Reviews (2)

Great Film, when's the DVD coming out?
Charming French Film, revolves around the love affiars of 2-3 people, some seeing old loves, others starting new loves, very well done.

The french "pop" songs, spliced sparingly through-out the film in moments of 30 sec - 1 minute. No dancing (!!! thank goodness) the songs range from the 1930's to the Present. With most of them skewing towards modern times.

Overall, good song choices if anyone knows the song sung in the dinner scene, where Nicholas visits Odile after 8 yrs. please, i'm still lookin wasn't on the French Soundtrack on amazon.co.fr please write it here. i'd pay top dollar for just that song.

I caught this film, back when I had the sundance channel for a while 2 yrs. back, I always had a blank VHS ready to go. Since they ran movies 3 times a week, if it looked intersting the first 2 times, I'd tape it. The beggining is where this film caught my eye. There's a vignette scene where a top German comander in France is ordered by Hitler via phone to destroy Paris in 24 hrs.

After hanging up the phone the comander sits down and opens his mouth and lip-syncs as an old-school record breaks out in the background and it says:

"Two loves of my life
my home and Paris
in times of strife
they set my heart free"

Just beautiful. As is the rest of the film. And then the rest of the film forwards to the mid 90's with the tour guide: the younger Camile sister says, [paraphrasing] "in that building the comander got orders to destroy Paris from Hitler, his motives for not doing so remain obscure." [paraphrasing] .....and then it heads into the realationships thing. When's the DVD coming out?

Resnais' lastest film, this is an outstanding musical comedy
Although released in France in 1997 to nearly universal critical praise, outside of a few domestic film festivals, "Same Old Song" was only screened domestically last year (2000) in select film markets. I saw both showings in Seattle, and found myself thoroughly enchanted by this playful, yet somber, musical comedy by one of the greatest living directors. While Resnais long ago turned away from the self-reflexive, deconstructive style of "Last Year at Marienbad" and "Hiroshima Mon Amour," the 80s and 90s have seen perhaps his most innovative, if least watched, work. His last three films, "Smoking/No Smoking" and "Same Old Song," show that Resnais continues to explore new terrain, at an age when most directors, even great ones, often become rather nostalgic and banal. I spent the last year experimenting with different international releases of this film, all of which invariably suffered from subpar picture quality due to PAL conversion. Before the present release, the only NTSC version was an unsubtitled Canadian release, which had excellent colors but was pan and scan. If your video store does not carry this title, it is well worth the price tag. This first domestic video edition presents the film in widecreen format, with excellent subtitles. Now I am just waiting for the DVD release.

As for the film itself, it is outstanding, possibly Resnais' best film since "Life is a Bed of Roses" (1983), not to take anything away from "Smoking/No Smoking." If anything, "Same Old Song" reminds us that the Romantic Comedy genre should not be dismissed along with the latest Julia Roberts picture. I do not want to spoil the story. I will say only that the final thirty minutes, recalling the hypnotic filmmaking of Resnais' work from the early 60s, are absolutely breathtaking and feature some of the most beautiful images of jellyfish ever filmed. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A chamber opera of a film dealing with mortality and family
This film was a quietly moving and wrenching film about the ties of family sharing a moment of grief, all the more devastating for being an undercurrent, rarely articluated. A father is dying and his daughter and wife attempt to build a barrier of denial concerning his true conditiom. Slowly we are witness to the tragedy of human life in all of its mystery and beauty. Each of the performances are a marvel of subtle emotion, and expression. The film explores the meaning of a person's life and attempts to suggest ways of accepting the inevitable, that is death.

A rare gem
I was browsing the video section and picked up this movie on a lark. It is a beautiful movie about the complex family relationships of a terminally ill father, his daughter and his wife. This thought provoking film is set in the Cote D'Azur. Dirk Bogarde is marvelous as the dying patient who sneaks out with his daughter to have a glass of whiskey for old times sake. This is not one of the depressing emanicated man - on the contrary, his outlook on life is a lesson to us all. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Lots of Silly Fun!
The whole premise behind the 570 musketeer films that have been released thus far (Dec. 2003) is pretty flimsy, and the premise behind this one is among the flimsiest. BUT--for people who like to watch adventure-comedies in which beautiful women kick butt, this belongs on your shelf beside the CHARLIE'S ANGELS films. The chief advantage this film has over other members of this genre is that it stars the ever-adorable Sophie Marceau. We get to see her fence with evil-doers and have a tender moment or two with her aging father, the famous D'Artagnan. The script is better than average, and the film contains many other scenes that are enjoyable in various ways. Finally, if you happen to like "musketeer films," this one is far better than the half dozen big-budget productions that have come out of Hollywood in the past few years. (Sorry, Leonardo. Yours stank, despite its high-powered cast.)

Revenge of the Musketeers
The comic tone of the film disappointed me. I adore Sophie Marceau, but her talent was unnecessary for this piece. And the needless breast-bearing was insulting. Comedy should be used to tell the story in period films - not be the story. I should have suspected something foul from a film francais with an English title.

