I first saw Entre Nous in the mid-to-late 80's. At the time, the list of "lesbian movies" could be counted on your fingers with several left over. The majority of those had one party returning to men while the 'die hard dyke' was left with a broken heart. Even "Desert Hearts", one of the more positive movies out in the 80's had one character leaving the other kind of up in the air. The fact that this was a true story, written by one of the character's daughters, who was obviously not forever scarred by her mother choosing a woman over her father made it even more positive. The history is clear for those who know anything about France during WWII. It's not an action-packed movie, it's not supposed to be. The characters are not perfect, they're real people. I wouldn't call it the greatest movie of all time but I own it and I feel that it's worth watching. Besides, Miou Miou is HOT. *grin*
20 Reviews
Coup de foudre - The 50's in France with an 80's twist
eightylicious11 March 2022
Diane Kurys knew a lot about women's relationships. Growing up as a daughter of a couple who met on a camp during the Second World War, she examined female psychology in different stages of life through her films. One of the most successful ones was "Coup de foudre", made in 1983. The phrase means "love at first sight" and by seeing the film, I understand why it was chosen as its title.
It's 1942. A woman, Léna (Isabelle Huppert), marries a Jew (Guy Marchand) in order to escape deportation from France. Another, Madeleine, (Miou-Miou) loses her lover to an ambush of the Resistance. Their paths will cross ten years late. Now, Madeleine has a new husband, while Léna still lives with Michelle. They are both free-spirited, spontaneous and smart; in short, kindred spirits. So starts a friendship, a bit different from the others. So different, in fact, that it threatens to destroy the marriages of both.
At the time in which the film is set, women in France had few rights and lots of obligations imposed to them by the conservative society. They were responsible for the household, the children (because, of course they had children, how would France get brave sons and nice daughters?), and generally everything except work, which was the man's job. They couldn't even get a car without their husband's permission! It is evident that the two heroine's were oppressed in this society, which expected them to fulfill their role as prudent, responsible wives, without personal desires.
In the 80's, a lot had changed. Women were more independent, they could work without being discriminated against, except for some jobs, were they still faced criticism because of these professions being considered "masculine", like the police (see for this, "La femme flic" by Yves Boisset, also starring Miou-Miou). Women had it better, and so started to examine their position during these decades of oppression that had preceded their own. "Coup de foudre" was a product of this process.
It is interesting to see how Kurys showed these women's position in the society. The heroines are just expected to give up on their dream of opening a boutique so as to devote their life to their families. And, what about the thought of them being friends, or even something more? How would the civilized French society accept this? Diane Kurys based the character of Isabelle Huppert on her mother, something which makes the story even more interesting. If the character is almost real, this means that her mother was actually treated like how the film showed in the 50's. To think of that now is truly depressing.
As for the performances, they were excellent. Both Miou-Miou and Isabelle Huppert were very convincing and likeable. The way they portrayed their friendship and how it grows was very sweet and kept the film going, since I couldn't wait to see how they would end up. The male actors were also commendable, especially Guy Marchand, who, with his performance as Michel, Léna's husband, represented an archetype of the classic 50's husband, one who is the breadwinner of the family, but doesn't hesitate to punish this family if the other members (especially the wife) don't behave the way he wants. I wonder if Guy Marchand had something with playing strict fathers, since his role in "P'tit con" (1984) was similar to his one in "Coup de foudre", if a little kinder.
The music was admirable for the fact that it transported me to this time. Comprised of French- and English-language hits of the time, it wasn't appealing to me aesthetically, but it retained the realistic character of the film.
All in all, I found the film interesting both from a sociological and an aesthetic perspective. It is admirable for the way it tried to do justice to women in a period when they were not exactly respected, and for its solid performances by capable actors. Watching this in a time when I will not be criticized for wearing trousers in public, or expected to have children by twenty, I felt glad not to have been born back then. Of course, this doesn't means that the 50's were only an oppressing time for women. There's always the other side, and I am eager to discover it.
It's 1942. A woman, Léna (Isabelle Huppert), marries a Jew (Guy Marchand) in order to escape deportation from France. Another, Madeleine, (Miou-Miou) loses her lover to an ambush of the Resistance. Their paths will cross ten years late. Now, Madeleine has a new husband, while Léna still lives with Michelle. They are both free-spirited, spontaneous and smart; in short, kindred spirits. So starts a friendship, a bit different from the others. So different, in fact, that it threatens to destroy the marriages of both.
At the time in which the film is set, women in France had few rights and lots of obligations imposed to them by the conservative society. They were responsible for the household, the children (because, of course they had children, how would France get brave sons and nice daughters?), and generally everything except work, which was the man's job. They couldn't even get a car without their husband's permission! It is evident that the two heroine's were oppressed in this society, which expected them to fulfill their role as prudent, responsible wives, without personal desires.
In the 80's, a lot had changed. Women were more independent, they could work without being discriminated against, except for some jobs, were they still faced criticism because of these professions being considered "masculine", like the police (see for this, "La femme flic" by Yves Boisset, also starring Miou-Miou). Women had it better, and so started to examine their position during these decades of oppression that had preceded their own. "Coup de foudre" was a product of this process.
