"Red" is a collection of carefully and masterly shot scenes connected between themselves by a weak plot.
Each scene is pleasant to watch and the acting is great. My objection is that characters lack density and the way they interact is far from clear. Moreover each subplot is either sketchy or implausible. Let me mention two main examples: the relationship of Valentine and her boyfriend; the attitudes and activity of the retired judge. The lot of insufficiently crafted coincidences does not help, either. Towards the end, the shipwreck works less as a contribution to a dramatic solution than it evokes a comic character of Aunt Julie and the scriptwriter (a novel by Vargas LLosa, where a failed, crazed writer of radio serials, unable to find an appropriate epilogue, decides to drown all the main characters by sinking a ship with them on board). The film is thus built around a handful of symbols whose pertinence to the story being told is arbitrary and needs explanation.
In conclusion, the film leaves you with a first positive impression but this does not stand up to closer scrutiny.
Each scene is pleasant to watch and the acting is great. My objection is that characters lack density and the way they interact is far from clear. Moreover each subplot is either sketchy or implausible. Let me mention two main examples: the relationship of Valentine and her boyfriend; the attitudes and activity of the retired judge. The lot of insufficiently crafted coincidences does not help, either. Towards the end, the shipwreck works less as a contribution to a dramatic solution than it evokes a comic character of Aunt Julie and the scriptwriter (a novel by Vargas LLosa, where a failed, crazed writer of radio serials, unable to find an appropriate epilogue, decides to drown all the main characters by sinking a ship with them on board). The film is thus built around a handful of symbols whose pertinence to the story being told is arbitrary and needs explanation.
In conclusion, the film leaves you with a first positive impression but this does not stand up to closer scrutiny.