Long takes without change - slow boring type development

Agree that some takes are too long (in church during Madame Anselmi's funeral for example). But this is not a Hollywood action flick. I find the long takes convey the awkwardness of the situations depicted. Thierry's job would be OK if he would not have to stand minutes before a frightened cashier who had done hardly anything wrong. With shorter takes we would not have felt in our guts the burden it was for him to do such a *beep* job. Only sadists can do such a job for a long time, people who enjoy harming other people.

I pretty much agree with you. It felt rather flat, like - "why am I watching this?"

The critiques here are so strange to me -- I couldn't take my eyes off of it. Yes, there are scenes that seem to go on too long and I think that is the point. The director was conveying what it was like to live as this man; long, slow, "boring" scenes leading to nothing. That was Thierry's life. I loved this film!

I am no film expert, but from what I have seen of French film this technique is not unusual. There are often long shots of what one would think of as mundane parts of life. French films seem much more character driven and I think this technique is meant to add to the story by conveying more insight to the characters and their environment and its context. The effect of just being there with them and watching what is going on creates a sense of connection and closeness. The criticism often seen is that it is "slow", which it is. I don't have a problem with that, but it is not a technique used in US films, at least not ones that play at the cineplex.