It is interesting to see how Kurys showed these women's position in the society. The heroines are just expected to give up on their dream of opening a boutique so as to devote their life to their families. And, what about the thought of them being friends, or even something more? How would the civilized French society accept this? Diane Kurys based the character of Isabelle Huppert on her mother, something which makes the story even more interesting. If the character is almost real, this means that her mother was actually treated like how the film showed in the 50's. To think of that now is truly depressing.
As for the performances, they were excellent. Both Miou-Miou and Isabelle Huppert were very convincing and likeable. The way they portrayed their friendship and how it grows was very sweet and kept the film going, since I couldn't wait to see how they would end up. The male actors were also commendable, especially Guy Marchand, who, with his performance as Michel, Léna's husband, represented an archetype of the classic 50's husband, one who is the breadwinner of the family, but doesn't hesitate to punish this family if the other members (especially the wife) don't behave the way he wants. I wonder if Guy Marchand had something with playing strict fathers, since his role in "P'tit con" (1984) was similar to his one in "Coup de foudre", if a little kinder.
The music was admirable for the fact that it transported me to this time. Comprised of French- and English-language hits of the time, it wasn't appealing to me aesthetically, but it retained the realistic character of the film.
All in all, I found the film interesting both from a sociological and an aesthetic perspective. It is admirable for the way it tried to do justice to women in a period when they were not exactly respected, and for its solid performances by capable actors. Watching this in a time when I will not be criticized for wearing trousers in public, or expected to have children by twenty, I felt glad not to have been born back then. Of course, this doesn't means that the 50's were only an oppressing time for women. There's always the other side, and I am eager to discover it.
Stroke Of Lightning
boblipton11 September 2020
The Germans have broken through the Maginot Line like rotten burlap, and France has made a humiliating peace. Miou-Miou, Isabelle Huppert -- odd to think of her so early in her career she's second-billed -- and their husbands leave Paris to try to take up lives in Vichy France. Times are hard, everything is shabby, including the men's business schemes, and they're hard on their wives, who draw closer in reaction.
It's a very nice feminist movie that doesn't make the men monsters -- they're just as bewildered with a world turned upside down as anyone else. Nonetheless, it's a pleasure to watch these two fine actresses give their performances as they come to understandwhat friendship means.
It's a very nice feminist movie that doesn't make the men monsters -- they're just as bewildered with a world turned upside down as anyone else. Nonetheless, it's a pleasure to watch these two fine actresses give their performances as they come to understandwhat friendship means.
Wonderfully Moving and Sad Movie About Style and Incompatibility
tdean20 February 2001
This is a very moving film. I think I found it more sad than some of the other reviewers. It's really about the decline of a marriage through the incompatibility of the couple.
The incompatibility is brought home to the woman by her class, education, style, grace and education. (The sophisticated one, played by Miou Miou is just extraordinary acting). In essence, the sophisticated woman causes the central woman (played by Isabelle Huppert) to realize that her husband is a dolt, and that they share far more than she and her husband. The wonderful thing about the movie is that though the husband is a boob, insensitive and sometimes prone to violent anger, there is no doubt that he slaves for his family, is very humble, and deeply loves his wife and his two daughters - no question about it.
We get to see his pain as his wife falls out of love for him, his sometimes violent jealousy of the woman who has made his wife see him differently, and his heartbreak. It's quite profound. Those who say it all ends happily were watching another movie!
I loved the periods, the costumes, the settings - from Paris on Liberation Day through the 1940s and 1950s. Although it's the daughter's story, we see much of how the couple earlier met, married and began their married life. You will love it - it's more fast-paced than many French movies, and wrenching.
The incompatibility is brought home to the woman by her class, education, style, grace and education. (The sophisticated one, played by Miou Miou is just extraordinary acting). In essence, the sophisticated woman causes the central woman (played by Isabelle Huppert) to realize that her husband is a dolt, and that they share far more than she and her husband. The wonderful thing about the movie is that though the husband is a boob, insensitive and sometimes prone to violent anger, there is no doubt that he slaves for his family, is very humble, and deeply loves his wife and his two daughters - no question about it.
We get to see his pain as his wife falls out of love for him, his sometimes violent jealousy of the woman who has made his wife see him differently, and his heartbreak. It's quite profound. Those who say it all ends happily were watching another movie!
I loved the periods, the costumes, the settings - from Paris on Liberation Day through the 1940s and 1950s. Although it's the daughter's story, we see much of how the couple earlier met, married and began their married life. You will love it - it's more fast-paced than many French movies, and wrenching.
Occasionally slow-moving but poignant dissection of relationship between two female friends independent of men
Turfseer21 June 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Co-writer/Director Diana Kurys fashioned this intense drama as a chronicle of her parents failed marriage as well as her mother's relationship with another woman, a family friend, beginning in the French city of Lyon in 1952.
