I like reading what other people thinks about the movies I watch, so I felt kind of surprised by noticing how much appreciation this very film has obtained, since I've found it ridiculous. Even though I'm pretty sure that people is really trying too hard to justify it - apparently every single detail MUST conceal a hidden meaning - I honestly can't rule out the possibility that I am simply too dumb to understand it. Anyway, this movie really disappointed me, and I'm going to explain you why.
I am a big fan of Perrault's fairy tale, which I find delightfully disturbing, plenty as it is with darkness, morbidity and untold secrets. Bluebeard himself is a major character in his evilness - ferocious, deceitful, violent. I expected to feel at least part of such upsetting atmosphere, but I felt nothing (but boredom). Do you remember the scene when Bluebeard discovers the blood on the key? It was absolutely unbelievable. We've reached the dramatic climax but the characters look embalmed in their blank expressions - not to mention that they WHISPER, as if they were in a Dior commercial... So I thought, "Ok, maybe the director wanted to shift to a more psychological dimension. Maybe she was not interested in blood and slaughter after all" (despite the image of the poster, I mean). That would be fine, but I couldn't understand at all what was her point. Was it humanizing Bluebeard? I guess she tried to show him as a tormented poor pal, but didn't succeed it. He just looks spineless and absurd in his final resolution to kill his wife. Was it examining the relationship between the two sisters? Well, then why choosing a fairy tale like Bluebeard? Bluebeard deals with the relationship between husband and wife, not between sisters. Many other stories would have fit better.
Apart from this, I really don't like when directors act mysterious just like this. You're a director, not the Sphinx: if you want to say something with a movie, just say it - or, at least, let your clues be clear and unequivocal. See for example the long-lasting scene with Marie- Catherine caressing Bluebeard's head: what is that supposed to mean? Is he sad? Is he satisfied? Is she shocked? Is she depressed? All of the above? And... what the heck is the role of the two young siblings in the attic?? Apart from speaking nonsenses, of course. What's the point in making one of them fall down in the end? I don't know, and I don't think anyone could answer once and for all. I personally find it annoying. If you're not able to let me get what you meant, you're not brilliant, you're only a bad communicator.
I am a big fan of Perrault's fairy tale, which I find delightfully disturbing, plenty as it is with darkness, morbidity and untold secrets. Bluebeard himself is a major character in his evilness - ferocious, deceitful, violent. I expected to feel at least part of such upsetting atmosphere, but I felt nothing (but boredom). Do you remember the scene when Bluebeard discovers the blood on the key? It was absolutely unbelievable. We've reached the dramatic climax but the characters look embalmed in their blank expressions - not to mention that they WHISPER, as if they were in a Dior commercial... So I thought, "Ok, maybe the director wanted to shift to a more psychological dimension. Maybe she was not interested in blood and slaughter after all" (despite the image of the poster, I mean). That would be fine, but I couldn't understand at all what was her point. Was it humanizing Bluebeard? I guess she tried to show him as a tormented poor pal, but didn't succeed it. He just looks spineless and absurd in his final resolution to kill his wife. Was it examining the relationship between the two sisters? Well, then why choosing a fairy tale like Bluebeard? Bluebeard deals with the relationship between husband and wife, not between sisters. Many other stories would have fit better.
Apart from this, I really don't like when directors act mysterious just like this. You're a director, not the Sphinx: if you want to say something with a movie, just say it - or, at least, let your clues be clear and unequivocal. See for example the long-lasting scene with Marie- Catherine caressing Bluebeard's head: what is that supposed to mean? Is he sad? Is he satisfied? Is she shocked? Is she depressed? All of the above? And... what the heck is the role of the two young siblings in the attic?? Apart from speaking nonsenses, of course. What's the point in making one of them fall down in the end? I don't know, and I don't think anyone could answer once and for all. I personally find it annoying. If you're not able to let me get what you meant, you're not brilliant, you're only a bad communicator.