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[thirteenth floor, the]

-- usa / 1999 / 100 mins

-- director : josef rusnak

-- screenplay : daniel f. galouye (novel), josef rusnak

-- starring : craig bierko, gretchen mol, armin mueller-stahl

-- certificate : IIb(hk), r(us)

Wow! is the only word i can think of to tell you how i feel about this terrific sci-fic mystery. In fact, I almost missed it due to poor reviews flooding on the net and newspapers. after watching the thirteenth floor, i realize that you have to watch and anaylze the movie by yourself in order to determine if it is good or not instead of trusting everything that is said by the reviews. people have different thinkings and a movie may appeal to one while others may find it disgusting. well, i think the thirteenth floor one of that kind of movies that one may love it or be confused and thus hate it.

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i am not going to give out much about the story 'cause that's exactly what is fascinating about this movie. but i can tell you what makes it such a special movie to me. there are two big (or weird for some of you) questions that are confusing me all the time, which are why are we born in this world and what will happen after our lives in this world come to an end. the thirteenth floor provides a possible answer to both questions. may be our world is just a simulation program manipulated by some higher intelligent beings from another planet or by a computer tech from the future so that everything we see in the world are only someone's fantasy or thoughts. no matter you believe or not, the thirteenth floor may cause you to rethink and reevaluate your current beliefs.

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even if you do not find the story interesting, you cannot deny that the cinematography and production design are superb. the elegant re-creation of los angeles in the thirties will definitely shine in your eyes in contrast to the coarse and vulgar tone of the present. in fact, i could not find any flaw in the photography work, every shot is just done fantastically! and finally for acting, the four protagonists all gave powerful performance to their roles (all of them have to act at least two roles 'cause they got different identities in the past, present or the future). armin mueller-stahl (shine) gave another strong performance as the old scientist and the creator of the simulated world. gretchen mol, starring as his daughter, is one of the most beautiful actresses i have ever seen on the screen and she proves to be a very versatile actress in this movie.

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for people who have watched the matrix, try also to watch this one which i think is much better and deserves more attention.

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N.B. I LOWER THE GRADE FROM 8.7 TO 7.1 DUE TO THE ORIGINALITY FACTOR. JUST FOUND OUT THE STORY LARGELY RESEMBLES A 1997 ITALIAN FILM - NIRVANA (8.3 / 10)