"Lovers" -- Movie Review

 

On the final weekend of Film At Lincoln Center’s French Film Festival, I streamed the thriller “Lovers” (AKA “Amants”). 

Synopsis

When a married woman runs into her ex-lover while on vacation, will she assist him in his plot to murder her husband so they can be together again?

Story

In Paris, Lisa and Simon (Stacy Martin and Simon) are inseparable lovers – almost.  Working as a drug dealer, Simon sometimes runs off at odd hours and for extended periods of time in order to make his latest sale among his upper-crust clientele.  As lonely as Lisa gets during these times, she is sure of one thing:  at some point, Simon will return to her.  One of Simon’s customers is a young man of wealthy parents; he summons Simon to his home to make a purchase.  Simon obliges, but things go wrong when his client dies of an overdose.  He warns Lisa that the police may be after them both – so he takes off, leaving Lisa to fend for herself. 

Time passes.  Although Lisa’s heart is still broken, she tries her best to put Simon out of her mind and move on with the rest of her life.  Eventually, she meets Leo (Benoît Magimel), a considerably older man, who shows interest in her.  He is quite different from Simon, not only in terms of age, but in life in general – he works in the insurance business and is an extremely successful executive.  Providing Lisa with some semblance of a normal life not to mention financial security, she marries him.  With travel being a significant part of his job, Leo brings Lisa on some of his longer trips – one of which is to Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean.  Bad idea.

On this beautiful tropical tourist spot, Lisa has a chance run-in with Simon, who she hasn’t seen or heard from for three years.  He is now working here giving tours.  While Leo is busy working, she and Simon rekindle their love affair.  Ultimately, despite her strong attraction to Simon, she realizes her life is now with Leo, so she returns with him to their home in Geneva.  When the tourist season ends, Simon takes a leave of absence from his job and finds Lisa in Geneva.  Once again, they embark on their affair, but Simon doesn’t want to share her with Leo, so he plans to get him out of the way.  Will Lisa go along with this or will she warn her husband that he’s in danger?

Review

Although ostensibly a romantic drama, “Lovers” doesn’t really turn into a thriller until the third act, when the couple is in in their Geneva home.  Certainly, it suggests a mystery genre early on by the use of darkness and pale colors; at times, it truly seems like it is aspiring to be film noir, as many of the scenes appear to be almost completely drained of color.  So in some respects, viewers might find this reminiscent of such previous similarly-themed efforts such as “The Postman Always Rings Twice” or “Body Heat” (which may arguably have been better at the genre). 

Despite the fact that the film has some kind of a resolution in terms of the men competing for the same woman, the overall movie does not have the same feeling of a resolution.  This is because we are left asking many questions about Lisa.  In the post-screening interview (below), the interviewer seemed to have the same issue as she subtly suggested the director make a sequel so we know what happened to Lisa’s character after this harrowing event.  While not a great motion picture, it’s definitely a good one, but the final couple of scenes will leave you hanging, not fully providing sufficient closure.       

Following the screening, there was an interview with director Nicole Garcia and the star of “Lovers”, Stacy Martin.  Martin said that the central question for Lisa in this movie was how far are you willing to go for love?  Her character’s life was always defined by men in some form or fashion – whether it was her father or her romantic interests.  Garcia said of the character of Lisa that she is not a femme fatale – she doesn’t rule over others.  Instead, she’s dominated by other men.  Also, the film, as with many others, was shot out of sequence; the story structure is Paris – Mauritius – Geneva.  In reality, it was shot with the Geneva scenes first, followed by Paris with the Mauritius scenes last.   

"Love Affair(s)" -- Movie Review

 

This week during Lincoln Center’s French Film Festival, I streamed the romantic drama, “Love Affair(s)” (AKA, “The Things We Say, the Things We Do”). 

Synopsis

When a man’s visit with his cousin is interrupted by a sudden business trip, he’s forced to spend time with his cousin’s wife – but when they develop an attraction, will she leave her husband for him?

Story

Maxime (Niels Schneider) has travelled to the countryside to visit his cousin François (Vincent Macaigne) and François’ wife Daphné (Camélia Jordana).  Currently working as a translator, Maxime aspires to be a novelist; during downtime in his visit, he intends to spend it doing as much writing as possible.  The only obstacle he faces at this point is his own self-doubt.  Upon arrival at the train station, Maxime is met by Daphné, who informs him that his cousin is out of town for a few days due to a work emergency.   As a result, Maxime and Daphné will spend time alone in a big house awaiting François’ return.