The narrative however begins with a flashback to the war years in which we first meet Lena (Isabelle Hupert) the character based on the director's mother. A Belgian Jew, Lena finds herself imprisoned in an internment camp run by the Vichy (collaborationist) government. The beleaguered Lena faces possible deportation to Germany and death in the extermination camps.
Out of the blue Lena receives a proposal from Michel (Guy Marchand), a French Legionnaire who is permitted his release from the army if he takes a bride. Lena agrees to marry Michel and they eventually escape to Italy.
Interspersed within this flashback is another one chronicling the fate of Madeline (Miou Miou), the family friend who Lena meets later on. I was a little confused at this juncture since Kurys indicates no demarcation between the two flashbacks.
Madeline has even a more harrowing time: while attending art school, the Germans arrive and arrest her instructor Carlier (Patrick Buchau). The French Resistance ambush the Germans and in the crossfire Madeline's recently married husband is killed.
Cut to post-war and we learn that Lena and Madeline meet at their respective children's school (Lena has two daughters) and Madeline a son (she's now married to part-time actor Costa, played by Jean-Pierre Bacri).
While the narrative proceeds very slowly, Kurys makes cogent observations about the burgeoning relationship between the two women. The sharp verisimilitude is obviously based on the director's detailed memory about her parents.
Lena's decision to stick with Michel as long as she does is undoubtedly based on her recognition that her husband is a good father to their two girls along with being an able breadwinner (he runs a fairly successful autobody shop). On the downside Lena regards Michel as uneducated with no finesse (for example she bemoans his lack of an ability to dance).
Michel soon sours on Madeline after he catches her having a fling with her old art instructor Carlier in their apartment after receiving permission from Lena. To add insult to injury, Michel gets no reaction as he obnoxiously kisses Madeline following her decision to have the encounter with Carlier.
Gradually a plot emerges: Costa borrows money from Michel to purchase those American shirts which all turn out to be missing a sleeve. Lena steals money from the till in the autobody shop to pay Costa's debt and then lies to Michel that she needed the money for a new headstone for her mother in Belgium.
After Michel travels to Belgium to the cemetery and discovers Lena lied to him, he then completely blows up at her after she forgets to take one of their daughters on the bus during a trip with Madeline (the daughter turns up unharmed after showing back up at Michel's shop).
But its Lena's relationship with Madeline that irks him the most. He comes to believe that they have become lesbian lovers and he's being abandoned.
Madeline decides to leave Costa who blames her for his failures in life. She goes to Paris and waits for Lena to join her. But Michel bribes Lena with the prospect of opening a woman's clothing store and eventually Madeline stops writing and has a nervous breakdown.
Lena then finds Madeline whose spirits are revived when Lena makes it clear that they should be together. In an upsetting scene, Michel goes into a rage after finding the two women together at the clothing store, which he virtually destroys.
It's unclear whether Lena and Madeline get physical at any point, but I surmise the two eventually do become lovers.
Kurys is not interested in assigning blame to anyone in particular here. Her portrait of Michel is complex as he is a loving father but too much of a control freak vis-à-vis women in general.
And Lena has her foibles too. Think of when she decides to satisfy her desires with that random sexual encounter she has with the soldier on the train.
Hupert and Miou Miou prove to be sensational in their two roles as women who cultivate a deep friendship independent of the influence of their respective spouses. The coda is poignant in which Kurys informs us of the death of Madeline two years earlier and that her parents never saw each other again after the breakup.
Some of the scenes are drawn out to the point where some viewers might briefly lose concentration. But ultimately this is a film marked by cogent observations about the nature of a fascinating friendship between two women.
The narrative however begins with a flashback to the war years in which we first meet Lena (Isabelle Hupert) the character based on the director's mother. A Belgian Jew, Lena finds herself imprisoned in an internment camp run by the Vichy (collaborationist) government. The beleaguered Lena faces possible deportation to Germany and death in the extermination camps.
Out of the blue Lena receives a proposal from Michel (Guy Marchand), a French Legionnaire who is permitted his release from the army if he takes a bride. Lena agrees to marry Michel and they eventually escape to Italy.
Interspersed within this flashback is another one chronicling the fate of Madeline (Miou Miou), the family friend who Lena meets later on. I was a little confused at this juncture since Kurys indicates no demarcation between the two flashbacks.
Madeline has even a more harrowing time: while attending art school, the Germans arrive and arrest her instructor Carlier (Patrick Buchau). The French Resistance ambush the Germans and in the crossfire Madeline's recently married husband is killed.
Cut to post-war and we learn that Lena and Madeline meet at their respective children's school (Lena has two daughters) and Madeline a son (she's now married to part-time actor Costa, played by Jean-Pierre Bacri).
While the narrative proceeds very slowly, Kurys makes cogent observations about the burgeoning relationship between the two women. The sharp verisimilitude is obviously based on the director's detailed memory about her parents.
Lena's decision to stick with Michel as long as she does is undoubtedly based on her recognition that her husband is a good father to their two girls along with being an able breadwinner (he runs a fairly successful autobody shop). On the downside Lena regards Michel as uneducated with no finesse (for example she bemoans his lack of an ability to dance).
