The second film of the summer inspired by Arthur Schnitzler’s “La Ronde,” Fernando Mereilles’ “360” is an intriguing jigsaw puzzle of a movie, less schematic than Schnitzler’s play (or “30 Beats,” the dreadful film of a couple weeks ago). Still, it’s more interesting for its individual pieces than what it has to say as a whole.
Written by Peter Morgan (‘Frost/Nixon,” “The Queen”), “360” does come full circle, at least in a couple of cases. When it doesn’t, well, it still offers compelling slices of life, wedges of the circle, as it were, that come complete with deep feeling and, at times, real suspense.
The film starts in Vienna, with a young woman, Mirka (Lucia Siposova), posing nude for a slimy, Slavic-accented creep with a ponytail in a Vienna studio. He explains that her photo on the Internet will earn her customers as an escort, who will, in turn, give her money for sexual favors. Some clients have been known to give girls so much money that they’re able to quit yada yada.
She and her sister head home to Bratislava, only to return to Vienna when she gets a nibble. But her first client is a businessman, an automobile executive (Jude Law) away from home – and he gets cold feet. Instead, he goes back to his hotel room alone, then leaves an affectionate message on his wife’s answering machine.
The other stories connect from there.
This review continues on my website.