Good morning, House of Madness castle freaks:
Things aren't always as they seem, and sometimes that's a good thing, and sometimes that's a bad thing. As you're about to eye-roll the shit out of the clown driving a Hummer, and are prepared to give him or her the environmentally unfriendly speech for the ages, you inch closer and realize it's electric. Oops. The guy sitting on the bench with the long hair and the Judas Priest t-shirt you internally judged a 'loser' gets up from his coffee break, and heads back to the homeless shelter where he volunteers four nights a week. Double oops. The really sweet kid down the street that always says hello, and never misses a please or thank you is the one secretly responsible for stealing your wife's garden gnomes one-by-one, taunting her sanity and patience to the tipping point until her husband had to buy security cameras and the ladder is busted and the last time you tried climbing that fucking death trap you twisted your back and had to go to the chiropractor while your boss Frank was screaming at..................wow, I got a little triggered there, my deepest apologies. Point is, the phrase 'You can't judge a book by its cover' has been applicable in society since its coinage, especially with little dipshit thieves that wander the neighbourhood fooling unsuspecting gnome owners into a false sense of security until you're ready to wring his little ne........there I go again, sorry.
"Dawn Breaks Behind the Eyes" is a tough movie to review, because if the true premise were to be revealed, the first half of the film wouldn't deliver any sort of emotion, even though said emotion is mainly awkward puzzlement as to what you're actually watching, and you could build a 'Palace of Pretention' from everything happening on screen, starting with the opening credits. Stick it out, and the next half of the film is quite enjoyable once we're all in on the ruse, and all of the sudden the pretentiousness and pompous feel of the previous 30 or so minutes doesn't feel nearly as contrived. Hollow characters are given personalities, while questionable behaviour and dialogue make much more sense when put into the proper context and reasoning. I did a complete 180 halfway through this film, as it presents itself as a simple tale of Margot (Luisa Taraz) and Dieter's (Frederik von Luttichau) miserable marriage winding deeper into toxicity after purchasing a run-down castle, to an unexpected twist which not only explains, but rectifies many of the film's initially perceived imbalances.
Does the second half of "Dawn Breaks Behind the Eyes" do enough to negate and redeem the shortcomings of the first half? Once the twist was revealed, I initially would have given a resounding 'YES!', but as the final minutes trickled on, I felt the story wandered off the trail that was working so well, and burrowed back into the hole it originally dug itself, ultimately leaving me with a feeling of resentment, rather than fulfillment. I guess in the end, the film is really what it seemed to be in the first place, and while it definitely can't be judged by its cover, you wouldn't be far off if you did, and for that, there's no reason to feel like you did yourself or the film a disservice.
Madness Meter: 5.1/10
NB