Michel soon sours on Madeline after he catches her having a fling with her old art instructor Carlier in their apartment after receiving permission from Lena. To add insult to injury, Michel gets no reaction as he obnoxiously kisses Madeline following her decision to have the encounter with Carlier.
Gradually a plot emerges: Costa borrows money from Michel to purchase those American shirts which all turn out to be missing a sleeve. Lena steals money from the till in the autobody shop to pay Costa's debt and then lies to Michel that she needed the money for a new headstone for her mother in Belgium.
After Michel travels to Belgium to the cemetery and discovers Lena lied to him, he then completely blows up at her after she forgets to take one of their daughters on the bus during a trip with Madeline (the daughter turns up unharmed after showing back up at Michel's shop).
But its Lena's relationship with Madeline that irks him the most. He comes to believe that they have become lesbian lovers and he's being abandoned.
Madeline decides to leave Costa who blames her for his failures in life. She goes to Paris and waits for Lena to join her. But Michel bribes Lena with the prospect of opening a woman's clothing store and eventually Madeline stops writing and has a nervous breakdown.
Lena then finds Madeline whose spirits are revived when Lena makes it clear that they should be together. In an upsetting scene, Michel goes into a rage after finding the two women together at the clothing store, which he virtually destroys.
It's unclear whether Lena and Madeline get physical at any point, but I surmise the two eventually do become lovers.
Kurys is not interested in assigning blame to anyone in particular here. Her portrait of Michel is complex as he is a loving father but too much of a control freak vis-à-vis women in general.
And Lena has her foibles too. Think of when she decides to satisfy her desires with that random sexual encounter she has with the soldier on the train.
Hupert and Miou Miou prove to be sensational in their two roles as women who cultivate a deep friendship independent of the influence of their respective spouses. The coda is poignant in which Kurys informs us of the death of Madeline two years earlier and that her parents never saw each other again after the breakup.
Some of the scenes are drawn out to the point where some viewers might briefly lose concentration. But ultimately this is a film marked by cogent observations about the nature of a fascinating friendship between two women.
the destinies of two women in post-war France
dromasca20 October 2020
In the final seconds before the credits we find out that for the director and co-writer Diane Kurys the film 'Coup de foudre' (which also had an alternative title 'Entre nous') made in 1983 was a very personal film, as one of the principal heroines of the story that unfolded on screen had been her mother. This is a special film, especially for the time when it was made, a film about the fate of two women in France in the aftermath of World War II, written and directed by a female director and conveying a strong feminist message. Reviewed from the perspective of the 37 years that have passed since the production, 'Coup de foudre' provides an assessment of the differences in approach to feminist themes and in fact of the status of women in French society and family between the 40s and 50s when the action takes place, the 80s when the film was made, and today. A good example of how cinema reflects what is happening in society.
The destinies of the two heroines are tragically marked by war. The prelude, which lasts only a few screen minutes, takes place in 1942 in Nazi-occupied France. Lena Weber (Isabelle Huppert) is a Jewish refugee from Belgium who is saved from deportation by what begins as a marriage of convenience with Michel (Guy Marchand). Madeleine (Miou-Miou) is an art student from a wealthy family who is struck by tragedy when the husband she just married is accidentally killed in an ambush of the Resistance. Michel will save Lena's life for a second time by carrying her (literally) over the mountains to Italy. Madeleine will marry after the war an actor and conman named Costa (Jean-Pierre Bacri). The destinies of the two women meet in 1952, when the two families, both with children and on their way to apparent gentrification, meet in Lyon. But the two marriages are in crisis. The two women hit by fate during the war seek to make up for lost time, but face the family, economic and moral barriers put in the face of women by a France that had not yet emerged from patriarchy.
The friendship between Lena and Madeleine, their economic, artistic, erotic aspirations are at the heart of the film. If there is a lesbian tint in this relationship, it is only insinuated with the utmost discretion. The two women complement each other in characters and help each other in key moments, but there are also crises and separations. The interpretations of Isabelle Huppert and Miou-Miou are also minimalist, dominated by an opportune discretion. It is a feminist film and men by definition are not presented in a very favorable light, but their portraits are far from caricatured. Michel and Costa are rather victims of their own prejudices or rather of the prejudices of the society in which they grew up. Revised today, 37 years after its production 'Coup de foudre' impresses especially because of the respectful discretion by which a story that would otherwise risk sounding rhetorical and moralizing is beig told. If the conclusion seems a bit outdated today, this is a measure of the successes of the feminist cause on and off screen.
