The story appears simple on the surface, but is revealed, especially after multiple viewings, as more multi-layered and textured than Cassavetes at his best. Ostensibly it concerns a 14-year old Catholic girl, Wynne (Agutter) growing up in this post-modern wasteland, who develops a crush on her much older adoptive brother (Marshall)- a crush which perversely deepens and grows into infatuation once she starts to believe he is the local sex killer. This is in itself an idea that makes you sit up and jolt, but as the narrative develops, it continues not necessarily along a linear path but in several confusing and fascinating directions: the family's history, (detailed effectively in chilling flashback during an improvised seance) is a chequered one, and has suffered at least one major relocation and upheaval in the last ten years. At the crux, however, it's the depiction of socialal changes that make I Start Counting so fascinating and elevate its language far beyond the confines of the standard horror film. The major subtext- that teenage girls were maturing more quickly than before, and developing full sexual and romantic appetites (even if in thought rather than deed) but were not possessed of enough discretion to make the right choices- was a step forward for a genre in which its young females had previously been portrayed as bimbo victims (Cover Girl Killer and The Night Caller spring to mind), but not one that all viewers would necessarily agree with. But most striking of all, and possibly the most enduring image which the viewer will take away with them, is of the masterful symbolism with which director Greene invests every shot. Every inch of the Kinch family's world- their house, their walls, their TV, Agutters underwear, bedroom furniture and toys, Sutcliffe's clothes, Marshalls van, the local Catholic church, their town centre, their record shop) - is painted a bright, scintillating white- a white which, by inference, is slowly becoming smudged and corrupted with the dirt of the outside world. White also symbolises, of course, purity and innocence (two qualities Catholic schoolgirls are supposed to hold dear), and it is into this world of innocence that the ever-present red bus (a symbol of violation and penetration), conducted by the lecherous yet similarly juvenile Simon Ward, makes regular journeys. The allegory is further expanded in one scene where Agutter believes she sees the Christ figure in church weeping blood: by the time we acknowledge it, its gone, but the seed has already been planted. Rarely in a genre production has the use of colour and background been so important or effective in creating a uniformity of mood. I Start Counting is as near-perfect an end to a decade as one could hope for, and exactly the kind of film people should be making now- which is, of course, exactly why they never will. A genre essential. by D.R.
悲哀在于，情感和日常需要靠那些遥远的符号（费里尼/索菲亚/土耳其/英国/红拂夜奔）才能串联起有意义的链条，这无非是另一种偶然与想象。如此语境之下，精致的海派生活倒显出一种自欺欺人的况味，仿佛老白对小皮匠问询的变体“你的咖啡里有麻木的味道吗？”一边是悬置的能指，一边是实际是所指，双方在迷影式的致敬中少见的没能达成影像上的统一与和解。于是，爱情在本片中像一场精神上的屠杀，目标是这些或单亲带娃或有暧昧过往的中年男女，这里没有爱情的青春热血和蓬勃朝气，只剩拖拖拉拉的消极和孤叹。电影在准确描绘出中年爱情状态的同时，也将这些中年人抽象化了，因为他们在这场屠杀中的所有反抗与逃亡，皆是以有钱有闲为基础的。而更多的普罗大众，连被这种爱情蹂躏的资本都没有。这当然是一部好电影，但生活的底色赋予了它某种失败的气质。
如果一部电影真诚质朴生活化，我们会夸它接地气，但如果要接上海的地气则刚好相反，需要拿腔拿调的精致，这一点上《爱情神话》做的很好，我很喜欢里面那些拐着弯的抹不开的台词，那些话里有话的暧昧正好就是上海这座城市的气质，情人的爱、家人的爱、友人的爱就像一条暗河悄无声息地流淌进每个人的心里，一句话概括整部电影就是：爱情没有神话，生活不必庸常。
有腔调的生活看着得劲，但要是生活在腔调中就不那么sia意了。
不虐心，不狗血，不作不装，平淡得似乎什么都没发生，却时刻感受到风平浪静下的暗流涌动，很高级。喜欢这种上海独有的弥漫着咖啡味儿的烟火气，喜欢这里每一个孤独而有趣的灵魂，审慎，睿智，豁达，欲言又止，这才是给成年人看的爱情电影。
老灵了，是我爱看的中年人谈恋爱。抓住了上海这座城市的神韵，以及成熟人士瞻前顾后却也坦坦荡荡的你来我往。中国大银幕上的女人难的是“可以造反”的了。
7/10，分些些虚高了。
很少看爱情、剧情类的电影会有这样平和的喜悦，甚至看到了李安《饮食男女》的影子，像是什么都看到了，但又好似什么都没看，细细回想却又有细腻绵长之感，难得。
应该是这个周末口碑非常棒的一部。。。
审美和文本都太牛了…整个片子让人足够快乐，但又快乐得恰到好处而能够留出空隙来啧啧称奇
很喜欢倪虹洁转身回到ktv的一次叹气，张牙舞爪的时候活得太正确了，那句叹气就像一个缺口，一个从正确步入真实的人生的缺口。
精致漂亮思想开放的上海女人，也终究逃不开被中年发福的油腻文艺男吸引。然而现实里文艺男或文化男的脑子里是没有爱情的，他可以和你从诗词歌赋谈到人生哲学，然后提出要看你的B
不过整体梗埋太多（包括导演自个儿的小趣味），又缺乏条理，使得整个片子变成了埋梗大作战。
“我以前热爱生活，现在我更加热爱生活。同时，生活让我觉得恐怖，难以深入。因此，我虽相信，却持有疑虑。是的，我愿意相信，我愿意活着，永远。”
更：看到这个评分估计是我误会导演了。
好的文艺作品不一定非得和你的生活一模一样，就比如《红楼梦》，谁能过那样的生活，但又有谁会觉得《红楼梦》不够好呢？这部《爱情神话》也一样，虽然里面的人谈艺术、喝咖啡、操着一口流利的上海话、穿上万元的名牌鞋，但你从他们的行为举止中能感受到真实和真诚，这当然得益于剧本的扎实和演员的演绎。比起那些假装小资、标榜文艺的作品确实高出了一大截。
也就还好吧，虚无缥缈的感觉，营销吊足了人的胃口，看完感觉也就一般，上海的小资，整体更像是话剧的感觉，倪虹洁真灵啊，李小姐和老白后续还会败给现实，
大部分人都在世俗里白活了一辈子，美其名曰热爱生活，而上海人对这种空虚的人生充满自信，让那些外地人羡慕不已。
私心给个五星。实在是太喜欢这种充满生活气息又慢悠悠的调调了，而且台词设计的很不错，第一次吃饭时那场打得有来有回，却不见半点火星，最后还是以促狭幽默结束，实在让人惊喜。
不喜欢这种表达形式下的女性视角（补充：我身边觉得好看的都是男性（可能过于身边即世界了勿杠
饭桌上你来我往的群戏是最精彩的，剧情弱了些，基本靠对话来推动。
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