Do not go to this movie if you haven't read the book by the Flemish writer Willem Elschot. This movie is very boring and lacks all interest because you cannot identify with the characters. Does Grünewald (Shaun Dingwall) love Louise Créteur (Jules Delpy) or not? Does he become a deserter at the end or is he killed in the war? Why does the German commit suicide? What happens with the old woman Gendron (Dora van der Groen)? Grünewald must be something of a German superman that an American widow falls in love with him at first sight. This movie is slow and dark, is it always raining in Paris? Behalf of that you don't feel the Parisian atmosphere. It could be London at the end of the 19th century or even a German town at the same period. The lawyer (he was a lawyer), who is the real "chief" of the pension has no personality at all, he could as well be the postman ringing at the door. The end of the movie is the best: then at last you see that Louise Créteur has feelings and that she can cry. Every time that Grünewald wants to declare his love, somebody intervenes very artificially to interrupt their tentative to some conversation. Is Grünewald the "man with black hair" who is going to ruin the life of Louise as a fortune-speller predicts? The abortion seems to be done so that Grünewald never knows it, which is impossible. And how does Grünewald react to this remains also a mystery. The war scenes are superfluous and without interest. Everybody plays on the piano in this hotel which is also without interest. The friendship with the other servant is uncomprehensible, why is she so honest? Is she really her friend? She has nothing to win by being her friend. This movie is full of riddles and at the end you say: "Let this soon be over, please".
Review of Villa des roses
