Open Your Eyes (Abre los ojos) is a 1997 film directed by Alejandro Amenábar and written by him and Mateo Gil. It stars Eduardo Noriega as César, a successful and handsome young man in Madrid who becomes severely disfigured in an automobile crash and then undergoes some disorienting experiences. The film also stars Penélope Cruz as Sofia, Najwa Nimri as Nuria (the girl who causes the automobile crash which disfigures César), Fele Martínez as César's friend Pelayo, and Chete Lera as Antonio, a psychiatrist who becomes something of a father figure to César.

In 2002, Open Your Eyes was ranked #84 in the Top 100 Sci-Fi List by the Online Film Critics Society.

Plot summary

After César's disfigurement, he begins to have a series of disorienting experiences, culminating in his arrest for the murder of a woman said to be Sofia but whom César believes to be Nuria. It is gradually revealed that, shortly after his disfigurement, César contracted with 'Life Extension', a company specializing in cryonics, to be cryogenically preserved and to experience extremely lucid and lifelike virtual reality dreams. He then committed suicide and was placed in cryonic suspension. His experiences from about the midpoint of the movie onward have been a dream, spliced retroactively into his actual life and replacing his true memories. At the end of the film he elects to wake up and be resurrected.

The basic plot device and themes of unreality in Open Your Eyes are very similar to those employed in the 1969 novel Ubik by Philip K. Dick. One critic said that Vanilla Sky, the American remake of Open Your Eyes, "approaches the level of a shameless Dick rip-off.

Critical reaction

Critical reaction to Open Your Eyes has been mostly positive. James Berardinelli of ReelViews gave the film three and a half stars (out of four), saying that movies "of this intelligence, audacity, and complexity come along so rarely that it's mandatory to cry out their arrival" and that "those who see it will not quickly forget the experience.

Rob Blackwelder of SplicedWire gave the film four stars (out of four), calling it "a jaw-dropping psychological thriller" that's "beautifully orchestrated. Richard Scheib of The Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Film Review also gave Open Your Eyes four stars, calling it "quite a remarkable film.

Holly E. Ordway of DVD Active said, "I don’t give out “perfect 10” ratings lightly, but Open Your Eyes earns one by all accounts. Aaron Beierle of DVD Talk gave a lukewarm review, saying that he "found most of Open Your Eyes interesting" but remarked that "there's something about the picture that kept me from being completely involved.

Remake

Director Cameron Crowe remade the film as Vanilla Sky (2001), with Tom Cruise in the lead role (renamed David Aames), Penélope Cruz reprising her role as Sophia, Cameron Diaz as the girl who disfigures David (renamed Julianna Gianni), Jason Lee as the friend (renamed Brian Shelby), and Kurt Russell as the psychiatrist (renamed Curtis McCabe). The remake also transplants the action from Madrid to New York. The remake follows the original plot very closely but makes minor changes to the ending and incorporates a great many pop culture references.

Critical reaction to Vanilla Sky was mostly negative. It currently holds a 39% "Rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 157 reviews (62 positive, 95 negative). Critic Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian called the film an "extraordinarily narcissistic high-concept vanity project for producer-star Tom Cruise.

See also

• Twist ending
• Lucid dream
• Vanilla Sky
• Ubik

References

External links