I should really stop to watch contemporary movies and return back to the safe classics. It's just not worth to waste time to make experiments and take risk for movies which don't deserve any attention. Which exploit all the values of the new narrative forms and storytelling.
Because the cinematic debut of Jieho Lee is a piece of calculating exploitation of those narrative merits which just appeared not so long ago to save Hollywood. The classic stories around the turning of the millenary running out of their tales. The narrative, the way of telling of those familiar stories were some kind of medicine to that situation. The more and more unique ways to break linearity became the last years' best formula to win the audiences. Let's say around Tarantino's Pulp Fiction the so called 'network narrative' is one of the most used narrative device to compensate weak stories. Of course there were motivated relations where the non-linear storytelling made strong connection with the actual content (Memento, 5x2, Irréversible, The Prestige and so on...), but most of the cases the directors think that with a twisty plot they are able to cover their lack of screenwriting talents. And unfortunately sometimes their efforts pay off - just look at the imdb again: 7.8 points. That's ridiculous. People are blind or the site is hacked.
After this small by-pass of question about narration you might know where are the problems here. So how the network narrative looks like in The Air I Breathe? We have four seemingly distinct sub-stories, which are going to show more and more overlaps with each other, more and more links among their tales. Through their titles they want to cover our big emotional questions like 'happiness', 'pleasure', 'sorrow' and 'love'. Actually I can't see any point of these chapters' names, they could fit in another order to the stories with similar relevance. Anyway, this isn't the biggest problem. The problem is that the stories' links are really forced, without any revelative, effective values. They are coincidentally, without deeper idea in the background. Just imagine: get a paper, write down four stories, and when you are ready with them, just try to link them as much way as you can. Does in the first story somebody hit a guy with a car? Put the third story's protagonist into that car! Do you have a doctor in the second and the third story? Just give the role to the same character! And so on, it's not so hard, you'll see yourself.
I think you got my point / problem: without motivated relation between the content and the form there will be only a wannabe, trendy-like, fake unbalanced film. The form tries to cover the story, but if you've seen the originals (like the mentioned Tarantino film or Paul Haggis' Crash (it's already not the most original...)), you will understand what is the difference between 'using' or 'exploiting' the exciting variations of non-linear storytelling.
Until the viewers won't "punish" these mutations (that's why is sad to look to the imdb now...), there will come more and more calculating, copying, unmotivated, fake, trendriding, empty star-parades.
Three points: not because it's so bad, but because of its calculating behave, its blast...
3/10
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