Daphné, who is now three months pregnant with François’ baby, wants to get to know her husband’s cousin.  Since François told her about a recently failed romance which prompted the trip in the first place, she asks Maxime about what happened.  This sets into motion a long and unusual collection of stories about a number of his love affairs, which he eagerly shares with Daphné.  After an affair with a married woman ends when she moves to Japan to work with her husband, he runs into an old female friend, who rekindles romantic sparks.  Once Maxime introduces her to a male friend, the troika eventually form a “throuple”. 

As it turns out, Daphné has her own tales of romantic woe from her past.  When her hopes for a relationship with a mentor fades, she stumbles upon François.  She remains emotionally distant and unavailable to him, just using their trysts purely for sex.  François, however, doesn’t experience it the same way; the more he is with Daphné, the deeper he falls in love with her.  Finally, however, he reveals the truth:  he’s married.  At that point, François needs to figure out how to end things with his wife.  But as Daphné and Maxime exchange their stories, an intimacy develops.  Will she wind up leaving François for Maxime?              

Review

As you get drawn into the rabbit hole of odd love stories being told in “Love Affair(s)” (the original French title being “Les choses qu'on dit, les choses qu'on fait”), it is easy to overlook other details – such as the cinematography or the costume design, but especially, the soundtrack.  The music that was selected in this film was excellent – not only the choices, but also the decisions of when to use which piece of music.  It is certainly part of the magic of this movie in that it hooks you in on an emotional level so that you find yourself deeply involved in scenes that would otherwise seem superficial. 

It seems that only the French can adequately encapsulate the feelings of love – or perhaps more accurately, the sensuality – that people feel and all too often bury in the course of their life, resulting in a form of self-sabotage.  We sometimes seem to deliberately dehumanize ourselves when we ignore our most primal urges and desires.  French filmmakers have reminded us over the years that this is wrong – we’ve got it backwards.  An almost hedonistic philosophy, they seem to be telling us to live your life through your soul rather than through your material possessions. 

Following the screening, there was an interview with the film’s writer/director, Emmanuel Mouret.  One of the themes of “Love Affair(s)” is the idea of love being a possessive act versus being an act of selflessness.  The director said that he took this theme as a starting point for his film – it is a complex gesture in that it takes kindness and devotion, yet it is done in a manipulative fashion and the character who claims to have done this has simply lied in order to save herself.  Mouret said that the idea for the movie did not come from a need to try to convey a message.  Instead, he found the concept of multiple concurrent (and complicated) love stories being told to be exciting.    

"Another Round" -- Movie Review

 

This week, Film at Lincoln Center provided a special screening of the Danish comedy-drama, “Another Round” (AKA, “Druk”), starring Mads Mikkelsen. 

Synopsis

When a group of friends experiment with alcohol, how will this impact their life – both personally and professionally?

Story

Martin (Mikkelsen) has been teaching for a long time -- so have several of his colleagues.  They’re currently finding themselves at something of a dead end in both their personal and professional lives.  Finding their family life a dud and not particularly motivated to teach any longer, they find a possible way to get out of their rut:  alcohol.  When the men go out to dinner one night, one of them happens to mention that there is a belief that maintaining a minimum Blood Alcohol Level could actually enrich one’s life.  The men decide to embark on a little experiment:  sustain a moderate buzz throughout the day to see its impact.

One of the things in Martin’s life that has been suffering is his relationship with his wife, Anika (Maria Bonnevie).  For one thing, they are on different schedules because she works a night shift and they rarely see each other as they share the responsibility of caring for their teenage sons.  Another dead spot for Martin is his role as an educator; he is bored teaching and it shows -- his students are obviously lacking interest in his daily classes.  However, once his secret experiment begins, his life seems to turn around almost immediately.  Martin suddenly becomes more enthusiastic in his classes -- students pick up on this and their attitude changes.

