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NormanH
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  • 1 month later...

The Big Picture (original title: L'homme qui voulait vivre sa vie) tonight on BBC4 at 10pm UK time / 11pm FR time.

"An executive with a seemingly perfect life discovers his wife is having an affair, and murders her lover in a moment of madness. He escapes the law by assuming his victim's identity and making a fresh start on the Adriatic coast, which leads him to realise what was missing in his life before."

Drama, starring Romain Duris, Marina Fois and Niels Arestrup. In French with subtitles.

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I saw Amour last night - a most harrowing experience. For all that, I could only marvel at the quality of a film that set out so starkly the issues of old age, ill health, caring for a loved one and the loneliness they all engender.

Detaching myself from the subject matter, I could understand quite a lot of the French, and yet again in a French film, I thought how the actors never seem as if they're acting. One scene lasting about two minutes showed the main male character cutting the heads off a bunch of flowers. I bet he didn't have to do it more than once despite his hands shaking. 

It's not a film to enjoy, but it's a very good film.

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I saw it this weekend too.

As you say absolutely brilliant technically, both in terms of acting and of cinematography.

You might think it was a documentary, so naturally do the two leads act.

I greatly admire that side of the film.

At the same time I found myself wondering "Why?"

We see the minute details of the daily routine of looking after some one in decline, with the difficulties and tedium that entails, and it could be argued that this is the Director's way of getting the audience to share the humdrum of experience, even at the risk of boring them.

Up to that point I can agree with what he is doing, and there are some wonderfully  black ironic moments as when an old pupil, now a successful concert pianist visits, but finds he has forgotten the CD he meant to bring.

This invisibility and irrelevance  of the old and invalid is well observed, but I am not convinced that the film doesn't tip over into a needless invasion of privacy (even though they are fictional characters)

At one point he locks the bedroom where his wife is lying ill when their daughter comes to visit.

When she wants to know how things are going he says

"Rien de tout cela mérite d'etre montré"

"Nothing of all that deserves to be shown"

I think that was my final sentiment. We are shown with great brilliance,but not all that much compassion, things that might be better left  private.

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[quote user="Clair"]

The Big Picture (original title: L'homme qui voulait vivre sa vie) tonight on BBC4 at 10pm UK time / 11pm FR time.

"An executive with a seemingly perfect life discovers his wife is having an affair, and murders her lover in a moment of madness. He escapes the law by assuming his victim's identity and making a fresh start on the Adriatic coast, which leads him to realise what was missing in his life before."

Drama, starring Romain Duris, Marina Fois and Niels Arestrup. In French with subtitles.

[/quote]

Enjoyed this, Romain Duris carried it along intensely. He is on the run and ends up in Montenegro.

Niels Arestrup who was in the Prophet plays a drunk journalist

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What an interesting viewpoint, Norman.

I think that the film maker's detachment is necessary to avoid sentimentality. Yes we are invited into an intensely private situation, which I think we view with pity and horror, but I did not feel like an intruder, this could be us!

Maybe at 2 hours and 10 min the film was a trifle long, and I was aware that some of the audience were fidgeting, but for me this was thought-provoking. Definitely not your feel-good film. 

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  • 3 months later...
Excellent film, previously discussed HERE

Got the DVD and what a fine performance from Kristin Scott Thomas...

I spotted the name Serge Hazanavicius alongside KST's name, and have just realised he is the brother of Michel Hazanavicius, best know for The Artist and the spy spoofs OSS 117 films, all starring Jean Dujardin.

PS: I did not type their name. I cheated and used copy & paste! [;-)]

PPS: Still haven't seen The Artist...

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  • 2 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Hardly ambling.........I thought Depardieu acted the part very sensitively and was totally believable in his rôle.

Whilst light-hearted, it nevertheless has much to say about the nature of love, its different manifestations and disguises.

There were also some lines that made me laugh out loud.

Lovely film IMHO [:)]

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  • 4 months later...
A film which is just about to come out and which promises a lot is Avant l'Hiver which  is by Phillipe Claudel starring Kristin Scott Thomas and Daniel Auteil.

Paul est un neurochirurgien de soixante ans. Quand on est marié

à Lucie, le bonheur ne connait jamais d’ombre. Mais un jour, des

bouquets de roses commencent à être livrés anonymement chez eux au même

moment où Lou, une jeune fille de vingt ans, ne cesse de croiser le

chemin de Paul.

Alors commencent à tomber les masques : les uns et les

autres sont-ils vraiment ce qu’ils prétendent être ? La vie de Paul et

Lucie est-elle celle dont ils avaient rêvé ? Qui ment et qui est vrai ?

Est-il encore temps, juste avant l’hiver de la vie, d’oser révéler les

non-dits et les secrets ? Où sont les monstres et qui sont les anges ?

Phillipe Claudel and  Kristin Scott Thomas were of course involved with  'Il y longtemps que je vous aime'

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  • 1 year later...
  • 2 months later...
Comme un Avion is on my list of films to see.[:)]

I recently saw "My old Lady" which is set in Paris.

Kristen Scott Thomas, Kevin Kline and Maggie Smith, all three well cast. O.K. it was not in French but never the less quite a good film to go and see on a dull evening.

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  • 7 months later...
Hello Ashley,

I'm delighted to see someone else interested in this thread which I have let drift a bit since not many people seem very interested.

I loved "La Vie D’Adele" and not for the sex scene but because of the poignant and difficult love affair.

I haven't seen the other two yet but your recommendation made me Google the trailers and I think they look excellent [:)]

A good list of recent films is here:

http://www.filmsdefrance.com/gallery/Best_Of_Films_2010.html

although it is a bit of a mixed bunch there are quite a few I would have missed other wise as well as a few duds.

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[quote user="NormanH"]I'm delighted to see someone else interested in this thread which I have let drift a bit since not many people seem very interested.[/quote]I may not be contributing but I am interested in the thread.

I don't get much chance to discover new French films so I've been relying on this thread  for some time to point me in the direction of ones which might be worth watching. Please do keep posting if you have recommendations.

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