AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

Pluskylang Great Film overall

Micah Lloyd Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Ginger Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

megan066 This is an extraordinary film and seems to remain in my top 3 or 5 for life. If you believe in humanity you will adore it - the way it should be. A man that behaves in a manner in which humans are supposed to - mysteriously shows up in a mental ward and all there are terribly enthralled and inspired by his Energy. I was too. There is a touch of sci fi in it which is quite interesting. K PAK was an EXACT rip off of it. Just a lot of water added. Super cheap POOR version. I respect Kevin Spacey a lot and all I can say is, he must have been really broke at the time or his ethics are not what I wish them to be. I even own the poster for MAN FACING SOUTHEAST. At the time it was dubbed 'The E.T.for Adults.' It is an easy and pedestrian description but they are not entirely wrong. I wish more Americans saw this. Argentinian. Rent or buy. Indy category if you still have a video store - support it.

Rita Yes it does.My first thought was that if they meant to picture a financially struggling institution, they did a perfect job: it looked so real with its dirty, cracked walls, plain furniture and doors in dire need of painting that it brought up my childhood memories about the hospital I've been in in the eighties.I watched this movie in Spanish with no subtitles, so I don't know the dialogues, but they must be well good if they are half as good as the nonverbal parts, and there were so many great scenes with no words. My favourite one is when Rantes slides the plates in front of that poor hungry family (and you could see the mother really put her children first, they all looked better then herself), and his eye-communication was the icing on the cake.Or when he walked past the security guard when he slipped out of the institute at night – he timed it so perfectly that he could be confident enough not even to need to rush much, and I liked the music in the scene as well.I was very impressed with the acting throughout – of course Julio was bored and Rantes was unemotional for a reason. All the more uplifting the moment of Rantes and Beatriz starting to dance to the Ode of Joy was (and another music I like).The boarding of the patients was outrageous – I can only hope it wasn't based on reality. Judging from their appearance, patients of various severity of disorders seemed to be dumped together, possibly having a bad effect on one another, their clothing was insufficient, they were fed from dogs' bowls, instead of the staff it was Rantes who noticed when they were cold, needed attention or more to eat, and he was all right exactly to the point until his treatment started. The procedure of turning this bright, well-meaning person into a mental and physical wreck was very well pictured and heartbreaking to watch.One consolation for the similarities between the K-PAX movie (which, unfortunately, had parts added or altered from the book it was based on to make it similar to MFS, but its atmosphere is still different enough – especially regarding the state of the hospital and the way patients were treated – that it is worth watching) and this one is that it's good advertising for it. I only heard about, bought and watched MFS because it was mentioned in the K-PAX reviews, which is a real shame because it's better than the K-PAX movie (I gave it six stars in my review), and as good as the novel.The scenes with the coffin and the brain are much slagged off as unnecessary but I think they couldn't have been better calculated. Handling of the bodies and the brain only turns rough after we learn Rantes is to get "medication", and so the scenes give us an idea how he would end up – just after he washes the brain down the drain come the injections and wash all the thoughts out of his brain.But I think the disfigured faces suddenly popping up much earlier, after the scene of Rantes and Julio talking outside walking down stairs were completely unnecessary. The only part I hated – minus 1 star for including this regurgitated, cheap crappy horror-movie scare tactic trick in this great movie.

Zev A mysterious man appears voluntarily in a lunatic asylum and one of the doctors becomes fascinated by him and his supposed delirium which may or may not be fact.The man claims to be from outer space on a research project to study humans who's scariest attributes are stupidity and irrationality. For him, it is perfectly logical to be kind and giving to people in need, to listen, to enjoy life, etc. He soon becomes a Christ-like figure for the insane and the needy and he has many fascinating dialogues with the doctor where they spar: The doctor struggles with his own skepticism, his disillusion with his profession, his sadness, humanity's flaws and the gnawing knowledge that the man surely must be crazy, and the patient weaves a complex and consistent background on his alien culture and thoughts, while criticizing humans for their blindness. It doesn't help us to decide either when the man displays telekinetic powers.Soon, the man makes too much noise and the asylum's director decides to act. Then the man comes face to face with the dangers of humanity's folly and pride and the doctor finds himself between a rock and a hard place, like Pontius Pilate.That's the plot. My personal opinion of this movie is that it's fascinating, everyone should see it once, but it's seriously flawed. I had a slight issue with the obvious fact that he claimed he had no feelings but reacts impassioned to music and once or twice flies into a rage when he rants about humanity. But this only proves that he is merely an insane human. Or does it?But more importantly, I have a problem with this naive idea that rationality automatically means kindness. It depends on the goal. How does one conclude that being kind to everyone is the most logical behaviour? This is too simplistic. What about moral conflicts? What about self-neglect? What about people that abuse your kindness? What if your goals are simply to achieve pleasure? What if your only goal is to make Germany a prosperous and powerful country again after WWI? I liked the themes. I liked the intelligent dialogue. I loved the use of music. But I can't help but feel this wasn't thought through enough and that the movie is taking an easy and lazy stance on good vs bad and preaching overly-simplistic morality.

Howard Schumann Today nearly everyone is familiar with holograms; three-dimensional images projected into space with the aid of a laser. As a result of their research with subatomic particles, some scientists now believe that the universe itself is a holographic projection and that all things are infinitely interconnected at a deeper level of reality. Rantes (Hugh Soto), an "extra" patient who just shows up at a mental hospital in Buenos Aires, would probably agree. In Eliseo Subiela's science fiction thriller, Man Facing Southeast, Rantes tells Psychiatrist Julio Denis (Lorenzo Quinteros) that he is a projection who has been sent from another planet to study humanity and help the suffering. He claims that man is "in the prehistory of holographic projection" and that "his notions are delusionary". Rantes spends many hours simply standing in the courtyard-facing southeast, ostensibly transmitting and receiving messages from his home planet. He seems to have all the normal attributes of a human being but tells Dr. Denis that he does not have any human feelings. Though Denis concludes that Rantes is insane and treats him with drugs and "counseling", he becomes increasingly fascinated with this strange individual who appears to possess extraordinary abilities. During their talks, Rantes articulates his thoughts about the human condition with amazing insight, telling the doctor that the patients are the sane ones since they do not subscribe to the blatant stupidity of so-called normal people. He tells Denis, "Your reality is terrifying, Doctor." Possessing a charisma that attracts other patients to him, the skeptical Dennis compares Rantes to a Christ figure and remarks that he himself has become the Pontius Pilate in this story. The situation gets more involved when Denis falls in love with Beatrice Dick (Ines Vernengo), an attractive woman who visits Rantes in the hospital, claiming that she met him at her church. Their deepening relationship culminates in a concert in the park where Rantes, suddenly infected by human feelings, takes over the orchestra and conducts Beethoven's Ode to Joy as the audience and hospital patients' break into a Dionysian dance. When the episode is reported in the newspaper, the doctor is called to task by his superior and told to increase Rantes' medication. Denis, becoming increasingly isolated and depressed, agrees but begins to question the entire psychiatric establishment. Man Facing Southeast is a thought provoking and entertaining film that examines the values society uses to judge those that are different. Though Rantes claims he is unfeeling, the contrast between his level of awareness and the closed-minded psychiatrists can perhaps stand as a metaphor for the leaders in today's society and those that are being led. Is Rantes a madman, a robot, a Christ-figure, an extra-terrestrial? Are the greatest virtues of mankind: love, compassion, and justice rational or irrational? This haunting Argentine film allows the viewer to provide the answers.