I Don't See The Point


Maybe it's an inherent bias against a certain kind of movie, but I just don't see the point. I had the same reaction to Nymphomaniac.

It's like these movies have characters are mannequins: place into very provocative situationsbut they're so -empty- I end up feeling like: OK, you're a blank. Fine. Good luck with that.

Isn't art supposed to -say- something? This movie struck me as literally -nothing-. No 'why'.

I'm now waiting for the typical IMDB 'spoon fed' insult.

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I suspect the "why" is someone's perverse interest in underage prostitutes.

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That's (almost) too easy. Although you could be right. It would certainly explain how such a pointless thing got funded.

What drives -me- nuts is how well-reviewed this thing was--which is why we rented it.

If one did a 'double-blind' study of movies, I wonder if the amount of overt sexuality correlates with the review ranking. PhD candidates get paid to do sillier things.

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How does a man his age come up with a story like this? Hmm, I wonder.

It's well reviewed by men who like seeing teenage girls having sex. No mystery there.

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How does a man his age come up with a story like this? Hmm, I wonder.


François Ozon is openly homosexual, I don't understand what you are trying to imply here.

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Mannequin is a good word. She just walked around dead the whole film. Even dead people show some emotion, or know how to fake it.

I feel like some of these female-sexual-odyssey films are just excuses to show lots of sex and "shatter" stereotypes about traditional sexuality. The opacity of the female character serves to artificially deepen the film, all those blank stares a kind of faux complexity that lends the work a certain level of "seriousness." In the end, though, its really used as a crutch so the director doesn't have to do the difficult work of unraveling the intricacies of female sexuality.

But its not all bad. I thought the cinematography was quite good, and the atmosphere was steeped in that old french film vibe I love.


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Well made, but quite boring and "meh" overall. Francois Ozon has lot better movies then this, I was kinda disappointed with this one.

Marine Vacth was pretty tho, few ok moments (like mother's reaction to what her daughter is doing) but overall rather weak.

"Stockholm" was lot better movie about love in my opinion. Not erotic movie tho, just regular drama, but lot better then this and worth checking out.

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I think the point of the film is precisely not to over-explain or over-dramatize anything, and not to moralize. I don't think the girl was emotionless: I think the sense of detachment brought by the film parallels the girl's own sense of detachment towards her own body, objectifying it and realizing, as a young woman, how powerful and remunerative the very body of a woman can be.

Because it is a film about the loss of innocence, right? The passage from a simple, idyllic childhood to an adulthood in which power, money and sex all play very important roles. And we see that not only through the girl's character, but also through the little brother's.

Ozon has worked with such themes before.

Later that day, after tea... I died, suddenly.

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"The opacity of the female character serves to artificially deepen the film."

I truly agree with the poster who wrote this.
From a psychological stand-point, she had 'daddy' issues, and being a teenager and going through hormonal changes, plus seeing her mom cheating on her husband, she rebels.
Moreover, morality doesn't really mean anything in cliched French 'fartsy' films.

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"Moreover, morality doesn't really mean anything in cliched French 'fartsy' films."

Indeed. Sometimes I think that is one of my biases against French fartsy films. But really? I feel like 'drama' only works when it shows the internal life of the characters. And I think that just doesn't matter to a whole school of film makers.

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I think there is a point and to understand it you have to compare the film to the way they would have treated this topic in the films and novels of the 1950s where taking such an action would have ruined the girl for life.

Today in contrast we see the possibility of recovery and a blurring of lines. Vive la change.

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I think it is about her wondering if she feels anything neither sexual or even as strong as love. She thought she'd feel it with that German guy but didn't then she tried just using sex to figure herself out and at the same time make money off it. Not that I encourage young girls anywhere to do that. Least she tried it and made the efforts to try.

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I was surprised to find your comment and also so many people that (mostly) agree. As an "erotic film" it's great, sure. But to be taken seriously by critics as mainstream cinema? It had very little substance-- and if you see substance in this film you're probably filling in most of the blanks.

The 4 vignettes tied to the seasons felt completely unnecessary other than to smash together two storylines that'd otherwise never fit together in under 2 hours. The last two seasons didn't serve the movie's plot or themes at all. The mom has to mention out loud that "it's the first day of spring"-- that's how desperately forced the last vingette felt.

It's a voyeuristic, erotic film that serves those purposes-- marketing it as anything other than that (or reviewing it otherwise) is just bs.

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