Cryptic obsession

>> Signs and Wonders is a bizarre take on infidelity

by MATTHEW HAYS

When Jonathan Nossiter had his feature directorial debut in '97, the critics swooned. Sunday, a highly original, disturbing tale of two middle-aged people who meet up and bond in a tryst, won awards at Sundance and had everyone agreeing that an auteur was born.

The film dealt heavily with the idea that things might not be as we perceive them to be, a dilemma for the central characters that was brilliantly played out by Lisa Harrow and David Suchet.

With his second feature, Signs and Wonders, Nossiter applies his unique style to the breakdown of a marriage. Stellan Skarsgard plays a man who's utterly obsessed with symbols, seeing every minor thing in life as a signal that he should listen very carefully to. Anything, virtually anything could be a symbol indicating that he should leave his wife. Or return to her, after he's broken up the marriage for another woman.

His wife, played by the clever and wildly underseen Charlotte Rampling, is often victimized by Skarsgard's odd obsessiveness. She's very tolerant, until his mistress shows up at work pretending to be someone else, and until someone spikes some pastries at home with broken glass. One has to wonder how she got involved with Skarsgard in the first place; he seems like a cross between Peter Greenaway and Woody Allen (minus the laughs).

Perhaps most arresting about both of Nossiter's films is his intense shooting and writing style. Much of the story of Signs and Wonders is done in brief, cryptic sequences, often shot through glass or captured on reflective surfaces. As the film progresses, it's unclear what the characters are actually experiencing and what is fantasy. Amid the unreal, however, there are the standout performances of Skarsgard and Rampling, who manage a number of onscreen moments that are so bitingly, uncomfortably real that one feels like they're watching an actual couple crumble.

Signs and Wonders, like Sunday, will undoubtedly inspire many to report that it is not for all tastes. And it isn't--it's a challenging film light years away from, say, Josie and the Pussycats. But Nossiter's strengths as a director cannot be dismissed, and those who appreciate the offbeat and excellent film acting won't be disappointed.

Signs and Wonders opens Friday, April 20