Faithless has a lot in common with the great masterpiece, Roshomon. It tells the story of a cheating wife from three different perspectives: his, his and hers. It is a serious, ambitious film that uses the retelling of the story to show us far more about the narrators than the actual events they recount.
The auteur bit off more than he could chew, but since he aspired to be Kurosawa, you can’t fault him for lacking ambition. When I reviewed this film in 1999, I was not enthusiastic about it, but I felt that its young director, Raul Inglis, had potential.
I wrote:
I’d say that this director (Raul Sanchez Inglis) is going to make good movies. If he loses some of the artiness and self-importance, he may make brilliant movies, which is what happened to Atom Egoyan when he learned that substance and human emotions were as important as, or more important than, style and structure.
I concluded:
I have a Labrador Retriever who will lick anything that smells of food. I also have a greyhound-type mutt who will ignore anything without substance. If this film were food, my lab would like it, the greyhound would not, because this film isn’t real food, just the scent of food. That’s not all bad, because that scent is the aroma of talent.
I guess I was wrong. Inglis is now about 60 years old, and those good movies have never arrived.
—–
Mr. Inglis did manage a unique feat. He did get Nicole Oliver to strip frequently in this film, and no other director has ever persuaded her to do any nudity.
I don’t know much about her, but her IMDb page suggests that she is one of the most sought-after voice actors in North America.
I know I have this DVD somewhere, but I can’t find it. I couldn’t find the film anywhere on the ‘net. Does anyone have the videos?
Very beautiful woman.