Here's another unknown & mostly panned flick I almost skipped if not for Alfred Molina. He delivers spectacularly, even the haters agree on that. But beyond that, if you get what this film is really about, it's like none other.

Plot: In the weeks before the Nazis declared war, a film company struggles to get its production of Tosca finished before all hell breaks loose in Rome. Making matters worse, the producer (Molina) is Jewish and gay--2 huge nazi strikes against him--plus he's running out of money which is the only thing that's keeping the Nazis at bay by paying them off. Here's the thing, if you think it's a WW2/Nazi flick then you'll be disappointed (probably why some critics hated it), and if you think it's a movie about making movies then you'll also be disappointed. A big hint would be the director John Irvin whose 1981 classic Ghost Story was not a horror, and barely even a ghost story. He's funny like that.

Here Irvin pulls the same trick by using the Nazi backdrop as nothing more than a backdrop for a more abstract story. This is a "meta" film, a reality within a reality... kinda like the Kaufman & Jonze films Adaptation, Being John Malkovich or Synecdoche NY but way less surrealistic because here the setting is plenty surreal enough. The story focuses on the microcosm of a film set where everything is (temporarily) insulated from the Nazi world outside the gates. And of course we the audience form the 3rd reality of knowing historically where this all leads, so we're basically the world outside the Nazi microcosm.

And don't forget the Tosca level of meta. I'm not familiar enough with opera to know how that fits, but Tosca blends with the film set story which blends with the Nazi occupation. I'm sure there are also heavy references to the 1941 film Tosca which this seems to be loosely based on? Haven't seen it. Brain already struggling to keep up with the 3 levels of meta I already mentioned.

What makes this movie so interesting is the way it establishes its core theme that the only 'reality' that matters is the film set. The creation of art. Not only do the characters remain mostly oblivious or even apathetic toward the plight of Europe outside, but there's an impulsive vibe of "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" which, if you think about it, is the impulsive spirit that drives any creative work of art. The movie makes a bold statement that what matters most is the art, and even if the artists sacrifice themselves for their work (as did so many tortured geniuses throughout history) then all's good. Sorta? I guess it depends on what meta you're in.

I suppose this film would've wowed critics & audiences more if it had been more surreal & quirky like the Kaufman & Jonze flicks which were all the rage in the 00s. But, like Ghost Story, this is very low key. Though I gotta say this is one of the few times when an ending took me by such surprise that I was frozen until the credits ended.