MovieChat Forums > De rouille et d'os (2012) Discussion > I did not care for any of the characters...

I did not care for any of the characters (spoilers)

posted 10 years ago by jdkraus
4 replies | jump to latest

This is a movie I've wanted to see a for long time. Having watched it last night, I was not impressed. Marion Cotillard is one of my favorite actresses, yet there is no real depth to her character. She relies more on emotion, mostly a sad, depressed look (for most of the film I might add) versus giving me a reason to care for her character. I don't entirely blame her for such a shallow performance. I felt there should have been a lot more to her character, such as her relationship with Simone, or the reasoning behind her going out, partying, and acting like a "whore." It is implied the two were together yet we never see him again. I feel that there is a big gap missing out of her character.

As for Ali, he is even more problematic. He starts off homeless with his son Sam, and then moves in with his sister. How did he become homeless? What happened to Sam's mother? His erratic behavior is not explained either. Ali reacts like an animal, being "OP" for every woman he sees. Worse, he abandons his child and cheats on Marie. He is as good a father as he is a boyfriend. At first glance, I can only assume that he is a case of anti-social personality and maybe a little bi-polar. The biggest WTF for me is how he ends up acting so compassionately towards Marie (ex: carrying her out to the beach to swim, spending time with her, etc), but ignores his own child and gets his sister fired from stealing food at the supermarket. His character does not make any sense. Its as if two personalities are merged together.

And my final rant, what is up with all the English speaking songs? How does Katy Perry fit into a French film?

[–] ig7 10 years ago

Maybe you wanted to see more of Marie than her character Stephanie. There is nothing shallow about her performance. Though see goes through a wide scale of emotional experiences, Stephanie is not an extrovert. The reason she latched onto Ali is a degree of identification with his personality type.

Her relationship with Simon was ending: she was going out on her own and seeking excitement elsewhere. She said she enjoyed tuning men on but quickly got bored.

Ali explained to his sister why he took the boy from his mother. Re-watch his arrival at her place.

Ali does not cheat on Stephanie. He does not commit to a monogamous relationship until the cathartic moment in the hospital.

I agree about the songs.

[–] breningirl 10 years ago

I'm no fan of Katy Perry, but apparently that is the actual song that would play at the marine park where they filmed when the whales performed.

[–] jdkraus 10 years ago

Wow. Really? Then again when I was in Berlin, the song "Happy" played at every other shop near Alexanderplatz…no joke.

[–] KayDrama 10 years ago

Apparently many foreign countries play American music along with their own. At first I was surprised as I began watching lots of Chinese and Korean films with no English other than the occasional "yeah" and "okay" and yet an American song is included in the background soundtrack or the characters are listening and sometimes singing along to it.