Armand precise, minimalist, strange. almost a form of poem. maybe a visual haiku, story of a trip, a meeting and solitude. a circle. impressive images. memories from Bergman. and dust taste. a portrait. or only testimony. a search and its terminus point. a parable. or only fragments from a house and a garden. the mixing of algae remains for me the central image. a gesture like a prey. or only need to save essence of search. because, the actors , in this case, are shadows of places. and sign of subtle desire to be part of them. sure, after film end, a lot of hypothesis bloom. but it remains only the taste of honey and ash. and a white package. like last gift.

Meg G Nothing Personal is a film I've been interested for sometime in seeing but held back for two reasons: firstly, my experience up to this point with the principle actors, Verbeek and Rhea, has been one-dimensional. I had only seen Rhea in Neil Jordan's (a man whose repeated films containing Rhea makes me think of an Irish Burton-Depp relationship) Interview with The Vampire which made me have no opinion at all in reference to his acting capabilities. On the other hand, Ms. Verbeek I had only seen as the beautiful and resourceful Giulia Farnese in Neil Jordan's The Borgia s. However, this film gave me confidence in the opinion that both Verbeek and Rhea are fine artists in their own right and can handle the emotions (sometimes strange and erratic)that Nothing Personal offers. The second reason was that I thought, after reading about the writer and director, this film might be a little TOO European for my liking. As it turned out, Nothing Personal was an oddly interesting debut of Antoniak's talent as a director--the sweeping views that the audience was graced with of the Irish countryside were breathtaking as was the quaint home of Rhea's character, Martin. Admittedly, there were aspects of this film that didn't quite read: the sparse dialogue worked in some instances but on a whole didn't quite help me figure out exactly where these two characters, who were on the surface quite interesting, where they came from. Unfourtunetley, there were long spaces of screen time where, in the midst of Verbeek's character packing up her tent or struggling up the hills of Ireland's coastal region, I almost fell asleep. In fact, it was because of this plot-less venturing that led me to give up on this movie the first time I watched it. However, some positive points to this film was that the acting was subtly beautiful: both Verbeek and Rhea had this wonderful and understated chemistry that made total sense with their character's relationship. And my favourite part of the whole movie was where both Verbeek and Rhea's characters forsake the isolated house of Martin's to go out for a drink at the local pub. Seeing Verbeek try to Irish step dance and finally socialize for the first time in the whole film was a heart warming experience. Another scene that I found breathtaking (yet another promising start for Antoniak) was Verbeek's character blowing the tall grass of the highlands into a frenzy with her own breath as a gift to Martin. It sounds kind of strange writing it down but when you see it, it's a lovely scene between Rhea and Verbeek's characters, another crack in their odd companionship void of personal intrusion. I can't very well explain the subtle beauty that Antoniak's film offers nor can I praise every aspect of Verbeek and Rhea's performance without keeping in mind that their are movie goers who haven't yet explored this underrated film and that I'd like to keep the mystery of this film untouched for the time being. It isn't a perfect film and it definitely isn't one of my top Earth Moving Films of My Life. But it is unique and worth taking a look at, if only to see the potential of this up coming filmmaker who, I hope, doesn't disappear into obscurity and instead graces cinema with a new story to share.

Cruiz Dwyer After finding herself alone and detached from society, an unnamed woman (Lotte Verbeek), backpacks through Ireland seemingly wanting to lead a solitary existence. With no more than the clothes she has on her back and some utensils like a small tent, the woman discovers an isolated house belonging to Martin (Stephen Rea) who also appears to be living his life alone.Nothing Personal tells an intriguing story of loneliness and this becomes quite apparent due to the less than normal use of dialogue, minimal use of accompanying music, controlled camera shots and the muted colour scheme which fills every scene. All of these traits slowly increase as the film continues, and from a visual and audio manner it is great to see the relationship between the woman and Martin develops. The narrative uses a linear flow but it becomes quite a shame that it is broken into noticeable chapters: each chapter begins with a black screen and a word, such as 'marriage'. Beyond hurting the flow of the film these wordings do not exactly portray the tangible events about to occur, but rather abstractly feel as if the director needed to guide the viewer into a particular point of thought in regards to the events about to take place. This guidance erodes at the loneliness theme of the narrative and inevitably makes it more difficult for the viewer to truly appreciate the resonance of story and the characters. An aspect which could have gotten a little extra information for story purposes is in regards to the history of both main characters. By the conclusion, the plot ultimately retains an element of uncertainty as it is difficult to truly gauge the strength of the conclusion on characters who the audience knows almost nothing about.While neither Verbeek nor Rea provide strong acting performances both are adequate in depicting the different means by which people approach a feeling of isolation. Rea's character takes a more traditional approach to the experience whereas Verbeek seems somewhat off-the-wall. This is not a bad thing as this helps to differentiate the characters and make them more unique, but some of her actions can seem rather odd in an almost overly poetic manner.Nothing Personal marks the full-length feature debut for Urszula Antoniak. Her control on scenes really does allow for some lovely landscape imagery, if muted by the colour scheme and harsh weather that surrounds the film, for the viewer to gaze up. It all works in enhancing the reclusiveness of the characters and the visual aids thus synch nicely with the thematic elements being explored. This naturalness is barred by some odd editing problems which occur infrequently.The film contains no violence while language is strong but used rarely. One scene could constitute as sexual in nature but otherwise there is none to speak of, yet breast nudity does feature in two or three scenes.There is an emotionally powerful story to be told within Nothing Personal and this is noted by a wonderful use of minimal music and colour variety, however it never really succeeds as expected. The narrative does a decent job on impressing the experience of loneliness onto the viewer but, it is unfortunate that Verbeek and Rea are unable to find the connection between their respective character and the narrative material, and the story can feel thin when the credits roll. Still, Nothing Personal is not a film which should be easily dismissed.

ochichornye A very promising cinema debut. Though most of it is set on the Irish West coast, the whole film has an Eastern European feel to it: sparse dialog, little music, beautiful still shots of landscape and interiors and relentlessly grim weather. I don't find the choice of location at all artificial. If you want to get away from one of the most densely populated countries in the world on a budget, the West of Ireland doesn't seem such a bad choice.This is a film not so much about loneliness, but about being alone. While the female lead clearly had a very negative experience before the story begins (loss of a loved one or traumatic end of a relationship?), one senses that her being alone in this remote corner of Europe is something she deliberately chose and eventually prefers. It seems male viewers have problems with her arrogance and rudeness, while women (including yours truly) find her strong and full of character. Stephen Rea provides a perfect match for her impulsive behaviour and injects a gentle sense of humour. Fortunately their developing 'relationship' avoids romantic clichés.I like films that leave you guessing about the characters' inner thoughts, motives and actions. Combined with the powerful imagery, it makes this one linger in the mind long after the house lights have switched on. Although I found the last scene puzzling and out of place and while the storyline might have been tightened up here and there, I am certainly keen to see what Urszula Antoniak comes up with in her next project.