of the film was achieved by shooting it (in subdued shades of color) within an actual mental institution.

Rita Yes it does.My first thought was that if they meant to picture a financially struggling institution, they did a perfect job: it looked so real with its dirty, cracked walls, plain furniture and doors in dire need of painting that it brought up my childhood memories about the hospital I've been in in the eighties.I watched this movie in Spanish with no subtitles, so I don't know the dialogues, but they must be well good if they are half as good as the nonverbal parts, and there were so many great scenes with no words. My favourite one is when Rantes slides the plates in front of that poor hungry family (and you could see the mother really put her children first, they all looked better then herself), and his eye-communication was the icing on the cake.Or when he walked past the security guard when he slipped out of the institute at night – he timed it so perfectly that he could be confident enough not even to need to rush much, and I liked the music in the scene as well.I was very impressed with the acting throughout – of course Julio was bored and Rantes was unemotional for a reason. All the more uplifting the moment of Rantes and Beatriz starting to dance to the Ode of Joy was (and another music I like).The boarding of the patients was outrageous – I can only hope it wasn't based on reality. Judging from their appearance, patients of various severity of disorders seemed to be dumped together, possibly having a bad effect on one another, their clothing was insufficient, they were fed from dogs' bowls, instead of the staff it was Rantes who noticed when they were cold, needed attention or more to eat, and he was all right exactly to the point until his treatment started. The procedure of turning this bright, well-meaning person into a mental and physical wreck was very well pictured and heartbreaking to watch.One consolation for the similarities between the K-PAX movie (which, unfortunately, had parts added or altered from the book it was based on to make it similar to MFS, but its atmosphere is still different enough – especially regarding the state of the hospital and the way patients were treated – that it is worth watching) and this one is that it's good advertising for it. I only heard about, bought and watched MFS because it was mentioned in the K-PAX reviews, which is a real shame because it's better than the K-PAX movie (I gave it six stars in my review), and as good as the novel.The scenes with the coffin and the brain are much slagged off as unnecessary but I think they couldn't have been better calculated. Handling of the bodies and the brain only turns rough after we learn Rantes is to get "medication", and so the scenes give us an idea how he would end up – just after he washes the brain down the drain come the injections and wash all the thoughts out of his brain.But I think the disfigured faces suddenly popping up much earlier, after the scene of Rantes and Julio talking outside walking down stairs were completely unnecessary. The only part I hated – minus 1 star for including this regurgitated, cheap crappy horror-movie scare tactic trick in this great movie.

bodomo Those who complain about this movie being "depressing" and full of unanswered questions miss the point. An intelligent viewer must look beneath the surface; there's a clever story and a set of plot twists that await whomever is willing to make the minimum effort required to do that.The movie keeps the viewer's interest by using a series of cinematic devices and by raising questions. The important ones get answered all right, while some unimportant ones are left open. Subiela himself admitted later that there is no real reason for Beatriz's changes of shoes, or for the blue liquid coming out of her mouth. But the central theme remains that of a man that approaches sainthood (note the numerous parallels with the story of Christ) by just doing what is logical---not out of any belief from a contrived moral system.

mjlaskay For me this is one of the most beautiful and powerful movies of all times; not only because it brings awareness in our hearts but also it is a movie that speaks for love, courage, understanding and forgiveness....it is a true gift for all.In fact my husband, Jason Laskay, loved this film so much when he saw it back in 1985, that he persuaded and purchased the English language re-make rights and has written a beautiful adaptation for the American and foreign market place. If anyone reading this will like to support this venture, please send us an e-mail.I recommend this film 100%, and definitly suggest watching the original version in Spanish with subtitles. FORGET THE ENGLISH OVER-DUBBED VERSION!Sincerely,Monica Laskay