After having watched that movie, i am still asking myself who is buried. And it seems i am not alone asking that question. When the film ended, people where asking each other "excuse me i haven't seen the beginning can you explain the plot of the film". Laetitia Casta try to act as an actress, she will probably succeed in a few decades. Nevertheless a good thing : the photography is excellent.
10 Reviews
Pointless, over-descriptive and dull...
gtzam27 July 2004
Despite the unquestioned talent of Raul Ruiz, this movie is an unqualified disaster. The plot drifts aimlessly, tv-series like, coupled with inadequate acting and over-elaborate voice-over in order to further the "action" in an ad-hoc manner. Practically very little of any importance actually happens, even less of what occurs on the screen is dramatically convincing in this terminally unexciting journey of a manipulative young girl and her encounters in rural France of the 19th century. Vacuity disguised as ambiguity or worse, profundity. Good cinematography though, but there are far better literary adaptions done recently such as Assayas' "Les destinees sentimentales".
Could this be Raoul Ruiz's worst film?
gridoon202415 May 2012
Warning: Spoilers
I think it may bloody well be. Although it's hard to be sure, since he was a very prolific director and much of his work still remains unavailable or hard to get on DVD or even VHS, it's certainly far worse than anything else I have seen by him so far. It's quite obvious that he was nothing more than a hired hand for this film, and had no real personal involvement in the whole project. He tries a couple of his camera tricks, but he cannot bring the ASTONISHINGLY pointless and empty script to life. The fact that there are no user comments for this movie since 2004 (!) is an indication that it's destined to be buried and forgotten, even by Ruiz devotees. The photography is beautiful and Laetitia Casta looks EXQUISITE and gives a very good performance, but I still felt tempted many times to just shut the movie off and be done with it. I didn't, but only because that's my unbroken rule. 0.5 out of 4 stars.
First, read the book...
flippo2 June 2001
This movie gave an academic soul like my own the urge to read Giono's book. A critic at Liberation pans the movie for being too linear and academic, while the critics at Le Monde were more enthusiastic about it -- correctly pointing out that a number of very key logical connections in the story were omitted in the film. This tactic keeps the viewer from having a firm grasp of what is happening in the story -- particularly if your native language does not happen to be French.
The opening scene with the old women (les veilleuses) is virtually incomprehensible unless one has a very solid grasp of idiomatic French -- for the non-natives I recommend either reading the book first or seeing a subtitled version. The story of Thérèse (played by Monique Mélinand and Laetitia Casta) develops from the gossip at the vigil.
The story becomes easier to follow once the camera leaves the old women, but just...
The filming is done in a style that reminds me of Peter Greenaway, with lots of long shots and bright colors (for which the viewer is quite eager by this point of the movie). Towards the end of the film there is a scene which in itself is worth the price of admission: Eric Gautier and Raoul Ruiz apparently spent a very long time on this scene filmed in 4 below weather on the side of a mountain in Luse. The result is stunning. I am not sure that it is an intentional nod towards Bergman's Seventh Seal -- perhaps it is just the carts but the color and fury of the storm were enhanced with this weird memory of death playing chess with a man...
John Malkovich. Brilliant body language. This is a good thing, because his French is quite incomprehensible at a couple of points in this film. This may have been intentional -- his character's motivation is meant to be unfathomable, why not his speech as well? After the role he played in Les Miserables for France 3, it is clear that he can speak French very clearly (apparently he worked closely with a coach -- the result was a very good Inspector Javert). In this movie, though, my friend (a French prof) and I were very glad when he started counting in English.
Laetitia Casta is quite good in the movie. With the exception of a badly botched kiss at the beginning of the movie, she seems very credible in the role and fits as seemlessly into the skin of an 89-year-old as that of a youngster.
To sum up... the movie is long, and difficult to understand. It is not a cheeseburger. I do think it will be richer the second time around and so I will wait to give it a rating until then. The work that went into the movie is worth at least that much effort...
The opening scene with the old women (les veilleuses) is virtually incomprehensible unless one has a very solid grasp of idiomatic French -- for the non-natives I recommend either reading the book first or seeing a subtitled version. The story of Thérèse (played by Monique Mélinand and Laetitia Casta) develops from the gossip at the vigil.
The story becomes easier to follow once the camera leaves the old women, but just...
