Mr nobody : Every path is the right path. Everything could've been anything else. And it would have just as much meaning.

Mr. Nobody

Mr. Nobody is a science fiction drama film written and directed by Jaco Van Dormael , the narrative of this film is handled with precision that its moments of ambiguity never come across as carelessly vague, but rather as areas in which you are likely to discover new meanings within each subsequent viewing. Using Nemo’s subjective narrative, he tells of his life at three primary points in his life: at age nine, when his parents get divorced; at age fifteen, when he fell in love; and at age thirty-four, living his adulthood – all three unraveled into many other realities. All those chain of events are in a nonlinear narrative and the many-worlds interpretation to tell the story of Nemo's life.

At the beginning, Mr. Nobody's fable comes off as a yet disoriented story associated with that of old age, but it's actually much more than that. A journalist asked questions what audience might want to ask while listening his story. How can he be in two places at once? How is it possible that he has children and a wife one moment and has neither the next? All this unfolds in a highly confusing narrative in which everything becomes blurred but in the end everything he says is actually connected in the discovery of true love, thus closing the circle of life.

On/Off screen space

The story and on/off screen movement flows effortlessly with indicating these three ladies are going to fall in a relationship with Nemo in alternative paths. For example, in the say ‘Hi” to Nemo and wedding party scene, the transitions are smooth and elegant despite the apparently complicated and unconventional structure of the narrative and its character’s action. Beyond the on/off screen, the teen actors really help introduce new elements of the story that keeps their particular story threads believable and tight.

Jared Leto gave amazing performance as Nemo Nobody and the surrounding cast fit right into place. However, the charismatic performance of Sarah Polley should not be missed. While she actually has very little screen time, her character is strong and interesting, if a bit unhinged and melancholy. Once she is on screen, her reaction and performance are surprised us as her pain of suffering from borderline personality disorder that place Adult Nemo in a sad plight. Her sickness created a sharp contrast to other girls with Nemo in other paths.

Spatial And Time

The fantastic use of space and movement almost defines belief as to where the camera takes the viewers. The story Nemo tells relating to his life is perplexing, elaborate, and fantastic. Combining the effective shots and the nonlinear plot, the chains of events in different paths are welded together through the movement.

                         

Audience move in and out the paintings, photos, drawing and even letters to bring us where we need to be to make sense of the situation. For example, we begin a shot in Nemo’s 15-year-old bedroom in the reality that he lives with his mother in Canada. The camera guides from his bedroom, out through the window revealing the picturesque house he lives in. The camera continues back to the pretty house is now a postcard on a table in England. That is another version of 15-year-old Nemo’s world alternatively where he chose to live with his father instead. This is the most impressive and luxurious shot of all.

On the other hand, the inner workings of a giant clock or the speed of railroad tracks crossing and merging is seamlessly also tied to other path every time it appear. It keeps the various threads of the story cohesive and lacking in confusion is a realized miracle.

Another amazing element of changing the space and time is water. To recall my memory, Nemo existed under the water after car crush, bathtub in hotel and swimming pool at school frequently. The camera work is exquisite and blends reality and fantasy with precision and sharpness. Every time when Nemo discover himself underlying the water, and get out from the water, there are always something new and surprises waiting for him, the duration of showing his super close up on his shocking face are very short, like a flash and uncompleted memory, but it is enough to report the details of that particular path. However, if you miss any shots, you will lose tracks.

There are also many flashbacks and forwards, multiple dimensions, time fractures and parallel existences. Van Dormael does not enlighten us on what to believe. We learn that his soon-to-be-divorced parents asked young Nemo whether he wanted to go with his mother to live in Canada or stay with his father to live in England. Either way, the choice will effect all the permutations and combinations. The flashbacks trigger the following questions to audience, when we make a choice, were we free to make it or did we make it by chance? Why do we have this impulsion? Because of an experience, a culture or innate things? The film is asking all these questions, the several flashbacks let people rethink those questions after watching the inconsistent parts.

Lighting

A pair of big piercing blue eyes is the feature of every Nemo owns. When the path is time about to move, the camera movement with high key lighting always starts from the eyes and zooms out or moves away. The lighting accomplished a great aesthetic appreciation.

 

Here is a beautiful use of camera movement and lighting I would like to share as well. It happened when Anna has to move to New York as her father discovered their relationship and dissatisfied.  The camera was set at top of the character and ascends in a spiral movement, accompanying the natural light on their face that is a special and romantic shot.

Special effect

A long list of software, including Autodesk's Softimage and Maya, Side Effects' Houdini and the creation of a multitude of in-house tools, programs and techniques was required for the shots delivered.   

Modus FX announced having delivered 121 digital visual effects shots for the film. Those effects worked on several complex transitions between the different worlds and multiple lives of Nemo Nobody. The complex sequences, which could not be captured on film, involving the digital reproduction of entire cities in 2092, villages and otherworldly settings.

        

They created two surrealistic worlds with special effects, the one is watching the construction which the helicopters lift huge cubes of water directly out of a lake and carry them across a futuristic city leaving only perfectly geometrically shaped holes in the water. In another storyline, the adult Nemo awakens in a strange world dominated by argyle patterns.  Following the floating instructions that he finds around the city, no matter the wall or the cloths of citizens they are wearing all are printed in argyle pattern, the scene make me think of Alice’s wonderland produced by Walt Disney, then he traces it back to a crumbling abandoned house and watch the video about 118 year old Nemo ‘s confession. 

Yet, spectacular effects and ideal challenge our perception of locales and situations.  The surrealistic worlds are far different from other paths; especially the entire city look, all the house and garden are in order and look clear which do not look alike our world.

Truly Mr. Nobody is a sci-fi epic that can show the visual prowess. A trip to the stars within the movie and extraterrestrial planets take our characters to them look 100% real, that part of scene is flawless. The gorgeous look of recent films such as Sunshine or Mission to Mars doesn’t hold anything over the head of Mr. anybody.

Despite being all over the place in time and space the movie flows thematically, visually and even narratively like a carefully winding stream. The entire feel of the movie is joyously mesmerizing and concludes with a great ending. 

Sound

Van Dormael worked on simple themes and out of synch loops, for example, in the chasing train scene, Nemo’s mother is shouting Nemo to run faster repeatedly but they choose to use soft piano as background song instead of syn. The shouting did not appear on screen. However, the scene showed again with mother’s voice at the end of the part, it brings you another feeling and call out all the memories if Nemo get out the train successfully, what destiny he will be?  The sound in the film is a mixture of superficial simplicity and underlying complexity. Obviously, the director did not want the music to be overtly emotional, so they chose a minimalist orchestration, more often than not just a single guitar.

They also put their creativity on the character’s voice, they used 9 years old Nemo to speak when 118 years old Nemo is having a confession to the reporter. Mr. Nobody said, “We are imagined by a 9 year-old child faced to within an impossible choice.” That’s the reason I think why they do so and the initial idea why there are so many paths, I also realized there are no clue or evidence to investigate which one is true in the end. The child voice from a hundred elderly is really dramatic and funny.

In short, Mr. Nobody is a complex visual spectacle that is both charming and thought provoking. Every bit of technique utilized by the filmmakers is essential and well planned from the get-go to achieve what the story sets out to accomplish. It doesn't lay all the answers out in front of you or maybe it does. It's all a bit much to take in the first time around, but in the end the film leaves you with a feeling of having watched something very special as films are released that not only make you question your life, but your entire existence.