''The Invisible Circus'' is a 2001 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

written and directed by Adam Brooks and starring

Jordana Brewster Jordana Brewster (born April 26, 1980) is a Panamanian-American actress. Best known for her role as Mia Toretto in the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise, she made her acting debut in an episode of ''All My Children'' in 1995 and next took on the recu ...

Christopher Eccleston Christopher Eccleston (; born 16 February 1964) is an English actor. A two-time BAFTA Award nominee, he is best known for his television and film work, which includes his role as the ninth incarnation of the Doctor in the BBC sci-fi series '' ...

, and

Cameron Diaz Cameron Michelle Diaz (born August 30, 1972) is an American actress. With a variety of works in film, she is widely recognised for her work in romantic comedies and animation. Diaz has received various accolades, including nominations for ...

. Based on the 1995 novel ''The Invisible Circus'' by

Jennifer Egan Jennifer Egan is an American novelist and short-story writer. Egan's novel ''A Visit from the Goon Squad'' won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction. As of February 28, 2018, she is the Presiden ...

, the film is about a teenage girl who travels to Europe in 1976 in search of answers to her older sister's suicide. During her search, she falls in love with her dead sister's former boyfriend. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 11, 2001, and was released in the United States on February 2, 2001.

Plot

In 1976

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, Phoebe O'Connor is plagued by the mystery surrounding the death of her free-spirited older sister, Faith, who left the United States for Europe when Phoebe was 12 years old, and was subsequently found dead at the base of a precipice in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. Faith's death was ruled a suicide, but Phoebe is skeptical of this claim. Against the wishes of her mother, Gail, Phoebe departs for Europe hoping to uncover more information about the last year of Faith's life. In

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, she tracks Faith's boyfriend, Wolf, an Englishman who left San Francisco with Faith. Wolf blames Faith's suicide on drug use, thrillseeking, and a hedonistic lifestyle; he recalls his last moments with Faith in July 1970, when she decided to travel to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

to join the

Red Army Faction The Red Army Faction (RAF, ; , ),See the section "Name" also known as the Baader–Meinhof Group or Baader–Meinhof Gang (, , active 1970–1998), was a West German far-left Marxist-Leninist urban guerrilla group founded in 1970. The ...

. After Phoebe has a disturbing vision of Faith in the street, she is invited by Wolf to stay with him and his wife, a French woman named Claire. Wolf recollects Faith's eagerness to be engage in radical political protests, including

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

, which frightened him. Phoebe, wanting to see where her sister last lived, plans to travel to Portugal. Wolf, though initially reluctant, agrees to accompany her on the trip. Soon, their relationship turns romantic. Phoebe and Wolf make their way to the seaside village where Faith died. When they arrive at the cliffside where Faith died, Wolf further elaborates on Faith's terrorist involvement with the Red Army Faction, including a bomb detonation in Berlin which resulted in the death of an innocent man. Upon reuniting with Faith in Portugal, Wolf found her riddled with guilt, and she made him promise to never tell her family that she was responsible for a man's death. In the midst of a nap on the beach, Wolf awoke to Faith standing on the edge of a rock wall along the cliff. Though he attempted to coax her back, he was unable to stop her from leaping to her death. Phoebe and Wolf embrace, and light a candle for Faith in a nearby

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

Cast

Reception

The film received negative reviews from critics and holds a 22% rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

based on 63 reviews.

References

External links

* * 2001 films 2001 independent films 2001 drama films Adultery in films American drama films American independent films Cultural depictions of the Red Army Faction Films about sisters Films based on American novels Films directed by Adam Brooks Films set in Amsterdam Films set in Berlin Films set in Portugal Films shot in Portugal Films set in San Francisco Films set in the 1970s Hippie films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films {{indie-drama-film-stub