Movies set around WWII have an automatic dramatic advantage because of the impending doom that an audience feels in the air. They also run the risk of being clichéd or overly maudlin, lest they trivialise the war. This film accomplishes the telling of a new story amidst a very old one.

Sally Potter creates a lovely, haunting world of wide-eyed children and white horses in The Man Who Cried. From childhood, little Suzie is a musical prodigy with a luminous stare and a quiet strength. She immigrates from Russia at the age of six, and is raised by an English family. Taught to speak English through song, Suzie flees to Paris and becomes a dancing girl. She hopes to get passage to America and find her father, who left Russia when she was very young in search of a better life for the family.

Potter's world is of opera, Yiddish song and gypsy music, and the true tale is told through these mediums. As Suzie's roommate, Lola, Blanchett plays a fascinating character who loses her zest for life in the arms of a rich singer (Turturro). In contrast, Suzie is unwaveringly strong, even as the fires of passion stir with gypsy Cesar (Depp). Just as her life and love are taking shape, the Nazis invade and Suzie must flee.

The story's slow but steady pacing grows a bit tedious at times, and much of the brooding silence is reminiscent of so many other films set during the 1940s. The most innovative parts of Potter's work stem from the fact that music does not simply accompany the story in this film, it actually leads the characters. The film is a dance of light and shadow, snow upon eyelashes and furious crescendos.

Printer-friendly version