The destinies of the two heroines are tragically marked by war. The prelude, which lasts only a few screen minutes, takes place in 1942 in Nazi-occupied France. Lena Weber (Isabelle Huppert) is a Jewish refugee from Belgium who is saved from deportation by what begins as a marriage of convenience with Michel (Guy Marchand). Madeleine (Miou-Miou) is an art student from a wealthy family who is struck by tragedy when the husband she just married is accidentally killed in an ambush of the Resistance. Michel will save Lena's life for a second time by carrying her (literally) over the mountains to Italy. Madeleine will marry after the war an actor and conman named Costa (Jean-Pierre Bacri). The destinies of the two women meet in 1952, when the two families, both with children and on their way to apparent gentrification, meet in Lyon. But the two marriages are in crisis. The two women hit by fate during the war seek to make up for lost time, but face the family, economic and moral barriers put in the face of women by a France that had not yet emerged from patriarchy.
The friendship between Lena and Madeleine, their economic, artistic, erotic aspirations are at the heart of the film. If there is a lesbian tint in this relationship, it is only insinuated with the utmost discretion. The two women complement each other in characters and help each other in key moments, but there are also crises and separations. The interpretations of Isabelle Huppert and Miou-Miou are also minimalist, dominated by an opportune discretion. It is a feminist film and men by definition are not presented in a very favorable light, but their portraits are far from caricatured. Michel and Costa are rather victims of their own prejudices or rather of the prejudices of the society in which they grew up. Revised today, 37 years after its production 'Coup de foudre' impresses especially because of the respectful discretion by which a story that would otherwise risk sounding rhetorical and moralizing is beig told. If the conclusion seems a bit outdated today, this is a measure of the successes of the feminist cause on and off screen.
Glowing praise
bob9982 March 2005
Diane Kurys made four films out of her childhood and adolescent experience; that's one of the richest mining for memories in cinematic history. Besides Coup de foudre/Entre nous, there are C'est la vie, Diabolo menthe/Peppermint soda, and Cocktail Molotov (which I have commented on). Kurys's experience is growing up Jewish in post-war France, where the social values are secular but the traditions of the community she belongs to are not.
The story of Lena and Michel may seem bizarre to North Americans--they meet and marry on the same day to escape deportation to the death camps--but it must have seemed quite understandable to the people who had to live through that madness. That Michel loves Lena passionately while she finds him dull and vulgar is also normal. These people are making-do with what they've been given, as are Madeleine and Costa, the other unhappy couple.
You either love or hate Isabelle Huppert--I must admit to the latter many times over the years, but Miou-Miou is worth whatever the rental or purchase price for this picture is: she's just wonderful; the smallest gesture of her hand carries so much meaning. One great scene has Costa, the world's worst businessman, bent over the sewing machine trying to add sleeves to shirts with only one sleeve that he's bought on the black market; Madeleine stands in the next room working at a sculpture, simultaneously trying to console Costa and quietly make him realize what a mess their lives have become.
The story of Lena and Michel may seem bizarre to North Americans--they meet and marry on the same day to escape deportation to the death camps--but it must have seemed quite understandable to the people who had to live through that madness. That Michel loves Lena passionately while she finds him dull and vulgar is also normal. These people are making-do with what they've been given, as are Madeleine and Costa, the other unhappy couple.
You either love or hate Isabelle Huppert--I must admit to the latter many times over the years, but Miou-Miou is worth whatever the rental or purchase price for this picture is: she's just wonderful; the smallest gesture of her hand carries so much meaning. One great scene has Costa, the world's worst businessman, bent over the sewing machine trying to add sleeves to shirts with only one sleeve that he's bought on the black market; Madeleine stands in the next room working at a sculpture, simultaneously trying to console Costa and quietly make him realize what a mess their lives have become.
Honest, sad, beautiful and very touching
DennisLittrell22 April 2001
(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon.)
Michel (Guy Marchand) falls in love with Jewish refuge Lena (Isabelle Huppert) at first sight and offers marriage as a way she can avoid being sent to a German concentration camp. She accepts, and although she doesn't love him, they have two children and are still married when we pick up the action again in Lyons in 1952 when Lena is 29-years-old. There she meets the sophisticated and well-to-do artist Madeleine (Miou-Miou) who awakens her to the drabness of her existence as a housewife with a loutish husband who now runs a gas station. The attraction between Lena and Madeleine is very strong, and very threatening to the men, especially to Michel.
Huppert's poignant and bittersweet portrayal reminds me of her delicate work in Madame Bovary (1991). There is the same listlessness expressed along with a vague desire for something better out of life, and the anticipation of the sadness that we know will come of such desire. Miou-Miou is sharp and cynical with perhaps a streak of the manic-depressive about her. The love they spontaneously feel for one another is real and beautiful and makes us want it to be fulfilled. But Lena holds herself back because of her family, and then it is the men and propriety that get in the way.
Of course this is very French and Lena and Madeleine hold hands and comfort one another while telling each other their innermost secrets including the infidelities of their spouses, etc. (The men have no such communication.) Director Diane Kurys exercises more restraint in showing the physical nature of their mutual attraction than would be displayed today. Lena says to Madeleine at one point, "I want to kiss you," but we do not see them kissing. The most explicit scene sexually is the startling, but delicately expressed, meeting with the soldiers on the train where we discover the full extent of Lena's frustration.
