Oh So French...
Spoiler alert! This movie is totally, completely in French. Not just like a little: it's a full-on Frenchie. So if reading subtitles is not really on your agenda, this probably isn't the movie for you. I feel like I have already given this review an anti-French tonality. I have no problems with the French. They gave us crepes, berets, and pencil-staches.
Some other things about the movie that might drive you away: it's on the long side, the plot development is slow, and there are a lot of periods of silence (no dialogue). However, if you can get passed all of that, it's a pretty good movie. (I mean, it did get nominated for Best Picture. No big deal.) Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva are old in real life, and they play good old people in the movie. What's really impressive is that despite the slowness of the story and the characters, the climactic moments are enough to make you jolt a bit. I'll admit, in an effort to read the captions and keep up with the visuals of the movie, I got lost at times, but not badly enough to get completely lost.
The other big feature of this movie is artful metaphor. I usually stay away from movies that focus too much on artsy-fartsy stuff, but a lot of it involves music, which is a big plus in my book. It also made the movie more rewarding in the sense that if I was able to interpret the metaphors successfully, there were plenty of "a-ha!" moments for me to enjoy. The plot itself is well put-together and fairly comedic at times.
Bottom line, don't watch this movie at night as the odds of falling asleep will dramatically increase. Unless, that's your goal, then by all means, turn it on. If you're not in to the whole "film festival" movie feel, then I would lower the rating to about a 6 or 7.
Written April 19, 2013
Some other things about the movie that might drive you away: it's on the long side, the plot development is slow, and there are a lot of periods of silence (no dialogue). However, if you can get passed all of that, it's a pretty good movie. (I mean, it did get nominated for Best Picture. No big deal.) Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva are old in real life, and they play good old people in the movie. What's really impressive is that despite the slowness of the story and the characters, the climactic moments are enough to make you jolt a bit. I'll admit, in an effort to read the captions and keep up with the visuals of the movie, I got lost at times, but not badly enough to get completely lost.
The other big feature of this movie is artful metaphor. I usually stay away from movies that focus too much on artsy-fartsy stuff, but a lot of it involves music, which is a big plus in my book. It also made the movie more rewarding in the sense that if I was able to interpret the metaphors successfully, there were plenty of "a-ha!" moments for me to enjoy. The plot itself is well put-together and fairly comedic at times.
Bottom line, don't watch this movie at night as the odds of falling asleep will dramatically increase. Unless, that's your goal, then by all means, turn it on. If you're not in to the whole "film festival" movie feel, then I would lower the rating to about a 6 or 7.
Written April 19, 2013