MovieChat Forums > Le temps de l'aventure (2014) Discussion > Lovely movie. A must-see for Devos admir...

Lovely movie. A must-see for Devos admirers

posted 10 years ago by eyeforbeauty
2 replies | jump to latest

I found this to be much better than other reviews had led me to expect.

It’s not a film that offers a moral or any special psychological insight. But it is very colorful, intelligent, and involving, I thought. (It is also VERY funny in spots!)

This is a film that offers a quite life-like portrait of two people at a particular juncture in their lives. There’s nothing spectacularly memorable in the plot, but it offers its portrait in a very lovely, rewarding way.

Emmanuelle Devos is just wonderful in this. I’ve seen her in at least a dozen previous films, but I felt like I was only really seeing her in film for the very first time in this movie, so full and present was her role and performance.
So I’d say for fans and admirers of Devos, this film is a must-see.

As for Gabriel Byrne, I strongly disagree with reviews that suggest his performance was expressionless or monotone. He is after all playing a character who is genuinely bereaved, and he does convey a grim stoicism appropriate to such a situation. But that only serves to make the moments when he conveys notably different emotions even more affecting.

The characters played by Devos and Byrne are not the sole characters in the film, by the way, and this is not at all a film that takes place statically in just one location (which was the impression I had gained from reviews), so the film also offers varied scenery and a lively sprinkling of encounters with other personages.

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] letess 9 years ago

This is a much better film than the critics are saying. Except, I noticed that the top critics have given it much better reviews. Some of the others look like they completely missed the whole point and the feel of this film. Even one suggesting that her "audition" was awful, with the majority saying it was a tour de force.

Industry Reviews

"The movie is beautifully acted, and the chemistry between Ms. Devos, who is 49, and Mr. Byrne, 63, is heated in a sadder-but-wiser, grown-up way."
New York Times - Stephen Holden (03/21/2014)

"The plot of JUST A SIGHT will sound familiar to anyone who saw 1995’s BEFORE SUNRISE. A man and woman meet on a train and the sparks fly, so they decide to spend some time together..."
Washington Post (05/01/2014)

"The film is a bracingly romantic drama that's alive with a mature sense of passion and mystery."
Los Angeles Times - Sheri Linden (03/27/2014)

Spoilers..It's just a great little film that starts off early in the morning where Byrne is going from England to Paris to attend a funeral of a woman who was very important in his life. They attended the Sorbonne together in their youth. Devos is coming from Calais where she is currently appearing as an actress in an Ibsen play (La dame de la mer). She is traveling that day to Paris to make a 9am audition even though she lives in Paris.

They exchange glances on the train. He asks for directions to a church in the 17th arrondissement and as she is giving the directions, she is cut off by another passenger. It's like this throughout the film. There are many times where they miss each other or are interrupted by other people. Very fleeting but there is a sense of urgency that they will make a connection. She is driven. There is a bit of humor and embarrassment in that she pursues Byrne unknowingly to the funeral, and she doesn't leave although she says she's ashamed. There is passion and a mutual feeling of the love they have for each other that seems to exist before they make an introduction.

It's very believable. And it's a difficult thing to do. To convince an audience that two people meet their true love in a matter of minutes, a few hours in one day with all that life has to offer or how life can get in the way. The ending was done very well.