This is not quite a great movie. The pace is a little slow in spots and sometimes the focus is not as sharp as it could be. But it is an extraordinarily honest movie, and I'll take that over sharp technique any day. Huppert is not only at her best here, but her exquisite and subtle beauty is shown to great advantage. Miou-Miou is also very pretty of course--this is the first time I've seen her--so I would say her strength of character is perhaps her strongest suit. This is a human tragedy on a small, intimate scale, one that we can't help but feel could have been averted had those involved understood one another better, had they been a little wiser. We've all been there before and so we can share the sadness and the sense of loss.
Michel (Guy Marchand) falls in love with Jewish refuge Lena (Isabelle Huppert) at first sight and offers marriage as a way she can avoid being sent to a German concentration camp. She accepts, and although she doesn't love him, they have two children and are still married when we pick up the action again in Lyons in 1952 when Lena is 29-years-old. There she meets the sophisticated and well-to-do artist Madeleine (Miou-Miou) who awakens her to the drabness of her existence as a housewife with a loutish husband who now runs a gas station. The attraction between Lena and Madeleine is very strong, and very threatening to the men, especially to Michel.
Huppert's poignant and bittersweet portrayal reminds me of her delicate work in Madame Bovary (1991). There is the same listlessness expressed along with a vague desire for something better out of life, and the anticipation of the sadness that we know will come of such desire. Miou-Miou is sharp and cynical with perhaps a streak of the manic-depressive about her. The love they spontaneously feel for one another is real and beautiful and makes us want it to be fulfilled. But Lena holds herself back because of her family, and then it is the men and propriety that get in the way.
Of course this is very French and Lena and Madeleine hold hands and comfort one another while telling each other their innermost secrets including the infidelities of their spouses, etc. (The men have no such communication.) Director Diane Kurys exercises more restraint in showing the physical nature of their mutual attraction than would be displayed today. Lena says to Madeleine at one point, "I want to kiss you," but we do not see them kissing. The most explicit scene sexually is the startling, but delicately expressed, meeting with the soldiers on the train where we discover the full extent of Lena's frustration.
This is not quite a great movie. The pace is a little slow in spots and sometimes the focus is not as sharp as it could be. But it is an extraordinarily honest movie, and I'll take that over sharp technique any day. Huppert is not only at her best here, but her exquisite and subtle beauty is shown to great advantage. Miou-Miou is also very pretty of course--this is the first time I've seen her--so I would say her strength of character is perhaps her strongest suit. This is a human tragedy on a small, intimate scale, one that we can't help but feel could have been averted had those involved understood one another better, had they been a little wiser. We've all been there before and so we can share the sadness and the sense of loss.
A bittersweet portrayal from a daughter's point of view
bj_lucky3 February 2001
The sweetest thing about this film is the portrayal from a daughter's view of her parents' struggles with who they are and their relationships with each other. The ending dedication of the film is quite poignant. This film is a reminder of the ways our lives are thrown together and how that intertwines with the choices we make. This is a bittersweet love story on more than one dimension.
this movie probably WON'T appeal to most men
planktonrules24 August 2005
The movie concerns two women who survive WWII and form a friendship in post-war France. However, as the film unfolds, it seems that the underlying message is "men stink". While I would agree that there are a lot of lousy spouses, the movie just seemed way too "black and white" in presenting the women as victims. These husbands either squander their money on selfish pipe dreams or slap their wives silly and make passes at other women. The women put up with this abuse for a while, but find relief through affairs (such as a quickie on a train with a stranger) and ultimately divorce. This should really appeal to women who have lived through these types of marriages, but I can't help but want to shout "DON'T BLAME ME--I'M A GOOD GUY!!!".
Friendship wins out and develops into more.
Gerald-2128 August 1999
This is a wonderful film, the story of two women whose lives gradually become entwined that each can fully bloom. The story of their meeting their husbands, becoming disillusioned with them and then discovering each other is a lovely story. There are problems with the sub-titles in the DVD, so if you were to rely wholly on what you read, the film would not work as well. Overall I enjoyed this film very much. A lovely story of discovery and awakening, with much left to the viewer's imagination, but all the details add to the whole.
I've been looking for this movie on DVD forever; finally found one today
jmvscotland24 August 2010
Warning: Spoilers
Re KS-8's review above, everyone is of course entitled to his or her opinion. I disagree though; this really is a modern classic.
For his or her benefit, I should explain the meaning of "the Resistance" since this is kind of relevant to the plot in this movie. During WWII, there were a number of people in those countries that had been overrun by the Nazis who, fairly understandably, weren't too happy about that situation. The French Resistance was particularly active in trying to do as much damage as possible to the German army. That's all historical context for what follows in this movie. It is a great movie and one which I am glad finally to have found on DVD just today (my birthday).
It is a wonderful story of bravery and of love and the disappointments of love.
JMV.
For his or her benefit, I should explain the meaning of "the Resistance" since this is kind of relevant to the plot in this movie. During WWII, there were a number of people in those countries that had been overrun by the Nazis who, fairly understandably, weren't too happy about that situation. The French Resistance was particularly active in trying to do as much damage as possible to the German army. That's all historical context for what follows in this movie. It is a great movie and one which I am glad finally to have found on DVD just today (my birthday).