This enthusiasm translates into his family life as well.  Martin becomes more romantic with Anika and even takes the initiative to plan a family vacation with their boys.  His confidence level becomes such that he feels that increasing his alcohol level will improve his performance even further.  Why not?  After all, he seems perfectly capable of moderating his intake and doesn’t appear to be bordering on alcoholism.  Since Martin believes he can handle his drinking, he and his friends drink more with increasing frequency.  But when Anika leaves him after observing some serious behavioral changes, will Martin wind up losing his family?

Review

Fellow alcohol lovers, rejoice!  With “Another Round”, we finally, we have a reason to be proud of our chosen vice.  The solution itself plays a role as both the hero and the villain in this story as it simultaneously enhances and depreciates the quality of life of the various protagonists.  What makes “Another Round” worthwhile is that it is even-handed in its approach toward the characters’ flirtation with borderline alcoholism:  on the one hand, it romanticizes the joy of its ephemeral sense of liberation while also not shying away from the fact that living a life in excess can clearly have a destructive impact on many levels. 

The cast is splendid and appear to have an excellent chemistry – you truly believe that these men could be friends in real life.  What’s clear, though, is that they are using alcohol in order to deal with what amounts to a mid-life crisis:  these men are feeling their youth slowly slip away from them and resort to the behavior of adolescents.  For those that are married, the wife must be the sole grownup in the relationship – these women are discouraged to learn that their partner is just another child (albeit an overgrown one) who must be cared for or punished, depending on the circumstances at the time. 

Following the screening, there was an interview with the writer/director of “Another Round”, Thomas Vinterberg.  Vinterberg noted that his film is supposed to be funny; instead of being moralistic, it is rather a celebration of alcohol.  However, he does realize that there is certainly a dark side:  it can kill people and destroy families.  He believes that people drink when excited to maintain that feeling; problems and censorship tend to disappear.  There are no angry drunks in the movie – this is a group of fun-loving friends who genuinely enjoy each other’s company.  Vinterberg points out that none of the actors were actually drunk during the shoot – he believed in the cast’s ability to be professional and merely “act” drunk. 

"Margaux Hartmann" -- Movie Review

 

This week at Lincoln Center’s French Film Festival, I streamed the drama, “Margaux Hartmann” (AKA, “The Embrace”).

Synopsis

Can a middle-aged woman rebuild her life after a devastating loss?

Story

Six months ago, Margaux (Emmanuelle Béart) became a widow; after being married for many years, her husband succumbed following a long illness.  Now, she is looking to hit the reset button on her life – and she feels that the best way to do this is to move from her home in Nice to live in her sister’s house in Versailles.  While there, she decides to register for some classes at the local university – partly in hopes to distract her from her grief and partly with the aspiration of finding a new career.  Taking classes with students seeking a Masters degree, she is clearly the oldest one there. 

As far as romance is concerned, Margaux is a bit unsure.  She manages to hit it off with one of her professors, but when their assignation doesn’t exactly go as planned, she immediately transfers out of his class.  Margaux develops friendships with some of her fellow students, but after a while, it becomes clear that because of her age, she does not totally fit in with them.  She’s feeling alone and doesn’t want to go the rest of her life without a man, but she realizes that she needs to find someone who is age-appropriate.  But if she’s only hanging around with people a quarter of a century young than she is, how can that happen?

Eventually, Margaux gets the idea to join a dating service that is specific to her age group.  She then begins a series of adventures, mostly unsatisfactory.  One man she finds attractive agrees to meet with her in a café – only to learn that he is unemployed and has no prospects.  Onward.  Another man she finds from this web site just wants sex – and Margaux, surprisingly, is just fine with that.  So she meets him at his apartment on a few occasions and begins to feel better about things – until she learns that he’s been lying to her and is married with children.  One especially bad experience almost winds up with her being gang-raped, which she manages to escape.  With things turning out this way, can Margaux find happiness in her studies regardless of whether she finds romance?      

Review

“Margaux Hartmann” (or “L'étreinte”, its original French title) is a touching story about how we deal with the aftermath of a great loss – and sometimes, how we don’t deal with that loss.  Margaux seemingly bounces from one experience to another not unlike the ball in a pinball machine – and yet she doesn’t really seem to fully absorb or learn much from any of them.  It seems as though she is merely in survival mode.  One key aspect to this is the fact that she has no children, which would presumably anchor her.  Instead, she is more childlike herself in many ways.  After many years, Margaux is learning how to interact with men after being married so long.

