What is it about films like this which garners them so much praise? This one is Belgian, but the French have made a whole industry out of this kind of melodramatic sob story, mostly starring Vanessa Paradis or, latterly, Virginie Ledoyen. This one is better than most, not least because it does not star Ms Paradis (who could play Bambi and make her seem a pouting bitch), but it still tries to pass off gratuitous misery as necessarily true to life. I'm not trying to argue that life isn't miserable, just that this misery, unlike that of Mike Leigh or Ken Loach or Nil by Mouth, simply isn't plausible. Whereas their films are rooted in practicality, this particular breed of francophone cinema is tiresomely romantic - witness the complete impracticality of 'Marie's' ending - and so emotionally manipulative that it would make Puccini blush, but at the same time expects you to sigh and say, like Richard E Grant in The Player "but that's the reality. Innocent people die." (I'm paraphrasing). For anyone who's looking for a review rather than a rant, this film is actually better than most of the others in the genre, mainly because Marie Gillain is a considerably better actress than Vanessa Paradis, while Alessandro Sigona makes for a genuinely effective orphan. The film also contains some rather nice scenery and some Portuguese sunshine (better than the normal Parisian rain). Oh, and the dialogue is at times quite well-observed, rather than self-consciously intense and 'meaningful'. At the same time, if you want to catch Ms Gillain at her best, watch L'Appat or Le Bossu, both of which are genuinely good films, rather than this trite mediocrity.
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