Love, etc.
(France, 1996; French with English subtitles)
Seen on 2 April 1997 for 5 pounds by myself at the Curzon Mayfair, London.
*Love, etc.* is one of those artsy French films that give good French art films a bad name. It is full of uninteresting characters with incomprehensible motivations and a lot of annoying touches that are supposed to make it more "fascinating." Truffaut's Jules et Jim is the film to which this one is compared, but Jules et Jim it ain't.
The hook in *Love, etc.* is the "odd couple" friendship of Benoit (Yvan Attal) and Pierre Thibault de Montalembert. The former is shy and odd, and not lucky with the ladies, while the latter is cocky and confident and usually arranged the blind dates. Personally, I thought Benoit was much cuter than Pierre, and I guess a zero of self-esteem makes him such a schlub that when he eventually meets Marie (Charlotte Gainsbourg) via a personal ad, it is Pierre's photo he sends to her.
So, Benoit and Marie fall in love and get married, but something odd develops between Pierre and Marie. The film's most interesting moment, cinematically, is when the wedding photos are being taken and the three principal characters speak directly to the camera about how they are feeling, while the rest of the image is still.
What ensues is painful: Pierre starts harassing Marie with protestations of love soon after the wedding. Eventually, Marie's resistance is broken and all three characters get twisted in the inevitable emotional wreckage.
I guess what bothered me most about this movie was that it confirms every horrible feeling you have about humankind. It's horrible to see a "best friend" betray another, simply because he decides at the last minute he is in love with the man's wife. Marring the film also is the "artistic" inclusion of music that is supposed to be a fine little touch, but gets very annoying very quickly.
The best performance belongs to Attal as the wronged husband and lonely soul, as he vents his rage on Marie and Pierre once he finds out he's been betrayed.
THEATRE NOTE: Despite reserved seating and plush seats, and an attentive and courteous staff, a gaggle of annoying women still had to be shushed by yours truly during the dramatic highpoint of the film. This seems to be a worldwide phenomenon.
Based on a novel by Julian Barnes. Directed by Marion Vernoux.
More movie reviews by Seth Bookey, with graphics, can be found at http://www.geocities.com/Athens/2679/kino.html
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