360

360: that refers to the circular structure of La Ronde ('the carousel') on which this film is based. Unlike La Ronde, 360 is has no coherent structure - rather than a circle it is a line with some bits hanging off and a knot in the middle. The line follows the linkage of relationships, couple to couple, of some 15 characters: dentist to dental assistant; dental assistant to bodyguard; bodyguard to businessman; et cetera. The stories of these relationships is told in a fragmented way as the characters travel around Europe and America. You only see the full picture at the end of the film.

La Ronde was conceptually tight in that it was about sex and vulgarity crossing class boundaries. 360, on the other hand, sprawls across all sorts of relationships from the sexual to the chance acquaintance of two passengers on a plane and across all sorts of boundaries: class; employment; cultural; and national. The film is also picaresque in a dull and pointless way. One airport or hotel looks much the same as another. The film could have delved into some Ballardian examination of sex within homogeneous environments, the anonymity that these places provide sexualising the environment while stripping the people of sexuality and personality, but it doesn't.

Two things that save this cowp of a film from utter banality are the cinematography, which is technically competent, and the quality of the actors and their performances. Out of the 15 or so main roles there isn't a below par performance, but there is a major problem. At 110 minutes in length, less after titles and credits and scene setting (oh look we're in Paris, London or some tedious airport in the midwest of the USA), each actor has a little over six minutes to build charecter and acomplish whatever it is they are supposed to be doing. It doesn't really matter how good a performance they can put in they only have enough time for fairly thin, stereotype-driven characters.

360 may actually refer to the way the film spins around, never sure whether it is social commentary, sex comedy or thriller. It never quite stick with anything long enough to work. Ultimately it is too boring to enjoy and too loud to sleep through.