It is a wonderful story of bravery and of love and the disappointments of love.
JMV.
They Were 'Sisters'
writers_reign11 November 2006
Warning: Spoilers
This is a fine movie any way you look at it in fact I'll amend that to Fine/Great and I'd love to own it on DVD so that I could run it just before La Baule-les-pins (which I do own) and which covers the same autobiographical data from another angle. For the record both films are based on the early life of writer-director Diane Kurys and both concern the unhappy marriage of her parents - a character based on herself appears in both movies. Coup de foudre begins before she was born with the meeting of her parents in a 'camp' in Occupied France during World War II. A guy whose release is already guaranteed spots Isabelle Huppert, falls in love on the spot (hense the title) and smuggles her a note proposing marriage. Somewhat bemused she agrees only to become angry because his name reeks of Jewishness. Somewhat improbably they remain together, have two daughters and settle in Lyon. Simultaneously we are introduced to the second leading character (Miou-Miou), an artist whose husband is shot by the Germans and dies in her arms. She too 'settles' for something less than love and marries an actor (Jean-Pierre Bacri) whose life is a succession of get-rich-quick schemes that backfire. The two women meet by chance in 1952 and form a friendship that soon eclipses anything they feel for their respective partners whilst stopping short of overt lesbianism. Huppert and Miou-Miou have their parts down cold and it's fascinating to see Bacri with a full head of hair looking remarkably like Louis Jordan. This is a wonderful film on our old friend the Human Condition illustrating just how easy it is to screw up our lives. The pertinent questions - like why did Huppert stay with someone she didn't love once she was clear of the Camp, let alone after the war, don't raise their quizzical heads til long afterwards such is the strength of both movie and performances. In La Baule-les-pins the Huppert character, Lena (now played by Nathalie Baye) is still with her husband but clearly only for a matter of time and the two girls are still in the thick of the misery. Both are highly recommended.
Classy, exquisite, elegantly understated
235SCOPE24 September 2020
I hadn't seen this movie when it opened because I was at a different point in my life and was watching too many women's films in film school. Finally, 37 years later, I decided to give it a chance. I was enraptured by the style of the film, the acting, the flesh and blood characters, the beautiful protagonists. It is somewhat slow but its pace is not the kind of pointless slowness that one would sometimes expect. In other words, the film a story that takes place over 10 years through episodes that rely mostly on dialogue between the characters. Kurys, the director, always makes sure that there's a lot going on in every frame and, if you are a good observer, you will be able to contemplate the meticulous production design and the subtlety of the acting, which is constantly transmitting information about the time, the characters' development and the story. As far as women's films go, this one is not to be missed. Isabelle Huppert was never more enchanting. Super elegant cinematography by Bernard Lutic in Panavision.
A classic
aj111126 June 2012
Warning: Spoilers
The first time I saw this film I thought it was a rip off of Jules and Jim which is one of the greatest movies of all time. Subsequent viewings have allowed me to appreciate this film in its own right. Entre Nous is a wonderful movie with two of the greatest actresses ever in Miou Miou and Isabelle Huppert. While a prior poster believes men cannot appreciate this film I disagree. As a man who has seen this repeatedly I believe it is a great great film about female friendship and the difficulties(perhaps inherent) in relationships. I don't know if that justifies a spoiler but just to be on the safe side I am checking the spoiler box.
One of my favorites
moyaroo31 March 1999
I wasn't sure where this movie was going at first, but as it picks up the pace there is little doubt as to whom the nous in the title refers.
When Huppert says "Je tu manque" (pardon my French it is I hope close) "I miss you" she might as well be declaring the love that is boiling out of her. But there is the problem of the spouses to be resolved, and the children. Needless to say all is reconciled and true love triumphs.
I have seen this movie at least three times now and love it more each time. There is a tenderness between most of the characters (one is a lout pure and simple) but the others all strive to reconcile who they are to to events that enfold them. Their struggles hit all of the right notes (with the possible exception of a very steamy sex scene on a train which just doesn't work for me)
It is a tear jerker at times, but a beautiful tear jerker. and so I always did like those forties movies.
When Huppert says "Je tu manque" (pardon my French it is I hope close) "I miss you" she might as well be declaring the love that is boiling out of her. But there is the problem of the spouses to be resolved, and the children. Needless to say all is reconciled and true love triumphs.
I have seen this movie at least three times now and love it more each time. There is a tenderness between most of the characters (one is a lout pure and simple) but the others all strive to reconcile who they are to to events that enfold them. Their struggles hit all of the right notes (with the possible exception of a very steamy sex scene on a train which just doesn't work for me)
It is a tear jerker at times, but a beautiful tear jerker. and so I always did like those forties movies.
