Lou123 Reviews

Tell No One (2006)

Canet gets his degree !

[8/10 · 2 November 2006]

A very good second film for this young director, and in a genre which is not always a "day at the beach" for french directors... I'm not talking about directors like Melville or others of that generation, but for some of Canet's generation which prefer too easily to use sophisticated special effects and endless fights to fill up their scenes. Canet always stays close, very close to his characters and their feelings, and his storyline/plot and gives the audience an excellent humanistic suspense…

The film exists by itself, and doesn't need to be compared to the novel (that I read and liked), because it's transposed in another culture, with different rhythms, variations in the original characters

**** SPOILERS*****

(thanks Mr. Canet for making the psychopath "fingers" killer … a woman ! . Good idea !. And François Berleand, as a police inspector who has a little obsessive-compulsive disorder, and giving yourself the most disgusting part). Excellent choices that add subtle details to the french version.

Two hours of good cinema, good directing of actors, and needless to say that François Cluzet is a great great actor (Gee, brought me to tears at the end, very moving last scene BTW).

An excellent adaptation, well directed, not pretentious ! Canet gets his degree. Congratulations !

Premiers regards (2004– )

A good lesson of cinema

[10/10 · 15 April 2006]

Unfortunately only saw part 3 and 4 of that documentary on TV but It was very interesting, giving a great view of European and American cinema of those times. I particularly liked the way it was constructed. The evolution of cinema through historical human events, followed through the eyes of two witnesses, a woman expatriated in Hollywood and a man living in Paris.

It brought up different themes, among others... how American cinema has invaded (for the better and the worse) our screens, the censorship that started in Germany in the 30s, how politics and cinema can get along well sometimes, how actors were building their careers, the great creators like Renoir, Duvivier and Carne... among others...

Many US/French "classics" that after seeing the documentary you want to discover or re-see... May I recommend this documentary ?... Yes, my pleasure !

Love Me If You Dare (2003)

Love and life... in a box

[8/10 · 27 September 2005]

Love and life... hidden, and alive, in a box you've kept since childhood... in which you have enclosed everything you cared for... There's some some evocation of "Toto Le Hero" and "Amelie Poulain" in that film... but the film goes behind the curtain of Toto and Amelie...

Total love, total game, total selfishness... It's a metaphor, a dream, a way back to suffering and happiness... They play, they suffer, and they're happy, together...

I spent a good moment with them...

Marion Cotillard is an actress I've really discovered in that film... very moving, very true... and that accent typically parisian that I've not heard recently in many films. She's certainly one of the greatest french actress of the late ten years.

The Child (2005)

Good one .... and above all GREAT ACTORS !!!!

[7/10 · 17 September 2005]

I can't say that I'm a fan of the previous Dardennes' movies... Saw Rosetta and "Le fils" and... well... didn't really go INTO them as I would have liked... probably because of the way (at the time) they were filmed ... sort of "dogma inspired" way of filming... following the neck/back of the characters, moving all the time... that makes me sea-sick... That's a detail that can make you laugh but something that disturbs me a lot from the story and that must not be used all the time in a film I think...

To me, the film is first a love story between two young people, two kids in a way (more the guy than the girl) more than a social drama... a true one... but nevertheless standing in a social context that is obviously proposed from the first images, and that counts and is indissociable from the characters and what they live and are living in.

What I felt is a real empathy for those two young lovers... Their love, their strength - each one trying to find a future, a new future... with their own means... Through money, through surviving, through a baby... through tears and the rare basic things of life they know or have been taught of...

It's 1h35 you're watching a young man grow...

My great enthusiasm for the film is also because of the actors. Jeremie Renier and Deborah Francois... They shine, they tremble and they're so true... I will also add the young boy who play Steve.. The film wouldn't be as touching without them... Wonderful belgian actors !!! BEST wishes to you all, you deserve it ! (Little moment of chauvinism, sorry LOL... anyway...

This is a film I would recommend...

The Player (1992)

A great Altman !

[10/10 · 30 January 2003]

A film I re-saw on TV tonight with a great great pleasure. A little cynical but realistic on how the Hollywoodian system can work... The end is ironical and very bright ! Altman has the intelligence of not preaching against the system but showing it as it works. The best lesson ever !

Gangs of New York (2002)

A real great moment of cinema

[10/10 · 9 January 2003]

(Almost) 3 hours of great cinema, great acting and great art. Gangs is a treasure ! It brings out so many themes, so many thoughts, so many feelings that you need time to get out of it... And when you're leaving the theatre, you already know that you'll come back to see it again.

The sets, built in Cinecitta are pure wonders, the two leading actors are fantastic, the costumes, the cinematography, everything... You realize that each detail you see on the screen was though/imagined created by true and very talented artists...

And I won't speak about the directing... Monsieur SCORSESE... You have made a film that I will never forget. Grazzie mille / Thank you very much for continuing to give audiences such an intense, intelligent and rich work. BRAVO again !

La chambre des officiers (2001)

Very moving film

[14 November 2002]

This could have been an easy soppy boring film, but it's not, absolutely not ! It's a film full of humanity, of hope, love, and confidence in life. Of course, many scenes are tragic, unbearable but those "broken faces" can also make us laugh and believe in life... It's also a very interesting historical testimony of those hidden victims of the 1st World War... and though the film never enter into political debates, it's a real plea for peace. A great great film !