Change Your Image
michel-plazanet
Reviews
Van Gogh (1991)
One of the greatest French films ever !
This is Maurice Pialat's masterpiece, one of the best French films ever !
Unlike the title may induce, it's not a Van Gogh "classic" biography as Pialat only shows the last three months of the painter's life, from his arrival in Auvers sur Oise until his suicide.
The picture is constantly moving, intelligent, funny and masterfully photographed (some sequences along the river look like Renoirs's paintings). It's as much a movie about Pialat himself as about Van Gogh.
The scene between Vincent and his brother Theo , or the ones between the latter and her wife Jo are just extraordinary. And the way Pialat films Van Gogh's agony at the Auberge Ravoux in Auvers sur Oise is the mark of a genius.
Jacques Dutronc may not be a Vincent van Gogh lookalike, he's absolutely outstanding. And Bernard Le Coq as Theo makes his best performance so far.
Unmissable!!!!!!!!!!
Around the World in 80 Days (2004)
Cecile steals the film !
Inconsistent, full of clichés and anachronisms, slowed by endless fights. Apart from the opening and closing scenes and a couple of one-liners, there's hardly anything to save in the script and the direction.
Frank Coraci is never inspired and the only fun comes from the cast. Strangely enough, nobody seems to mention Cécile de France, a young and charming Belgian actress who makes her debut in Hollywood (she had only starred in low-budget French films). In my opinion, she steals the film off Jackie Chan, who may be a kung-fu master and a great stuntman, but remains a very poor comedian. The cameos are funny, particularly the Schwarzie one, which shows that at least he's got humour.
All in all, it's really fortunate Jules Verne can't see this poor adaptation of one of his most famous novels.