While the episodes of her various adventures are fascinating, where the film ultimately falls apart is in its ending, which is quite a disappointment.  The story never fully resolves and its climax is, well, rather anticlimactic.  Basically, Margaux seems off on yet another adventure without having gained very much in the way of knowledge – especially, self-knowledge.  She still doesn’t know what she wants or how to go about getting this ephemeral objective.  As a result, the totality of the movie is a bit unsatisfying and underwhelming – which is a shame, because everything before it seemed to be really building to something special.   

Following the screening, there was an interview with director Ludovic Bergery and star Emmanuelle Béart.  Bergery said that much of his inspiration came from his childhood, watching movies with his mother and experiencing them through her eyes as a single parent.  Such films as Scorsese’s “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore”, Cassavetes’ “A Woman Under The Influence” and Antonioni’s “The Eclipse” were included as the inspirations for “Margaux Hartmann”.  Béart said that the character touched some very intimate and private areas of her personality and that she had no memory of her performance during the shoot.      

"Faithful" -- Movie Review

On the opening weekend of Lincoln Center’s French Film Festival, I streamed the historical drama “Faithful” (AKA “De nos frères blessés”).

Synopsis

When an Algerian man fights for his country’s freedom from France, he is imprisoned for allegedly planting a bomb -- but can his Polish wife secure his freedom?

Story

In the 1950’s, Fernand (Vincent Lacoste) met Hélène (Vicky Krieps) at a Paris nightclub.  They could not be more different -- and yet they fell in love.  He is an Arab Algerian in town to have some medical tests conducted; she is a single mother from Poland who moved here to flee the communists in her homeland.  An interesting contrast to Fernand, as she comes to learn, because he is a staunch communist who actively opposes France’s occupation in his country, as well as the French treatment of Arabs.  Eventually, Fernand and Hélène marry; she takes her son and moves to Algiers with her new husband.   

Upon returning to Fernand’s home, Hélène is now able to see firsthand the oppression by the French government as well as their mistreatment of Algeria’s native Arab inhabitants.  Fernand becomes a member of a group dedicated to seek his country’s freedom from the French -- but when he is arrested for planting a bomb at the factory where he works, he is immediately thrown into prison to await trial.  During the trial, it comes out that Fernand placed only one bomb (not the two he was accused of) and that it was set near a deserted warehouse, timed to go off after his fellow factory workers have long gone.  

By the end of the trial, the tribunal’s verdict is that Fernand is guilty and must return to prison where he will await his fate -- a death sentence where he will face the guillotine.  Hélène then frantically meets with Fernand’s public defenders to form a strategy that will at the very least rescue her husband from a certain death -- and hopefully, free him from prison.  Having a connection close to the French government, they decide to go the public relations route -- get articles published about Fernand to make him out to be more of a victim than a traitor.  But with Fernand’s execution date already set, can Hélène rescue him in time?  

Review

One of the things that’s especially interesting about “Faithful” is the fact that most of us aren’t quite so familiar with the history of the French occupation of Algiers, making this movie quite informative.  In retrospect, it is curious that the French colonization of Algiers continued after World War II -- following the Nazi’s occupation of France.  Following a long and bloody war that lasted eight years, Algeria finally won its independence from France, with Algiers winding up as its capital.  Additionally, this film is not only based on true events, but also on real people who experienced this struggle for freedom.  

The main actors appeared to have a real chemistry and the portrayal of their relationship is as gripping as the story itself.  It was a good choice telling this tale as a feature-length film rather than as a documentary because the couple’s love story really draws you in to the bigger issue of the Arab Algerians battling the Christian French in order to earn freedom and equality.  It is also quite uncomfortable to watch, knowing of the social injustices of that period clearly mirror those that occur around the world -- and in particular, here in the United States.  The narrative, however, is told in multiple flashbacks, which can be occasionally confusing.    

Following the viewing, there was an interview with Vincent Lacoste, who played Fernand in  “Faithful”.  Lacoste said that while this is based on the lives of actual people, the film is loosely based on a novel about this period; as a result, when he took the role, he not only read the novel but also did a bit of a deep-dive into historical documents about Fernand and Helene.  He wound up having to do this because most French are not particularly familiar with this period of their country’s history.  Due to the pandemic, “Faithful” has not yet been released in France, so Lacoste is curious as to what the audience reaction will be.