‘Signs & Wonders’ Probes the Mysteries of the Heart

Jonathan Nossiter’s “Signs & Wonders” has such resonance and sophistication that it recalls the cinema of Michelangelo Antonioni in its powerful evocation of the essentially enigmatic quality of human nature. Instead of the visual splendor of the Italian maestro, however, the American-born Nossiter exhibits the terse but equally cinematic style of a noir thriller. His film abounds in psychological suspense and plays like a mystery film, even though the mystery at hand may be purely one of the human heart.

It is a formidably accomplished work, especially since it is only Nossiter’s second feature film. His first, the well-regarded but little-known 1997 love story “Sunday,” paired David Suchet’s homeless corporate dropout with Lisa Harrow’s unemployed actress. Nossiter, an American who grew up abroad, and James Lasdun, an Englishman residing in America, co-wrote “Sunday,” and they re-teamed for “Signs & Wonders,” working from an original story by Lasdun.

Their film is above all an exploration of the potentially disastrous naivete of the American character--especially in men and specifically regarding sex and politics. Stellan Skarsgard’s Alec is a Stockholm-born American commodities trader who has been living in Athens for the last three years with his wife, Marjorie (Charlotte Rampling), an American whose mother was Greek, and their small son and daughter. Alec and Marjorie have been happily married for more than 15 years, and live in a comfortable, clearly expensive, tasteful home.

Alec begins an affair with a sultry American, Katherine (Deborah Kara Unger), a new employee in his office. Even so, he teeters back and forth in his affections, returning to America with Katherine only to discover that what he really wants is to be back in Athens with his wife and children.

Thus begins in earnest Alec’s painful getting of wisdom. He reads meanings into everything that happens to him, reflecting the American passion for verification, yet it would never occur to him that Katherine might well have set about to snag him with much calculation. Then again, she may not have; the point is that he never entertained the possibility that she might. Alec, an imposing man with high intelligence but little tendency toward reflection, assumes he’ll easily win back his wife. So he’s unprepared for Marjorie having fallen in love with Andreas (Dimitris Katalifos), a journalist who participated in the protest against Greece’s 1967-74 military dictatorship and is trying to secure financing to establish a museum to commemorate the movement.

Alec is a man not about to take no for answer, and his determination to win back his wife and children turns the film into a confounding, unpredictable and compelling experience. Is the film’s increasingly tense atmosphere purely a reflection of its characters’ personal conflicts? Or is there something more sinister, some sort of conspiracy at work? Is danger lurking everywhere--or only in its characters’ hearts?

“Signs & Wonders” delves into the classic interplay of fate, character and emotion with exceptional depth and a level of awareness only the eternal omniscient observer in films and literature could ever hope to possess. In its taut, portentous atmosphere the limitations of human awareness of others and of self emerge with a devastating impact. This is a film rich in references, ranging from American popular music standards to the major metaphor of the looking glass of “Alice in Wonderland,” into which Alec inevitably steps in his attempt to reclaim his past.

Adrian Utley’s score is richly expressive of the film’s complexities and ambiguities while there’s a vivid sense of spontaneity and dash in the flexible camera work of Yorgos Arvanitis, who shot in digital format, which gives the movie a raw, vibrant quality. “Signs & Wonders” is an example of superb structuring: the convoluted manner in which it recoils reflects the way it uncoils.

Skarsgard’s Alec, as open by nature as Rampling’s elegant Marjorie is reticent, are surely among the most complete and wrenching performances we can expect to see this year, the work of gifted actors of stunning presence, intelligence and passion. They are faultlessly supported by Unger and Katalifos, and by the remarkable Ashley Remy as Alec and Marjorie’s adolescent daughter.

“Signs & Wonders” is that true rarity, a forceful film of a unique and original vision.

* Unrated. Times guidelines: some language, exceptionally complex adult themes.

‘Signs & Wonders’

Stellan Skarsgard: Alec

Charlotte Rampling: Marjorie

Deborah Kara Unger: Katherine

Dimitris Katalifos: Andreas

Ashley Remy: Siri

A Strand Releasing presentation in association with Marin Karmitz. Director Jonathan Nossiter. Producer Marin Karmitz. Executive producers Jed Alpert and Nick Wechsler. Screenplay by James Lasdun and Nossiter; from an original story by Lasdun. Cinematographer Yorgos Arvanitis. Editor Madeleine Gavin. Music Adrian Utley. Costumes Kathryn Nixon. Running time: 1 hour, 48 minutes.

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