This movie was great. The cinematography was fantastic, and it was directed beautifully...Definitely one of the best French films that I've ever seen.
It made me teary a few times, but it was not just another inspirational death film. It's hard for me to get into details without spoiling the plotline, but I assure you -- it's worth your time.
Oh I loved it so much. I share your views except that it did not just make me teary, i actually cried! And i still do when i remember some scenes.
If you men only knew
*spoiler warning*
Which scene(s) was most moving for you?
The one where he lies next to Sasha, puts his hand on his heart and says: "Can you feel it, it is still beating" That was my favourite. And I also cried at the last scene on the beach. The scene where he called his sister was very moving as well.
If you men only knew
I find the part of the movie when he told the grandmother about his situation was both tragic and funny, the irony of it. They were both dying and then she showed her the pills. Everytime he takes a snap was very touching.
But the two scenes mentioned by abc_and_d were sad too.
I think his telling the truth to his grandma was touching too cause I felt the need in him to tell SOMEBODY! and his parents + sister + boyfriend were out of the question so he had to talk to someone and of course that person was the "coolest": his grandma. One scene I forgot to mention was when he met Sasha in the cafe and he lied about seeing another person. Sasha said: Ah, you are the kind who can never do alone. But he was soooo alone. That broke my heart too.
If you men only knew
Yeah, the way he broke up with Sasha too, it was those 'cruel to be kind' moments. Sasha did not fulfill his wish, did he?
Did you guys notice that Sasha (which is a typical German name, I think) has a real German surname?
I dont think he did. By the way, i always thought Sasha was Russian. I know he is German in real life but in the movie i kinda thought he was from Russia.
And the way he left Sasha was so brave. I don't think I would be strong enough to do that. Remember when Sasha said: "You are not the kind of guy to be alone." That broke my heart too cause he was SO alone at that time.
If you men only knew
Interesting. Why did you think he was a Russian in the movie?
His really to Sasha's question was quite tragic. He'd rather lie than tell him the truth about his sickness.
I thought he was Russian because he looked Russian to me and I heard that Sasha was a popular name in Russia, I don't know; that's just a guess.
If you men only knew
You are so right (about it being popular in Russia). Have a look:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sasha_%28name%29
You could be right about his character in the movie too. I think the following site (in German) is done by his agency:
http://www.werdenberg.de/spieler_detail.php?ss_id=57
He speaks "German, (fluent) English, French and Russian".
This is a great film...my #4 of 2006. The best scene was when he photographs his sister and her children from a distance and calls her. I cried at that moment.
1. United 93
2. The Queen
3. Casino Royale
4. Time to Leave
5. The Departed
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I think he meant that "I may be dying soon but I am still alive now and I can still feel. I still love you" But of course that's my interpretation.
If you men only knew
Sous le Sable (2000) [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0240913/] by Ozon (same director) was much better than le temps qui reste. But then, one cannot expect a 30-year-old man facing his own death to react the same way as a 50-year-old woman experiencing the death of her husband.
I was also very annoyed by an obvious mistake in the movie. The Canon IXUS i5 was not turned on when the character used it in the film.
Sad film, I think He actually starved himself to look like a cancer striken man in the later scenes?
shareHe did. It was an order from the director.
shareThey gave me baggy clothes to look even thinner, but I must admit, he looked skin and bones before death. He was pale, looked exhausted and to it really broke ,y heart seeing him sprawled naked on the beach and so dead.
So sad it made me sick but at least the movie showed me what to expect if I get cancer.
I loved this film too. In the end he/we will just be a memory, like the photos he takes. Sous le Sable was also a great film which also dealt with death.
shareSous le sable is part of a trilogy about death. let's see what's next. Very interesting film. no conventional drama; just objective and fair.
shareI'm a big fan of Ozon, but this is my least favorite of his films.
It's beautifully made, but, emotionally and politically, it's utterly vile.
So, the lead character spends almost the entire film treating the people in his life abominably. He has robotic, lifeless sex with his boyfriend, sex he can only manage to have because he's high as a kite. Oh, by the way, he's terminally ill.
But, wait -- there's hope. Because his now-ex-boyfriend (conveniently) won't sleep with him, he agrees to father a child with a man-woman couple whose male component is infertile. Because they don't have artificial insemination in France, this previously-self-declared gay man sleeps with both the man and the woman. And only when he is in the woman do we see him actually responding to the sex he's having.
So, our hero fathers the couple's child and leaves money to the family. Having thus finally legitimized his existence (and having made a few token, too-little-too-late reconciliatory gestures towards his loved ones), it's time for him to go off and die on the beach. He's served his purpose, having performed not only heterosexual sex but also procreation, so it's fine and fitting that the queer guy dies.
Lots of interesting and truthful stories can be told about the sometimes fuzzy shapes of love, sex and identity, but, regardless of Ozon's intentions here, his underlying messages are disgusting. A queer man who decides he wants to father a child will, of course, sleep with a woman (maybe it's a French thing, since you'd be hard-pressed to find a French film with a queer guy in it in which the queer guy doesn't sleep with a woman, fall in love with a woman, kiss a woman -- or want to do one or more of these things). A queer man who is told "no" by a potential partner of the same gender will, of course, sleep with a woman.
And, above all, heterosexual sex and especially procreation is what makes a life worthwhile -- and, once a queer man accomplishes these things, particularly the latter, he's rendered himself and his life worthwhile and he can go die, and we can have a good cry about it but be *happy* about it at the same time... even if he was an entirely worthless, hatable and hateful piece of crap before said heterosexual sex and the all-important procreation.
Ozon might've been trying to precisely communicate the very criticisms I've offered here of his character and what he represents, but the film sure didn't feel like it.
Matthew
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It's more like my education has made me able to appreciate the film -- like I said, it's beautifully made, and it makes its point -- but my life, the world and the people and things in it, make me unable to *like* this particular film (as opposed to say, every other Ozon I've seen, which I've all either liked or loved -- because the point it makes is vile.
Matthew
This film IS great.
I can't agree the criticism towards the character. He is actually far more complex than
what we have just seen. After several viewings, when I discover all the subtleties, I realize this man is full of love to everyone around him. Otherwise why does he cry and sigh at the final moment?
This film actually has no issues, queer or not. All it is about, is the animalistic instinct one has facing death.
The key of this film is the ending ten minutes, it will be classic in film history. As it contains no dialogue, not plots, not all viewers feel easy to catch it.
The film starts at the realistic daily situation, ends in visiting the world of myth, the thousands years history of human consciousness. It is a rare master work in cinema I have seen.
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If you get the dvd make sure you watch the deleted scenes. It ties in some of the loose ends from the movie, like the waitress' husband, which actually should have been included. In the film its a little awkward,(the bedroom scene) but the deleted scenes ties it in. Also, there is a very long, over an hour, behind the scenes footage. Which includes the planning out of the bedroom scene in their underwear, and Sasha's discomfort with some of the scenes. Much, much more. If you like Ozon movies, you definitely want to purchase this one.
shareI do not think the Romain character was selfish. He didn't want to burden his loved ones and he needed to come to terms with death himself...because death is about yourself and nobody else at the end of the day. The photos he lovingly took would eventually reach his loved ones and they would know he had thought about them.
According to Melvil, the character needed to forgive himself and return to his childhood in order to face death.