Non-linear methods that jump instantly from one point to another alternately are more effective and easy to enjoy in the writing medium. In a novel, for example, the story pace depends on each reader. There is freedom to speed up or slow down, pause, or even repeat to digest the story. Instead, the film forces viewers to follow the director. The risk is enlarged when it comes to dramas aimed at taking away feelings. Missed just a little, the chance taking the heart can be lost. This is experienced by Wonderstruck, There are two-time settings: 1927 and 1977. The year 1927 revolves around Rose (Millicent Simmonds), the deaf girl who fled from her father's "iron hand" in search of her idol, Lillian Mayhew (Julianne Moore), an actress whose career faded as the silent film transition to sound movies. As an adjustment, this period was packed like a silent movie. Todd Haynes (Far from Heaven, Carol) as the director presents the harmony of sound effects with attractive visuals, prioritizing the artistic impression rather than authentic.

While in 1977 has Ben (Oakes Fegley) as a central figure wrapped in cinematography Edward Lachman which reflects the nuances of the colour of 70s film to the urban setting. After the accident that took away his hearing, Ben went out of the hospital to find his father, after all this time, his late mother, Elaine (Michelle Williams) refused to tell him about it. Rose and Ben are both deaf, flee from home with the intention of finding a distinguished beloved figure, as well as a variety of other similarities including places that stop on the way. Miraculous destiny (read: coincidence) linked the lives of the two boys, It takes time before it can really be swept away by the groove. It's not entirely Haynes's fault. Weakness is precisely toward the scenario made by Brian Selznick, who is also the author of the novel sources of adaptation. Selznick steadily moved the novel style of speech to the script, giving rise to a rough transition between two periods. Before actually being bound by any of the stories, Wonderstruck has run to another story, and so on. It's hard to concentrate on one. The flow just went well as the two parallel stories became clear.

Haynes calls Wonderstruck a classic mystery in which the "why" and "how" of the two stories are interlocked into the attraction. But the mystery itself is less binding in the early part. The film lacks the reasons why we need to care and want to find out the answer. The destiny of two characters separated by 50 years is seen to intersect. Yeah, so? That alone is not enough to make the mystery sweep away. Then enter the third act, when the fabric of the puzzle reveals its real face, the intensity increases. Although ultimately the high anticipation built is not worth the answer offered, some surprises present recharge the energy Wonderstruck.

The appearances of Millicent Simmonds and Oakes Fegley are pretty solid but both have not been able to bear the burden alone. The strongest emotional grip always happens when Simmons and Fegley share the screen with others, whether Julianne Moore whose eyes seem to reveal the millions of words and Michelle Williams who, despite appearing at a glance, still pay attention to the detail of the expression in action. If the film were more binding in the first half of the journey, the final round of claymation in the extraordinary miniature of New York would easily lure the tears.

RATING (6/10)

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