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Temps qui changent, Les (2004)

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30 out of 35 people found the following comment useful :-
In André Téchiné's Tangiers, Balzac meets the "Thousand and One Nights", 25 décembre 2004

Author: willet-weeks de New York City

Téchiné once again at his not-quite-best is once again better than just about anything else going on in movies. The Tangiers in which the film is set is one of cranes and bulldozers and exurban office blocks and urban blight as work-in-progress. It could be any big, hyper-developing city anywhere, a point only emphasized by unglamourized shots of the spectacular bay and of the seashore, along which African migrants crowd in search of a lift to Spain. Yet it is also a place where sheikhs still cast out demons (at least on videotape, in a very sharp and funny sequence), and modern, Westernized executive assistants must try hard not to act too irritated or insulted when their foreign charges ask to learn how folks here cast spells. No one who can help it speaks Arabic. This is the Morocco Paul Bowles really lived in, not the one he wrote about. But in the gritty and astringently unsentimental world Téchiné always gives us, magic can and does happen, just as he has always been telling us it does – when, where and how we least expect it.

Into all this he brings Depardieu and Deneuve, well into late middle age and pointedly showing it. The actress the French press still ritually calls the Most Beautiful Woman In The World allows herself to be shot dowdy and wrinkled, and Depardieu is a pathetic, clutsy, mastodontic wreck of a project engineer who's supposed to build things but who pulls them down around himself instead. Viewers who come to this film hoping for a glamorous "Last Metro" sequel will (deservedly) be sorely disappointed, but it is in the interaction of these two as truthfully aging (but only partly matured and not necessarily wiser) human beings that much of the real magic of the film lies. The sequence of their first encounter is transcendental cinema: Téchiné paces, lights and,above all, frames it with as much mastery as you will see in any non-Asian film this year, and the actors pour their lifetimes of experience into making it a moment of stunning, deeply affecting comic understatement. With such consummate virtuosos in front of and behind the camera, all you can do is purr.

Balzac here meets the Thousand and One Nights, with sudden clashes of culture and of personality, and with acute, squirm-inducingly true mixes of love and its opposite between friends, lovers, spouses and (in bravura double casting of Lubna Azabal) twins, all real and raw, all in quicksilver sequences with minimum exposition or narrative explication. The film looks as if it may have been done on a very tight schedule: some of sequences show signs of over-hasty rehearsal, of cameras rolling before actors have gelled and mastered their scene.

But Téchiné is nonetheless a master who makes so many films that he is taken for granted and mistaken for a reliable journeyman. He probably longs for a breakthrough hit and may have been hoping for this finally to be the one. It won't be: the French press comment has ranged from very enthusiastic to tepid to dismissive, and, as is so often the case, he is up against newer and glitzier directors with films being released at roughly the same time. (In 1991, for example, it had been Olivier Assayas's "Paris s'éveille", portentous and affected, that had eclipsed Téchiné's searing but, as usual, flawed "J'embrasse pas"; this year, it is Arnaud Desplechin's "Rois et reine", also featuring Deneuve, that will doubtless outglitz "Les temps qui changent", without bettering it.) But in Paris, chic will always win over substance, and Téchiné will never be chic. This doubtless goes a long way to explaining why so many actors of the first rank (Deneuve – long a synonym for chic – among them) do some of their best work for him and come back to him time after time. They know something about Téchiné that too many professional critics don't -- and so, by now, should we.

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13 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-
Engrossing, 20 octobre 2005

Author: Goran de Australia

I'm a bit confused at the negative reactions on here, I really can't imagine anybody disliking this film. It's perfectly solid writing, direction and performances, and I miss the days when filmmakers were encouraged to tell stories relevant to life with relatable but complicated characters, against a fascinating, politically charged backdrop.

I'm a huge fan of Techiné's Wild Reeds, it's one of my favorite films of the 90s (and in general) - and OK, granted, this wasn't *as* good, but it was still horribly clever, sweet and entertaining. Depardieu does well despite a tricky character (who's a little too naive to be believable at times), Deneuve is as gorgeous and just generally magnificent as ever, and the supporting cast fares well also.

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8 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
Time changes, but love endures, 9 septembre 2006

Author: jotix100 de New York

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Antoine Lavau, is a man that never forgot to love Cecile, even though a lot of time has passed since they last saw one another. In fact, Cecile, who has married a Moroccan physician, and has settled in Tangiers, is going through some difficult time herself. When Antoine asks to be sent to Tangiers for a big project, all he has in mind is to find Cecile again.

Not everything goes well when Cecile and Antoine finally meet. It's almost impossible to reactivate a love affair after so many years, as Antoine keeps counting the days since he lost her. Cecile, who is working on a radio program, has found her marriage to Natan, is in shambles. To make matters worse, her bisexual son, Sami, arrives for vacation with his lover, Nadia, and her young son.

Sami wants to resume his sexual liaison with a young local who he secretly lusts after. Nadia, on the other hand, an Arab, has adapted to the Western customs, whereas Aicha, her twin, is a modest woman who seems to observe her religion and who is only working at a minimum wage job in a fast food place.

