Sad because it reminds you what french cinema once was and what it could still be today. Sad also because it gets only 6 out of 10 which reminds you french cinema is not about to get better. I'm even fairly certain that if this had not been directed by Tavernier who made his notoriety in a very different time, this movie would not even have been financed.
If it can be called bad, the only bad aspect of this movie is that the story isn't important nor interesting in a general way. Then again this is the usual with Tavernier and to me this is the most obvious aspect of his genius. Nowadays you give someone the billions dollars empire of Disney and the Star Wars story and they'll make unwatchable movies. While Tavernier can make an amazing movie with a banal story. Yeah, basically it's only about this girl everyone is in love with. Like the cover image shows, four men looking at one girl. If it sounds like something you'd hate, don't let prejudices prevent you from discovering this treasure. As they say, don't judge a book(or movie) by it's cover.
What makes this movie so great is everything else than the story itself. Characters, dialogues, cinematography, scenery, acting, costumes, historical context and last but not least the exquisite quality of the french language. This movie is like something you'd see in the 1960s but with a modern touch. This is like this a rare bottle of wine that you will only taste once in your life and spend the rest of your life hoping you'll find the taste again. You can savor every words they say in this film, every scenes, every costumes. I could go on but seriously I was baffled at how good this movie is.
The girl does a good performance, true she is not to my liking so I wasn't impressed. Yet the passion the men have for her makes the whole thing credible even if you think she's not that special. The four men after her all did an outstanding performance. Specially her husband. The husband is so good you always hope he will be in the next scene. The dialogues are smart and serious. This is a serious movie to be enjoyed by serious people or people in a serious mood. Like a good wine, this is something you give to someone who can appreciate good wine.
I also liked how this movie was free of any propaganda. I didn't feel any criticism of gender roles of the time, religions, wars or nobility. There was no politically correct bias or anything. This movie was very understanding of the time it was depicting. This was so refreshing. They showed that the men were forced into marriage as the women were. As one of the character said "we pay dearly the privileges of our birth ranks". There was the Catholics against Protestants wars going on but it was merely a background story. There's no sides or ideologies or messages. The only morals you can find in this movie are morals you can apply to any place at any time. So we could say this movie is universally great. You can be absolutely certain that for example, if it could be very well dubbed in english, the anglophones would adore this movie. Even the British don't do similar drama of this era of such quality and they try very hard to.
Finally, French people need to be reminded that they have a great historical, cultural and architectural heritage. In some way, like the British, you French have a duty to provide quality movies like this one. You owe it to all the "francophonie" and the rest of the world. No one else but you can do it. The state takes your money in taxes to provide vile entertainment. The least you can do when by miracle an outstanding movie like this is made is to give it a good rating... I mean how is this not a great movie for it's type ? When they make really good stuff french people don't even watch it and the rest of us french speaking people get to see it years later only to be told it didn't make money in France... I mean... Dear France, please get your **** together !!!
Thanks.
If it can be called bad, the only bad aspect of this movie is that the story isn't important nor interesting in a general way. Then again this is the usual with Tavernier and to me this is the most obvious aspect of his genius. Nowadays you give someone the billions dollars empire of Disney and the Star Wars story and they'll make unwatchable movies. While Tavernier can make an amazing movie with a banal story. Yeah, basically it's only about this girl everyone is in love with. Like the cover image shows, four men looking at one girl. If it sounds like something you'd hate, don't let prejudices prevent you from discovering this treasure. As they say, don't judge a book(or movie) by it's cover.
What makes this movie so great is everything else than the story itself. Characters, dialogues, cinematography, scenery, acting, costumes, historical context and last but not least the exquisite quality of the french language. This movie is like something you'd see in the 1960s but with a modern touch. This is like this a rare bottle of wine that you will only taste once in your life and spend the rest of your life hoping you'll find the taste again. You can savor every words they say in this film, every scenes, every costumes. I could go on but seriously I was baffled at how good this movie is.
The girl does a good performance, true she is not to my liking so I wasn't impressed. Yet the passion the men have for her makes the whole thing credible even if you think she's not that special. The four men after her all did an outstanding performance. Specially her husband. The husband is so good you always hope he will be in the next scene. The dialogues are smart and serious. This is a serious movie to be enjoyed by serious people or people in a serious mood. Like a good wine, this is something you give to someone who can appreciate good wine.
I also liked how this movie was free of any propaganda. I didn't feel any criticism of gender roles of the time, religions, wars or nobility. There was no politically correct bias or anything. This movie was very understanding of the time it was depicting. This was so refreshing. They showed that the men were forced into marriage as the women were. As one of the character said "we pay dearly the privileges of our birth ranks". There was the Catholics against Protestants wars going on but it was merely a background story. There's no sides or ideologies or messages. The only morals you can find in this movie are morals you can apply to any place at any time. So we could say this movie is universally great. You can be absolutely certain that for example, if it could be very well dubbed in english, the anglophones would adore this movie. Even the British don't do similar drama of this era of such quality and they try very hard to.
Finally, French people need to be reminded that they have a great historical, cultural and architectural heritage. In some way, like the British, you French have a duty to provide quality movies like this one. You owe it to all the "francophonie" and the rest of the world. No one else but you can do it. The state takes your money in taxes to provide vile entertainment. The least you can do when by miracle an outstanding movie like this is made is to give it a good rating... I mean how is this not a great movie for it's type ? When they make really good stuff french people don't even watch it and the rest of us french speaking people get to see it years later only to be told it didn't make money in France... I mean... Dear France, please get your **** together !!!
Thanks.