The filming is done in a style that reminds me of Peter Greenaway, with lots of long shots and bright colors (for which the viewer is quite eager by this point of the movie). Towards the end of the film there is a scene which in itself is worth the price of admission: Eric Gautier and Raoul Ruiz apparently spent a very long time on this scene filmed in 4 below weather on the side of a mountain in Luse. The result is stunning. I am not sure that it is an intentional nod towards Bergman's Seventh Seal -- perhaps it is just the carts but the color and fury of the storm were enhanced with this weird memory of death playing chess with a man...
John Malkovich. Brilliant body language. This is a good thing, because his French is quite incomprehensible at a couple of points in this film. This may have been intentional -- his character's motivation is meant to be unfathomable, why not his speech as well? After the role he played in Les Miserables for France 3, it is clear that he can speak French very clearly (apparently he worked closely with a coach -- the result was a very good Inspector Javert). In this movie, though, my friend (a French prof) and I were very glad when he started counting in English.
Laetitia Casta is quite good in the movie. With the exception of a badly botched kiss at the beginning of the movie, she seems very credible in the role and fits as seemlessly into the skin of an 89-year-old as that of a youngster.
To sum up... the movie is long, and difficult to understand. It is not a cheeseburger. I do think it will be richer the second time around and so I will wait to give it a rating until then. The work that went into the movie is worth at least that much effort...
Toooo Boooooring....
santosped8 July 2002
Wonderful movie, astonishing Laetitia Casta
stropi12 June 2001
Is this the Victoria's Secret and L'Oreal supermodel , starring in this very ambitious movie ??? It seems it is. Yet, what a rich personality this girl must have. I found her surprisingly good, deep, right for the role, at the opposite of the image I had of her. The whole movie is very faithful to the original XXth century French classic by Jean Giono. It might seem a little complicated because its characters are fully ambiguous. This is the main theme of the movie and of the novel. Thanks to the screenwriters and the director, it is great to see such movies that do not take the average cinema goer for a silly person. A movie you can interpret your own way, in which everything is not explained. Not another silly psychological drama ! A movie with depth.. I have seen it four times already and can't wait for the DVD. With Laetitia Casta actress, I would say a star is born.
All about sleep...
vostf20 May 2001
There is much hype surrounding the release of les Ames Fortes in France due to the starring debut of Laetitia Casta as the main character.
We can understand very well what has appealed to the 23 year-old model: the movie, freely adapted from a Giono novel, tells the story of a peasant girl who will discover and use her personal attraction on men and women as she goes to town.
What could have made a good story turns very boring as Ruiz lacks a sense of tempo and seems unable to craft a good end to the movie.
This movie is not worth two hours of your time, even if you are a Casta fan.
We can understand very well what has appealed to the 23 year-old model: the movie, freely adapted from a Giono novel, tells the story of a peasant girl who will discover and use her personal attraction on men and women as she goes to town.
What could have made a good story turns very boring as Ruiz lacks a sense of tempo and seems unable to craft a good end to the movie.
This movie is not worth two hours of your time, even if you are a Casta fan.
Complex ambiguity framed in refined beauty
lenoradel4 July 2001
A well acted and respectful adaptation of Giono's masterpiece. Ruiz takes the internal and complex ambiguity of a women's soul and frames and reflects her struggle in the backdrop of the refined beauty of Provence. The truth about Thérèse we may never know but the truth about Ms. Casta's talent on screen is without question.
Sh*t!
demetrischristodoulides29 November 2003
Come on, i rented this movie on dvd full of excitement as I am a huge fan of independent movies and european cinema in general. I also am a fan of John Malkovich and i really like Laetitia Casta ; but i can't recall a single moment in my whole life that i felt sooooo boooored! It's terrible! The only elements i liked was the music (that's nothing special really, just very nice) and the beautiful and excellent photography!
mysterious makes boring
jimakros30 December 2003
This story is about an attractive manipulative little tramp who gets involved with a wealthy couple,the man played by John Malcovich.Most of the movie follows this situation and the couple's behaviour is so mysterious that the only resaon i kept watching is to see how this is resolved or explained,which never happens.After that the movie goes on but i was already bored and i never cared for the rest which is even more boring.Too bad for the beautifull photography, especially of the french countryside.
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