The film has an almost tragic end as Antoine suffers a grave accident and has to be hospitalized. Cecile has come to a decision and it will come as no surprise to the viewer: love conquers all! That is the message that Andre Techine wants to tell us. Working with the screen play by Laurent Guyot, he does what he can to make this film engrossing.

Gerard Depardieu and Catherine Deneuve reunite, once again for this film. It shows clearly how time is cruel even to great beauties like Ms. Deneuve, who appears to be aging, but still has her great beauty to share with the audience. Mr. Depardieu, alas, although younger, appears not to have the same luck as his co-star. Gilbert Melki plays Cecile's husband, and Lubua Azabal plays the dual role of Nadia/Aicha.

The film has some good moments, although this is not Mr. Techine's finest moment directing.

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12 out of 18 people found the following comment useful :-
Nothing to it, 27 octobre 2005

Author: Felix-28 de Melbourne, Australia

I saw this film last night as part of a Catherine Deneuve festival. She never disappoints me, and she didn't disappoint me this time, but the film did. Gerard Depardieu also was outstanding as usual; he is utterly amazing in his ability to portray vastly different characters despite his utterly distinctive physical presence.

I regard any film that holds my attention throughout as being basically good, and any that doesn't as basically bad. This one held my attention, so it's good. I kept wanting to see what happened next.

But there are degrees of goodness, and this one was down near the bottom. At the end, I thought, "Well, what am I supposed to take out of all that?" Two former lovers may or may not be reunited; if they are, it may or may not be the result of witchcraft; the half-gay son's girlfriend is unhappy about something, but I have no idea what it it is or if it's going to get better; her sister is also troubled, but I have no idea what about; maybe something significant was said about the politics of Tangier and/or Iraq, but if so it went over my head.

The hand-held camera, as always, didn't make me think about the significance of the events that were unfolding; it just unsettled my stomach by forcing me to adjust my field of vision every millisecond. When you think about it, the basic rationale for constant use of hand-held cameras is fundamentally stupid. It doesn't add realism; it destroys it. When I observe people interacting, I don't dance around them as photographers holding cameras seem compelled to do; and if I do move, my field of vision changes smoothly and, to me, unnoticeably. But when the hand-held camera moves, it jerks, and the viewer has to adjust his field of vision and then absorb the sights he sees. Bring back the good old days where the images were the focus, not the camera-work.

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6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
The Impact of Love and the Ravages of Time, 5 octobre 2006

Author: gradyharp de United States

Writer/director André Téchiné (Wild Reeds, My Favorite Season, Child of the Night, etc) is able to take what appear to be simple emotional responses from complicated people and create an artwork that makes us think, become introspective, and be challenged and entertained all at the same time. His ability to draw intensely personal performances from his actors makes him a director with a full heart and startling technique.

Essentially a love story, 'Les Temps qui changent' ('Changing Times') examines the lives of two people who fell in love in Paris 30 years ago, but parted. Antoine Lavau (Gérard Depardieu) has never married, so in love with his original flame Cécile (Catherine Deneuve) that he is obsessed with winning her back. Cécile has married a younger man, Natan (Gilbert Melki) who is a philandering physician, and lives in Tangiers where she hosts a dowdy talk show on the radio to help support the family. The couple has a bisexual son Sami (Malik Zidi), who has returned to Tangiers with his drug-addled girlfriend Nadia (Lubna Azabal) and her son Saïd (Idir Elomri) much to his parent's concern, and takes up with his Moroccan lover Bilal (Nadem Rachati). The family problems are further complicated by the fact that the Morroccan Nadia has a twin sister Aïcha (also played by Lubna Azabal) in Tangiers who is trying desperately to separate her life from her twin.

Antoine, an architect of means, manages to land a job in Tangiers in hopes of rekindling his romance with Cécile, but Cécile has become a feminist and a bitter woman who resents her younger husband's infidelity and wants nothing to do with love, especially with the threat of depth of feeling that Antoine's new presence in her world presents. Antoine is persistent, meets Cécile's husband for medical reasons, and tries to woo Cécile in a close to stalking manner. Cécile's best friend Rachel (Tanya Lopert) convinces her that the only way to end the ardor of Antoine is to sleep with him, which she finally does with unexpected results. While the dance between Cécile and Antoine progresses, Natan meets Aïcha, Sami and Bilal arouse old emotions, and Nadia requires rehab for her out of control drug habits. How all of these coincidental occurrences coincide in an unexpected accident for Antoine is André Téchiné's magical way of sharing the power of love in the most adverse of circumstances. The ending is surprising and thought-provoking and eminently satisfying.

