abcdefz
08-27-2007, 08:30 AM
I don't know how many people will get a chance to see this in a theater, but it's a pretty nifty movie.
Julie Delpy wrote it, directed it, and stars in it with Adam Goldberg, who usually grates on me quite a bit.
Two thirty-five-ish year olds, a couple for two years, are in Paris for two days visiting Delpy's family and old friends and, inevitably, a couple of ex-somethings. (-Loves, -trysts, something.)
Anyway, there's ZERO plot, and I wish there had been something, but I'm not sure I've ever seen a movie that more realistically portrays what it's like to be in a lover-relationship. Not that every single couple out there is like this, not at all, but the cdynamic of being part of a couple, the constant flow and ebb of companionship: encouraging, needling, compromising, insisting, dopey-loving, frustrated, the mechanical (whether it's sex or getting laundry done), negotiation, all that stuff.
There's also a pretty neat trick of portraying Goldberg's character not knowing much French, and the dynamic of that. (Any American who's ever been frustrated because visitors or people living in the States don't speak English should get a nice little kick in the gut when one character indignantly hisses to Goldberg "speak French!") The whole issue of language and communication, masked communication, manipulation in relationships through communication -- all that stuff -- gets nicely layered in with these moments. And it's not some gimmick whatsoever, and, although probably half of the movie is subtitled, it's done so deftly and acted so well that the language barrier scenes never seem jarring or intrusive; the audience still knows what's going on, which shuts Goldberg's character out even more, which makes him a little more sympathetic instead of the ethnocentric, arrogant American.
Delpy has made a pretty honest, insightful movie, and she doesn't spare her character at all. Her character, we find, is something of a social liar -- she lies for seemingly good purpose -- to prop up the esteem of others (which means anything from "you look good in that shirt" to "I never had an orgasm through sex until you"), and she sells the complex misunderstanding that these aren't lies because she truly means well.
It's a pretty fascinating movie. Not a great one, but it's observant as hell without really going anywhere, and there are some nice touches in the directing and screenwriting, not to mention acting. If it shows up near you, give it a shot.
B.
Julie Delpy wrote it, directed it, and stars in it with Adam Goldberg, who usually grates on me quite a bit.
Two thirty-five-ish year olds, a couple for two years, are in Paris for two days visiting Delpy's family and old friends and, inevitably, a couple of ex-somethings. (-Loves, -trysts, something.)
Anyway, there's ZERO plot, and I wish there had been something, but I'm not sure I've ever seen a movie that more realistically portrays what it's like to be in a lover-relationship. Not that every single couple out there is like this, not at all, but the cdynamic of being part of a couple, the constant flow and ebb of companionship: encouraging, needling, compromising, insisting, dopey-loving, frustrated, the mechanical (whether it's sex or getting laundry done), negotiation, all that stuff.
There's also a pretty neat trick of portraying Goldberg's character not knowing much French, and the dynamic of that. (Any American who's ever been frustrated because visitors or people living in the States don't speak English should get a nice little kick in the gut when one character indignantly hisses to Goldberg "speak French!") The whole issue of language and communication, masked communication, manipulation in relationships through communication -- all that stuff -- gets nicely layered in with these moments. And it's not some gimmick whatsoever, and, although probably half of the movie is subtitled, it's done so deftly and acted so well that the language barrier scenes never seem jarring or intrusive; the audience still knows what's going on, which shuts Goldberg's character out even more, which makes him a little more sympathetic instead of the ethnocentric, arrogant American.
Delpy has made a pretty honest, insightful movie, and she doesn't spare her character at all. Her character, we find, is something of a social liar -- she lies for seemingly good purpose -- to prop up the esteem of others (which means anything from "you look good in that shirt" to "I never had an orgasm through sex until you"), and she sells the complex misunderstanding that these aren't lies because she truly means well.
It's a pretty fascinating movie. Not a great one, but it's observant as hell without really going anywhere, and there are some nice touches in the directing and screenwriting, not to mention acting. If it shows up near you, give it a shot.
B.