You might want to brush up on your ancient Sanskrit before going to see "Youth Without Youth" (Sony Classics). This visually rich but dramatically deficient fable ponders everything from the nature of language and time to the possibilities of reincarnation.

When 70-year-old Romanian scholar Dominic Matei (Tim Roth) is struck by lightning on a street in Bucharest in 1938, he is horribly burned and nearly killed. Yet, as he recovers, he gradually begins to regain his youth and also acquires superhuman powers. In addition, he develops a double of himself who may be real or merely imaginary.

Under the protection of his doctor, Professor Stanciulescu (Bruno Ganz), Matei assumes a new identity and returns to his research. Yet he is still in danger, since the Nazis, with whom the Romanian authorities are sympathetic, want to "study" him. They dispatch a female spy, known only as "the Woman in Room 6" (Alexandra Pirici), who succeeds in seducing him and recording his conversations. But an attempt to kidnap him fails.

Fleeing to Switzerland, Matei meets Veronica (Alexandra Maria Lara), a tourist who looks exactly like the deceased woman he loved in his youth. She, too, has been struck by lightning, with equally startling effects.

Can Matei follow Veronica back through history as she regresses to earlier and earlier incarnations, thereby discovering the secret that has long obsessed him -- the true origin of human language? Writer-director Francis Ford Coppola's film captivates the eye but numbs the mind as it moves at a snail's pace through surreal images and didactic conversations.

Based on a novella by Mircea Eliade, a Romanian writer and historian of religion, "Youth Without Youth" is talky, arcane and -- despite its vast geographical sweep from Romania to Switzerland and on to India -- somehow claustrophobic. The verbal exploration of eroticism and portrayal of sexual activity within the film are also excessively detailed.

The film contains graphic nonmarital sexual activity; side, rear and upper female nudity; the strong imagery of a burn victim; light sexual references; and a suicide theme. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

Movies have been evaluated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishop's Office for Film and Broadcasting according to artistic merit and moral suitability. The reviews include the USCCB rating, the Motion Picture Association of America rating, and a brief synopsis of the movie.

The classifications are as follows:

• A-I -- general patronage;
• A-II -- adults and adolescents;
• A-III -- adults;
• A-IV**
• L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. L replaces the previous classification, A-IV.
• O -- morally offensive.