Depardieu and Deneuve are luminous in their roles, adding yet other crowns to their careers of creating unforgettable, subtle characterizations on film. The remainder of the cast is also superb and the cinematography and music and editing and direction make this a feast for the eyes and the brain. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp

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8 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
A let-down, 12 janvier 2006
Author: pierre nay (pnay75-1@noos.fr) de France

What a let-down!! With a renowned director and two of the biggest French stars, you could expect at least a good movie, if not a masterpiece. But the result is a shamble: the film tells of the undying love of Gérard Depardiieu for Catherine Deneuve, as they were lovers but parted some 30 years before. But the reason of the split is not explained: on the contrary, Deneuve confesses to her assistant and good friend that she was madly in love with Depardieu, both sexually and affectively … So you don't understand. Add an unfaithful husband who does not care a hoot any longer for Deneuve… you cannot expect to fulfill a 100 minute-movie with so thin a story. So they create useless roles ( the AC/DC son of Deneuve, his wife and his son, and his lover, as well as the wife's twin sister) and scenes (Depardieu's attempt at black magic, the dogs attacking Deneuve's son) . But they are uninteresting (when not laughable) and leave you cold… And if Depardieu is rather good, - showing some aspects of his former talent before he agreed to make any and every indifferent or bad films for amassing pots of money -, Deneuve appears unconcerned, showing no sincerity in her performance. I give it a 4, feeling generous ..

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Téchiné is brilliant., 18 juillet 2006

Author: mjledonne de New York City

I very much liked this film. I have been a Deneuve fan for a long time and really enjoyed seeing her in another Téchiné picture. This director has a very ambiguous way of making his characters very human and very enigmatic simultaneously. The music he chooses is fantastic. Watching this, I was very much reminded of his 1996 film, Les Voleurs, also starring Deneuve. Les Temps qui Changent is part comedy, part family drama, part romance, and part political commentary. The film doesn't drag--it simmers and feels very alive. Morocco is quite a setting. In such a contrast to the mainstream American films, this film is subtle and unapologetic. The viewers come to care about not only the characters but their world as well. The subplots do not detract but only enhance the realistic and cultural quality of the film. Without a doubt worth watching. Téchiné is a master.

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Passion for ever, 13 mars 2007

Author: shatguintruo de rio de janeiro,Brazil

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Is it possible that a passion - strictu sensu - lasts over 31 years? This movie tries to demonstrate that is possible... Antoine Lavau (interpreted by Gérard Depardieu) concomitant with his job of supervising the beginning of a great enterprise in an ancient french possession (Argel or Marocco?) searches desperately "to fix a mistake" done in his past: the fear of to be repudiated in his avowal of love for Cécile (Catherine Deneuve), in despite of both we're involved in a whirligig passion in a remote summer of '70s (by the way, to her, the first love...). Antoine, now a rich entrepreneur of (construction) line of business meet again Cécile married with a doctor (Natan) born in that place who absolutely doesn't look Cécile as a goddess, like Antoine does. This becomes patent when, in a scene where both talk and Natan confesses that he has several lovers ("of all kind, all nationalities") and he is bored with his marriage... By her hand, Cécile does not love him anymore as before, because he reveals himself as a "heman" or because he treats his own son (Sami) in a careless way, ignoring completely his emotional feelings. In face of this situation, Cécile created a shell around her and this shell is a mixture of feminism and hardness in her relationship, mainly with men. That's obvious when she meets Antoine in a hotel room, after had repudiated him more than once... An accident put them together - same that in a provisory manner - occasion in which they will try to correct, no matter how lately, the "mistake" of the past. The interpretations: Gérard Depardieu is not so well as in the other roles, but he transmit us some tenderness while Catherine Deneuve "ravissante" (charming) in her 60 years give us an interpretation firm and faithful to psicologic shadows of her character. In a scale of 1 to 10, I vote : 8.

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3 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
What's with the low rating? I was pulled in from the beginning..., 16 juillet 2006

Author: VEFF

I am surprised by the relatively low average rating for this film compared to the ratings of other similar films. I realize that tastes vary, but this deserves a higher average rating IMHO.

I was drawn into the story and the interaction between the characters. Perhaps I enjoyed it more because I used to live in Europe and speak French fluently (the film does lose something for those who need to read the subtitles). I am tired of the mainstream films and this was so much better than the majority of movies being released these days.

This is an excellent study in human relationships, life and love. It also had some very humorous moments. I also found it to be engrossing, as another reviewer put it.

Like any film it won't appeal to everyone, but I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

I hope films such as this one continue to be produced...

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4 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
A wonderful achievement of atmosphere and storytelling., 11 octobre 2005

Author: damonisho de Vancouver, Canada

André Techiné sets this story of undying love against a complicated backdrop of conflicted individuals living in today's fragmented world. Essentially a simple story of a middle-aged pair whose paths have not crossed in 30 years, until one of them, still smitten and unable to relinquish his love, throws himself, unwelcome, into the life of the other. Deneuve is at her restrained best, further shown to advantage by the always watchable Depardieu.

The film's other main message is that life is complex and hard, that connections are increasingly difficult to maintain, and our attention must be scattered but vigilant in order to survive. Techiné throws in so many pieces of commentary on modern life that, while the main story is relatively simple, the viewer comes away under a heavy weight, as if having watched an epic film.

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