Billed as a horror movie, Eckharrt Schmidt's adaptation of E.T.A. Hoffman's The Sandman is rather a romantic drama crossed with speculative science fiction. Daniel brings his girlfriend Clara to his birthplace in Italy for what is ostensibly a vacation, but in reality is an investigation into the friend of his late father, one Coppola, otherwise known as "The Sandman". It is not long before Daniel finds himself drawn into an affair with Coppola's beautiful daughter Olympia, and caught up in some bizarre conspiracy involving a traumatic childhood memory. One reviewer noted that The Sandman very much resembles the cyclical and repetitious nature of Last Year at Marienbad, but it has more in common with Alain Robbe-Grillet's The Immortal One, especially in its depiction of a protagonist haunted by a mysterious woman and a complex conspiracy just barely hidden under the surface. While Schmidt's film is certainly less avant-garde than Robbe-Grillet's, it is certainly enigmatic in its own unique way. The Sandman also boasts an attractive cast worthy of ARG, with the brooding Daniel sandwiched between two sexy redheads. What separates The Sandman from similar films, however, are the emotional undercurrents; there is real melancholy here, this is ultimately a film that places its heart above its head. We are asked what it means to be human, but this question is answered only at the tragic and devastating conclusion. But this is also a film of hope, it looks deep into the human soul and mirrors back to us the beautiful things found there. We are capable of hatred and destruction, but also of love, compassion, and forgiveness. Schmidt makes perfect use of the remote Mediterranean locale to accentuate the emotional stakes, and his soft-focus, almost classical images have the kind of quality of a mental labyrinth. The Sandman is one of those films that is less concerned with external action and more concerned with the internal action of the mind and heart. In the hands of a lesser filmmaker this could have been an unintentionally funny film, but Schmidt handles the material with grace and sophistication. Essential viewing for those who enjoy this type of speculative fiction.
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