Wonderously frustrating viewing for me. I loved how the film was so focused upon the two protagonists repetitive interactions in Luchini's tax office/apartment. Yes, very much akin to a play but interactions that were far from repetitious. Interactions drawing me into the film in an implacable fashion wherein I felt as if I were the proverbial "fly on the wall" of the room. My feelings towards the two main characters were ever changing as the plot developed.
Feeling, at first, what a sick and shallow cad he was to exploit her initial misunderstanding, then; how neurotically shallow she was in her masterful manipulation of his strong (yet, so subtly revealed) need for connection after being rejected by his more normal, and quite attractive, ex lover of seven years.
I found myself continuously pushed and pulled as my support and allegiance vacillated between and for each character. How delicious to not be boxed in to a good girl/bad boy or vice versa type of plot. I love representations of the huge expression of humankind's complexity! Simplification sucks when it comes to humans.
And, barely to mention the supporting characters, all rendered so precisely to the degree necessary to advance the story without being reduced to mere stereotypes. All refreshingly understated, serving to maintain our focus upon the movie's heart - the ongoing development of a relationship between two so dissimilar people.
Leconte's ability to move this relationship forward despite Bonnaire's constant misleads and partial truths along with Luchini's often irritatingly tight leash upon his emotional expression was very masterful. All serving, for me, to set up an increasing sense of tension in need of resolution.
As a rule I dislike pat endings that stifle my imagination. In this case I'd come to care so very much for both characters that I was glad that the ending teasingly allowed me to believe that all likely ended as it was meant to be.
Feeling, at first, what a sick and shallow cad he was to exploit her initial misunderstanding, then; how neurotically shallow she was in her masterful manipulation of his strong (yet, so subtly revealed) need for connection after being rejected by his more normal, and quite attractive, ex lover of seven years.
I found myself continuously pushed and pulled as my support and allegiance vacillated between and for each character. How delicious to not be boxed in to a good girl/bad boy or vice versa type of plot. I love representations of the huge expression of humankind's complexity! Simplification sucks when it comes to humans.
And, barely to mention the supporting characters, all rendered so precisely to the degree necessary to advance the story without being reduced to mere stereotypes. All refreshingly understated, serving to maintain our focus upon the movie's heart - the ongoing development of a relationship between two so dissimilar people.
Leconte's ability to move this relationship forward despite Bonnaire's constant misleads and partial truths along with Luchini's often irritatingly tight leash upon his emotional expression was very masterful. All serving, for me, to set up an increasing sense of tension in need of resolution.
As a rule I dislike pat endings that stifle my imagination. In this case I'd come to care so very much for both characters that I was glad that the ending teasingly allowed me to believe that all likely ended as it was meant to be.