The Fault in Our Stars

It's not the power of the premise or the media hype that makes this quality film a hit. What would The Shawshank Redemption be, with its potential for acting, plot and ideas, if it were filmed conventionally, aimed solely at reliable and convenient one-dimensional themes, and if it relied solely on all audiences having enough humanity and automatic empathy to appreciate it simply because it carries a laudable message? The Fault in Our Stars has a great cast and a commendable idea, but it's kitsch of the coarsest grain, which I have no need to see again in my life and which, despite all the cute faces and touching hugs, failed to tell me anything new. Both love and death are a given in life, and there are many other films that make me appreciate the former indescribably more and take the latter as a harmless, if unwelcome, companion. 65% (11/12/2015)

It's a shame that this film will find its place among my favorites, and yet I will probably never watch it again. Because Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort gave some of the most natural acting performances. That's why it's a shame, and why I won't be watching it again. Because if they hadn't been so great, I wouldn't be so taken with it. And I don't even have words for the story. (05/20/2015)

Simply beautiful film. I don't have much to criticize about it. Of course, some might find it self-indulgent. I see it as a beautiful celebration of love and life, portrayed brilliantly by the chosen actors. Humans are weak, but they can also be strong, and here we see it in all its aspects, just like the good and nasty people. The strongest part is definitely the events in Amsterdam. (08/29/2014)

A self-aware mix of romance and drama (a classic trend of recent years), with just the right amount of both. Too bad about the drawn-out ending, though, which may be too sentimental, but understandable considering the catharsis and the film's tone, but it never descends into awkwardness or pathos. The chemistry of the two leads is excellent, with a great Shailene Woodley, who will significantly overshadow Jennifer Lawrence in the future. (07/13/2014)

In the context of the melodramatic “sick flick” subgenre, The Fault in Our Stars is satisfactory as only a film about dying teenagers can be. The creation of endings as one of the primary means of “making sense” of our existence is cleverly elevated to a leitmotif of the narrative, which from the opening words is presented as story about a story (or rather about making up stories). In Hazel’s case, the desire for a concluded narrative and control over her own story is strengthened by her illness. (In the director’s cut, Hazel’s transformation from the subject of the narrative to the subject conveying the narrative is more pronounced thanks to the scene in the ambulance, where she comes up with the continuation of the poem for Gus). The protagonist is motivated by a need similar to that which we as viewers satisfy by watching fictional stories. Due to the fact that our lives will end without us being able to add anything to them, fictional narratives serve as simulators that reconcile us with our own mortality. Melodrama most strikingly exploits the tension between fear of the end and the need to give that end a clearer form. The Fault in Our Stars is not satisfied with the helplessness of the essentially good characters (or those that are willing to change for the better) who are facing a terminal illness and attempts to reflect the aforementioned quality of melodrama on multiple levels. Though it’s true that the film bears all of the hallmarks of midcult filmmaking (parasiting on serious issues, audio-visual attractiveness, wrapping banal ideas up in dubious and important-sounding speeches, superficial characters), it achieves a more powerful emotional effect than many other, similar films thanks to its use of simple narrative devices. Credit is due mainly to the believable young actors and the screenplay, which is artful enough that you believe it rises above the clichés of Hollywood tearjerkers (though it does in fact jerk every last tear). Due to the ingenuity with which the film strives to convince us through flashes of black humour and the signs of unwillingness to play by the established genre rules that it is not just another run-of-the-mill melodrama, I gladly let myself be moved by The Fault in Our Stars. Maybe I’m becoming a softy. Or maybe I’m no longer such a cynic (and chauvinist) that I would reject a well-thought-out “chick flick” on principle. 65% (06/09/2014)