A Movie About Lesbians, Not "Incompatibility"
thalassafischer10 May 2023
Entre Nous opens with young Helene, a Jewish refugee during WW2 whose mother has recently died, arriving at a sort of holding place for women that is neither a concentration camp nor a five star hotel. I'm unclear on exactly what these establishments were in France at the time, but Helene manages to escape quickly by wedding a solider in need of a wife, despite the fact that she obviously isn't interested in him at all and if she had the means she would have preferred to leave him right there at gate, he was her ticket out of the camp.
Madeleine, a much more privileged French woman, is in her late teens and happily newly married when her husband is killed towards the end of the war during a shoot out during an arrest of her art teacher. Eventually she impulsively remarries to a man she cares little for because she became pregnant.
In the early 1950s, the two women are young mothers of elementary school aged children and develop a friendship that slowly turns into a romance. Director Diane Kurys based this film on her own childhood experience of her mother leaving her father for another woman. There's nothing to "interpret" here. It's about two women falling in love and leaving their husbands. That wasn't an easy thing to do in the 1950s, and so any reticence you see on the part of either woman is because they know they are abandoning social propriety and financial security in order to be together. They risked losing their children and probably couldn't have made it work without the assistance of Madeleine's wealthy and kind parents.
I also highly recommend Diane Kurys' film Peppermint Soda. I actually like Peppermint Soda more, it's a light hearted comedy for the most part, and also semi-autobiographical about the directors' childhood and teen years.
Madeleine, a much more privileged French woman, is in her late teens and happily newly married when her husband is killed towards the end of the war during a shoot out during an arrest of her art teacher. Eventually she impulsively remarries to a man she cares little for because she became pregnant.
In the early 1950s, the two women are young mothers of elementary school aged children and develop a friendship that slowly turns into a romance. Director Diane Kurys based this film on her own childhood experience of her mother leaving her father for another woman. There's nothing to "interpret" here. It's about two women falling in love and leaving their husbands. That wasn't an easy thing to do in the 1950s, and so any reticence you see on the part of either woman is because they know they are abandoning social propriety and financial security in order to be together. They risked losing their children and probably couldn't have made it work without the assistance of Madeleine's wealthy and kind parents.
I also highly recommend Diane Kurys' film Peppermint Soda. I actually like Peppermint Soda more, it's a light hearted comedy for the most part, and also semi-autobiographical about the directors' childhood and teen years.
This is supposed to be a "modern classic?"
KS-827 May 2002
For years, I've heard glowing praise of this movie....now that I've seen it, I feel the praise is largely undeserved.
The movie gets off to a bad start: It's unclear (at least from the subtitled version I saw) where the heck the characters are. It's obviously Europe and some kind of World War II era camp, but that's all I could glean....And in the early scenes with Miou Miou, where her first husband gets shot, it wasn't clear who was doing the shooting and/or why. According to the description on this site, it was the "resistance," whatever that means....(to be fair: perhaps most Europeans in 1983 understood the history without needing reference books, but this U.S. home video viewer in 2002 would have appreciated a bit more historical context)
As for the rest of the film....Slow, slow, slow. And with a lot of extraneous elements that never seemed to go anywhere.
Frankly, I was hoping for more romance between the two women, which you never really see. You just get Isabelle Huppert's husband being angry all the time.
And for the record, I didn't like the way the Miou-Miou character kept insulting her young son. None of these characters were particularly likeable, not even Isabelle Huppert. The ugliness of the characters detracted from my enjoyment of this, too.
I suppose this was considered really "avant garde" or something, in terms of subject matter, back in 1983, when it was released. But today it just falls really flat. A disappointment.
The movie gets off to a bad start: It's unclear (at least from the subtitled version I saw) where the heck the characters are. It's obviously Europe and some kind of World War II era camp, but that's all I could glean....And in the early scenes with Miou Miou, where her first husband gets shot, it wasn't clear who was doing the shooting and/or why. According to the description on this site, it was the "resistance," whatever that means....(to be fair: perhaps most Europeans in 1983 understood the history without needing reference books, but this U.S. home video viewer in 2002 would have appreciated a bit more historical context)
As for the rest of the film....Slow, slow, slow. And with a lot of extraneous elements that never seemed to go anywhere.
Frankly, I was hoping for more romance between the two women, which you never really see. You just get Isabelle Huppert's husband being angry all the time.
And for the record, I didn't like the way the Miou-Miou character kept insulting her young son. None of these characters were particularly likeable, not even Isabelle Huppert. The ugliness of the characters detracted from my enjoyment of this, too.
I suppose this was considered really "avant garde" or something, in terms of subject matter, back in 1983, when it was released. But today it just falls really flat. A disappointment.
A Real Movie
elision1028 December 2023
So few movies nowadays are at all compelling or fulfilling. Those that actually tell a story of human relationships often get high praise when the content is so light, and the characters so uninteresting. No doubt some of that is, for most younger people in the West, war is now something you read about in school or online. And social strictures are fewer. For whatever reason, at the end of this movie you feel you've seen something rich and meaningful and rewarding. I know for women it's supposed to make an important statement. But I think women too can have enormous sympathy for a man who feels he has done everything right and yet it simply isn't enough. Ultimately, whether this film is truly about lesbian relationships is somewhat beside the point.
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