I was totally drawn in by the film, looked down at my popcorn, looked up and it was over. It was like the budget ran out and they abruptly ended the film. There was no sense of closure ... I wanted to know what happened to the characters.
shareIt was abrupt, but also realistic. I assume they just lived out the occuption the best they could, she probably having to get some kind of job to keep her family together.
But remember, this was a movie in which not much was conventional. Rather than a kick butt super mom who was handling everything well, Beart was a woman just trying to hold herself together. It was only her rigid, school teacher mentality, that kept her from falling completely apart. ( She was so used to order and the need to keep busy that she cleaned the windows on the the abandoned house where they were hiding?)
And she did not automatically go to bat for Yvan when he was in police custody.
The only things that mattered to her were her children's safety and her own safety. In other words, she was a very real person, not a movie character. That's what made it work for me. It was a portrait of a very real person under highly stressful conditions. And despite what we see in the movies, not everyone acts heroically under such circumstances.
I interpreted her obsessive cleaning with a nesting instinct, not necessarily her rigid personality. I related it to my personal experience, since I'm pregnant and cannot stop cleaning some nights. I think she was being maternal.
I don't disagree with you that the movie was realistic. Like I said in my previous post, I was really into it. I just didn't like the abrupt ending.
Was Yvan in a mental institution or a jail/prison? That butt love scene was pretty... strange.... Also, at first when he held up the ligther I thought he was going to burn off her nipple...
shareI saw this movie yesterday. I totally agree with you about the lighter...I was so confused! out of nowhere he was holding it so close, and she was just standing there going "what are you doing?"
(spoooooiler alert!)
i was pretty much confused by the sex scene. i mean, the posters for the movie show the two leads in the throes of passion (which I think sucks, because everyone who has seen the poster knows its coming, yet it isn't until the end of the movie and its very...well, strange!)
there was no segue, either. she ends her convo with the soldier and the next thing you know she's outside making out with Yvan.
When he flips her over and says "this is the only way I know how to do it" I thought "what the heck?" but after the ending, it makes more sense. Lots of nonconsensual sex happens in mental institutions and it was likely an all-male institution. But why would he say that to her...I felt like it had to do with the fact that they had trouble trusting each other earlier in the movie...but it just didn't fly for me. I'm sorry, but that was just unrealistic that they went straight into anal sex with no lubrication and no "relaxing" foreplay, and all she was doing was groaning slightly? it would hurt like hell!!!
Kinda gross for me to dwell on the details, BUT clearly this was a very important part in the movie...after all, the poster shows them making out with their shirts off and this is the only time they do that :P
My friend and I have had much fun with that line "this is the only way I know how to do it." We tend to throw it out in moments of silence...
I get tired of the bitchy female lead thing.... She was such a bitch to him for the longest time. He saved her life and helped her over and over and she kept badgering him for ever...
The more I think of the movie the more it pales...
He was holding the lighter so close because he wanted to get a good look at her nakedness. He has never seen a naked woman before, let a lone a beautiful naked woman despite her being a lot older (we are talking about an ageless woman here). Since he has never seen a naked woman in his life, naturally he has never had sex with a woman. But he has done a lot of gay sex and *beep* in prison therefore the reason for him saying "this is the only way I know how to do it." Also, maybe he didn't want to seem like a virgin although he admits to her he has never done in a vagina. First time sex, be it putting it in a vagina or butt, is complicated.
But I agree with you that it would hurt like hell without lubricant (yes, been there done that).
About the poster: I think it is the international release that has picture of them making out. Let me know if I am wrong. I have never seen the French release dvd jacket or poster.
The ending was fine with me. It matched the whole idea of Yvan being unimportant to her (or that she pretends to be ["typecast cold-bitch character"]). I do not need highly polished endings to enjoy a movie. But I can understand your frustration.
He spit on his fingers, thats the lube he used...i thought that was obvious.
sharestaceyinfo, I thought the same thing too. As he held the lighter, I thought, what a sick man, lol....
shareskeletor - Absolutely. But that wasn't the only thing that was wrong with this film.
I gave it an 8.5. That was for excellent screenplay, highly involving performances by the two male leads, Gaspard Ulliel and Gregoire Leprince-Ringuet, and an excellent tension brought about by good camera work and pacing (i.e., editing and direction). Where it failed and failed repeatedly in small increments was with Emmanuelle Beart. The woman's face is totally immobile and she barely knows how to move her body. She tries to convey everything with her voice. Yes, yes, she was a stiff upper bourgeoisie housewife and totally out of touch with reality. But as an actress, she needed to convey stress and inner tumoil to the audience. She was practically a wooden board. It was Ulliel and Leprince-Ringuet's performances that MADE this movie.
