.049 - the air i breathe: concept without meaning becomes a gimmick

At the end of "The Air I Breathe" to tell you the truth I was quite pleased and entertained with what I had just watched. As I contemplated what I could learn from the film, it was difficult. The acting was top-notch, visual style was beautiful, intersecting narratives were unpredictable and enjoyable to watch. But one can't really learn a thing from any of those observations.

But after reading the atrocious reviews it received on RottenTomatoes, I found my story: "concept without meaning can be read as a gimmick". Most reviewers complained that the film wasn't bad because of performances issues, but due to the pretentiousness of the director. The comment took me aback for a second, but after thinking about I realized that the film didn't really have a central message at all. Sure the stories all involved characters whose lives changed by the end of their vingette, but when you have a feature film with all these stories together shouldn't their be a unifying theme that motivates the union of these stories? I think so.

I think that as filmmakers, we can get caught up in concepts and creativity and neglect meaning. Granted some of the best films have no meaning and simply high concept visual thrill rides. And sure film is not a medium in which stories and character growth are necessary. Film has its own medium specific qualities. But in Hollywood specifically when a film such "The Air I Breathe" entertains through an interesting narrative approach, it needs to have a meaning to its "madness" in order to receive acclaim in this industry.

In Hollywood this meaning comes in the final 20-30 minutes of a film. And the end of the film left the viewer empty-handed. Each character's life had a ending, but together the stories didn't have a unifying theme. The characters all just all happened to interact with one another. And as a result the title became as meaningless as the concept behind the film. The film became a gimmick and something I should take care not to do.