You are here:
Three Lives and Only One Death

Three Lives and Only One Death

1996

Director

Raúl Ruiz

Runtime

123 minutes

Average Rating

No ratings yet

Synopsis

Four intertwining stories of bizarre occurrences in Paris featuring a man who was stolen away by fairies, a professor who becomes a tramp, the lovers who inherit a chateau – and the last tale that connects all that has gone before.

Where to Watch

Diversity & Representation

Overall Score

5.2/10

Fair


Category Breakdown

LGBTQ+ Representation

Fair

The film subverts heteronormative structures by treating identity as performative rather than absolute. While it lacks explicit, centralized LGBTQ+ character arcs, its focus on shifting personas creates a space for identity fluidity.

Gender Representation

Fair

Gender hierarchies are challenged through a dream-like structure that disrupts stable, gendered roles. Characters inhabit various roles through artifice, deconstructing the idea of inherent masculine or feminine essences.

Racial & Ethnic Diversity

Limited

The narrative prioritizes metaphysical explorations over social realism, resulting in a lack of visible, intentional intersectional casting. It avoids traditional family units but lacks a significant non-Anglo-Saxon majority.

Religious & Cultural Diversity

Good

The film excels by promoting moral relativism and subjective reality. Its intertwining, bizarre stories reject singular truths and express skepticism toward the stability of Western social and religious institutions.

Disability Representation

Fair

Characters function as metaphysical archetypes rather than social subjects. The film avoids centering disability as a moral lesson but lacks agency-driven representation of neurodivergence or physical disability.

Strengths

  • Subverts traditional gender hierarchies by treating roles as performative and unstable.
  • Challenges Western grand narratives through a focus on moral relativism and subjective reality.
  • Avoids reductive tropes like 'inspiration porn' by focusing on metaphysical rather than physiological themes.

Areas for Improvement

  • Lacks explicit, centralized LGBTQ+ character arcs or documented same-sex intimacy.
  • Shows a lack of visible, intentional intersectional casting or racial diversity.
  • Fails to provide agency-driven representation for physical or neurodivergent disabilities.

AI Analysis

Raúl Ruiz’s work operates through a postmodern lens, prioritizing ontological complexity over demographic checklists. The film’s strength lies in its rejection of absolute truths and its deconstruction of stable identities through surrealist vignettes. However, the film lacks explicit representation in several key areas. It misses opportunities for intentional intersectional casting and lacks agency-driven depictions of disability or neurodivergence, focusing instead on archetypal movements. Ultimately, the film is intellectually progressive in its narrative architecture, even if it remains thin on overt, identity-based character arcs.

How are these scores produced? →

Rate this Movie

No rating selected
Use arrow keys to select a rating from 1 to 5 stars
Optional text review, maximum 2000 characters
Tip: Wrap spoilers with ||double pipes|| to hide them
0/2000 characters
You must be signed in to submit a rating

Reviews

No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts on this movie!

Use the rating form above to leave a star rating and optional review.