And that last scene--why wasn't the camera on Odile's face, lingering there while she absorbed what she had just been told? Where was the body language? Events had horribly changed in a snap. At that point she was no longer putting up barriers between herself and Yvan. He was part of the family; she loved him, even. Shouldn't some kind of torture showing the cruelty of her reversal of fortune have been conveyed? It was also done much too abruptly. And I'm not going to accept that this is French acting. I have seen plenty of French film in my lifetime to know that hers is a stilted style which unfortunately pervades the ranks of French actresses. But I have also seen otherwise so know it could have been more emotionally involving.
The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable.
Totally agree. I've just come from watching the movie and I thought it was going to be a good one. First of all, there were moments when I was looking at my watch thinking: "How and when the hell is the film going to end?"
I didn't like neither Béart character nor her. I think she was a naïve woman, thinking that everything would be OK if her kids behaved well.
Her son was much mature than her, the girl was a pain in the ass and Yvan was... completely weird.
SPOILER
I also think that the sex scene was a weird one. First, the guy tells Béart in the kitchen that she could be his wife and there's a kind of flirtation there that could have been taken to explore more the characters and make them have sex after that. Nevertheless, Béart waits until the soldier goes to sleep to "harass" the guy. And the butt scene, I totally agree with someone that said that it is impossible to do it like that, with no "preparation" before.
I didn't like the film. I should recommend, for the ones that haven't seen it yet, "Lila dit ça" or "Lila says". It's a nice one.
Abrupt endings aren't new. I noticed that such an ending was very reminiscent of Haneke's Les Temps Du Loup where it has a similar ending with a tracking shot and cuts to the credits.
Do The Mussolini! Headkick!
First of all, there were moments when I was looking at my watch thinking: "How and when the hell is the film going to end?"
It took me more than one viewing to truely appriciate this love story. The first time i was busy reading the subtitle! (and got distrated by gaspard! I'm a big fan) The 2nd time around, i can see the subtile tention between Yvan & Odeli, espacially the scene in the kitchen after be brought in 3 fishes. "other than bringing the food, is there anything about me that interest you?" wow! i didn't get it the first time.
I wish there are alternate ending to this love story. In the dvd extra, there are 2 long interviews with gaspard & the director, interesting conversation on their view of the charactors. Gaspard is the one who feel that Yvan should be more mysterious & dark instead of a happy teen as the author original envision. In the separate interview with the author, he said he was very please with the outcome of the adaptation, lots of changes were made by the director which i think makes perfect sense. In the book, odeli was raped by the solders, which will be even more tragic. The author explains what events that leads odeli to let go her emotions to Yvan in the end; espacialy after the solder had shown her his family pic and said he's eager to see his family. She realized that she don't have any family to count on except her kids & Yvan. Yvan's absents made her realized that she took him for granted. Gaspard is such an excellent young actor! he made Yvan a live!
For those who really love the story except the ending, i have a new way to watch this film on dvd - i just stop the story after the sex scene to a happy ending :) skip the rest :) In conclussion, this is not your typical french chick flicks, you need to have an open mind and pay attention to details in order to appreciate this unique love story.
I saw the film yesterday...at first, I was not really interested in it cause I wan finding it very predictible...but gradually it turns more enigmatic and I do believe is because the character of Yvan and the marvellous and stunning performing of Gaspard Ulliel and both kids. Ulliel performance is amazing, disturbing , really beliaveable....Sometimes it Frighted me, sometimes I was touched by his pain. In short, he supports the whole tension and interest is supported by him ...but Emmanuelle...I didn´t believe a word and I am quite sure the script was not the problem. She is pretty, she is fragile....what ever, she is nothing but empty as an actress. Perhaps it was a challenge to perform a second war widow, mather confused and disturbed...but i found her impulsive, ujustified cruel, sometimes...I could understand it could be because of the war...but she was the only I couldn´t believe as character...She behaved as an idiot the whole movie, I do not find what Yvan sees on her appart from how good looking she is...
About the sex scene...I don´t agree when you find it that strange...Of course it is a little odd...but everything fits if you take a look to Yvan´s past. He is visceral, intense, very sincere about his feelings...He is amazed about seeing a woman he desires naked and I find very natural,taking into acount his wild nature, the mixture of danger (fire), pasion (desire) he wants to do his best, the truth is that he has had sex with boys and it doesn´t mean he was forced. He says that he is quite fast when he is excited and this makes clear he enjoyed it before, he liked it...but also, it shows that this is the very first time he is in love...and the whole scene turns so thender...overall because she is teached by him how to do it his way, they want to please each other as much as they can....it seems really sweet and nice and sensitive to me...and the end....all a paradox...Just in war he tasted the freedom...
I have some questions...
Does someone know what illness was he suffering from...did the shocks he had mean something i don´t get?
Yvan and Jane are both him or perhaps the friend he talked about....