Search - Sunday on DVD

Moving and Imaginative

Kimberly L. Dolce | Tecumseh, Michigan | 03/06/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is masterful and precious storytelling about two middle-aged people: a has-been actress and a homeless man whom she's bumped into on the street and mistaken for a movie director. Intrigued, hungry, and lonely, he assumes this director's identity and they spend the day together, deceiving each other in the most loving and heroic ways. This movie must be watched over and over again, listened to carefully, savored. The poetic honesty of the two lovers and the plight of the homeless men in the shelter where the man lives are all interwoven and depicted so fleetingly, so powerfully, that you'll want to stop the tape and rewind it in several places just to get the full impact of the characters and how they influence each other's destinies. The scuzzy realism of the homeless shelter is juxtaposed beautifully with the lyrical speeches of the lovers as they woo each other with their individual stories about life and disappointment and lost youth. But, they haven't lost hope, and that's why I adore this film. If you want to see a small, beautifully crafted film acted by two world-class Shakespearean-trained British actors in the lead roles, I guarantee you won't be disappointed."

A bleak but interesting film about desperate people.

Jeffery K. Matheus | Indianapolis, IN United States | 11/28/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Jonathan Nossiter's 1998 theatrical release "Sunday" might take some critisism from some, but at least it could never be called un-original! Fueled by some great performances from older-actors Lisa Harrow and David Suchet (Hercule Poirot from the PBS series "Poirot"), I found this to be some downright intriguing cinema! On it's surface, "Sunday" is a story about mistaken identity - an out-of-work actress mistakes a passer-by on the street as a movie director she met once, and the man decides to play along with her - leading to a rather strange Sunday spent together. However, as the story unravels we start to see into the characters wounded souls, and we ulimately get drawn into their bleak and desperate world. The man is currently living in a Presbyterian homeless shelter (for reasons that are revealed late in the film) and the woman is living in the shadow of an off-balance and controlling ex-husabnd. Be forewarned, this film is not one to spoon out easy answers, and along the way you will really start to wonder about the character's thoughts and motivations - Why does the man so willingly play along that he is someone else? Does the woman REALLY believe that this skittish man is a famous film director, or she just playing a game out of loneliness? We know that the man is just acting a part, but is the woman acting too? (She is an actress after all, and her motives are a bit cloudy!) This engrossing story is wrapped-around a subplot that deals with the other men back at the homeless shelter, and often the two storylines play in a sort of strange counterpoint with each other. Look for an almost unrecognizable Jared Harris (who made quite a convincing John Lennon in the made-for-cable film "Two of Us") in a supporting part as one of the homless men. Director Jonathan Nossiter has a good visual sense, and he sometimes throws in some images and sounds that are downright disorienting to the viewer...but with good reason! Sometimes the camera's jump back and forth between storylines, almost haphazardly it seems. Sometimes the picture goes blurry, or our view is temporarily obstructed, as we see things through our protagonist's damaged eyes...But take my word for it, as you get drawn into the story ALL of this will make sense in the context of this unusally poetic film! Nossiter was also a bit brave to include what must be the most unglamorous nude scenes ever committed to film (Lisa Harrow's old and bruised body is not exactly what we're used to seeing in hollywood films!), but it's just one of the many things that makes "Sunday" all the more "real". Some viewers may be dissatisfied with the film's somewhat abrupt ending, but once you take the characters into consideration, the ending will make a lot more sense! If you want a movie that is dictinctly different...go for it!"

An Amazing Piece of Recognition

Patricia Tugas | Ormond Beach, FL USA | 01/16/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The movie "SUNDAY." An amazing piece of recognition. Recognition of need and warmth counterpoised against the routine pretense of recognition which accompanied one's life in the past. The woman has lived a long time with failure, with the illusion of promise which the future might bring. A new man, renewal of a career, that relationship which defies definition, but which can weave a magical web of mystery around the usual day to day events of life. The woman's question: I am still beautiful, I can act and speak and make audiences cry. Why am I left behind then, with my image worshipped still, at an altar which does not contain me? The man has not lived so long with failure, is still enduring the shock of it, in jagged shots of vision-as a camera, flashing past sights no one ever wanted to see; persistent glimpses which go in and out of focus as in a dream, a nightmare-where eyeglasses produce a truth which eyes do not wish to see. His escape from truth, he can remove the eyeglasses and see nothing. Life has become a pile-up of trash, in rain spattered streets still blotched with late winter's snow. In spite of looking, your eyes refuse to grasp it, to integrate scene after scene with reason or meaning. I watch the screen in amazement. I wonder how a story will emerge from the bad weather, bad views, bad tasting dark and light which tell the story of a fractured and blighted society. The society which we don't see or hear or care to see. Yet this bitter, broken place contains the music and the vital energy of all races, all nationalities. This energy, though misdirected at times, can still break through the clutter to beauty, unbelievably."

A good one.

nanshan@worldnet.att.net | Ohio | 06/17/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A good one for those of you looking for an intriguing psychological plot set in a realistic style. Throw in a pinch of the unusual, a generous dose of pathos, a splash of sex, and ride along the edge of this winner."