Marceau Carries The Day
The spirit of Dumas is alive and well as D'Artagnan and his three legendary companions regroup and once again go forth in defense of the Crown in "Revenge of the Musketeers," directed by Bertrand Tavernier. This time around, however, it's D'Artagnan's daughter, Eloise (Sophie Marceau), who sounds the alarm after witnessing a cold-blooded murder at the convent she has called home these many years, having been raised there while her father was off on one adventure after another in service to the King. And it's the King for whom Eloise is concerned; in the wake of the murder, she has uncovered a conspiracy to assassinate the about-to-be-crowned Louis XIV during his coronation. Her evidence is a cryptic message discovered among the personal effects of the recently deceased resident of the convent. So throwing caution to the wind, Eloise takes to horseback, alone, to seek out her father and inform him of this threat to France and the King. What she doesn't know is that D'Artagnan (Philippe Noiret) has recently withdrawn from the service of the King, and not by his own choosing. It seems that the King-to-be is something of an upstart, the fact of which D'Artagnan conveyed to him personally-- in no uncertain terms-- after which the now former Musketeer retired to private life to give lessons in the art of swordsmanship. All of which is about to change with the arrival of the daughter he hasn't seen for many years, and who to his knowledge is still safely ensconced in the convent.

To successfully present yet another episode of "The Three Musketeers," it must have that certain sense of bold carelessness born of confidence and larger-than-life adventure, and Tavernier's film has it. Though it takes a couple of scenes to find it's legs after an intense opening that makes you sit up and take notice, when it finally kicks in (which it does fairly quickly) it becomes a rousing adventure steeped in the tradition of it's predecessors. And, as in the best of the "Musketeer" movies, it's laced with subtle humor and intrigue. Tavernier sets a pace that is at times inconsistent, but he provides enough action and fun that it can be easily overlooked; it may threaten to stall occasionally, but never actually does.

Philippe Noiret cuts a striking figure as the aging D'Artagnan, who though slowed somewhat by the years, is still one of the best swords around. He successfully embodies that spirit and sense of "legend" that makes his D'Artagnan believable, and delivers it all with the confidence befitting his character.

The highlight of the film, however, is the lovely Marceau, who as Eloise proves that she can cross swords with the best of them. Her technique with a blade may be a bit awkward at times, but it gives credibility to the character; a young woman raised in a convent-- even the daughter of a famed Musketeer-- wouldn't necessarily be a master swordsman. And Marceau gives a lively performance as Eloise, diving into the action with a reckless abandon that makes her endearing, as well as fun to watch. She has a radiant screen presence that draws the eye to her, even in a crowded scene. But what really puts this character across-- and again, the entire film, for that matter-- is that unabashed spirit of adventure, which Marceau manifests in Eloise.

The supporting cast includes Claude Rich (Crassac), Sami Frey (Aramis), Jean-Luc Bideau (Athos), Raoul Billerey (Porthos), Charlotte Kady (Eglantine de Rochefort), Nils Tavernier (Quentin), Luigi Proietti (Mazarin) and Jean-Paul Roussillon (Planchet). Proving that even Musketeers beyond their prime can be engaging, especially when combined with a spirited beauty like Marceau, "Revenge of the Musketeers" is a welcome cinematic chapter in the saga Dumas began so many years ago. In the end, it's a satisfying experience that will transport you to another place and another time, when chivalry was alive and well, and right always triumphed over wrong.

All for One, One for the Ages!
With all due respect to The Three & Four Musketeers of Richard Lester, Revenge of the Musketeers surpasses these and all other Dumas musketeer films ever. This takes into account a lot of movies, from Fairbanks to Walter Abel, the Ritz Brothers, Louis Hayward, Gene Kelly, Hal Roach Jr., Gordon Scott, Louis Jourdan, Cornel Wilde, and lately Leonardo with Gabriel Byrne et al. Never mind Sophie Marceau fencing with the guys with nary a lesson. Sophie's fine. My money's on Sophie over feisty Kim Cattrall of Lester's Return of the Musketeers. It's reverence that really makes Revenge a winner; reverence for Dumas Pere. D'Artagnan first sees his daughter (Sophie) and mistakes her for long-dead Constance. He alludes to the 'Porthos thrust' and the 'Aramis thrust.' Planchet remains addled, and now aged. Porthos can be lured out of retirement with mounds of food. Brooding Aramis as always follows intrigue. Athos says much with few rasping words. They reunite and allude longingly to the old days, and we feel their aches and pains, and smile at inside references to old foes among the Cardinal's guards. Never mind the slow spots and confusing plot machinations. This is Dumas-inspired after all. Just savor the French sensibilities and the gentle mockery of Mazarin, and D'Artagnan spurring his comrades on by saying, 'We can't let Cyrano have all the fun!' Oh yeah, Sophie gets naked, which can't hurt. And the swordplay is excellent, a la William Hobbs. We may never see the likes of this one again. Magnifique one and all!

Marceau shines in respectable swashbuckler
After a slow start, Revenge of the Musketeers (originally released in France as La Fille de D'Artagnan) picks up some dash and humor by the second half and leaves the viewer credibly entertained. There are good performances from all the cast (except a fairly colorless love-interest for Marceau's Eloise), who seem to be enjoying themselves immensely. The lovely Sophie Marceau gets to parade in a variety of flattering cavalier costumes and the villains are full of bravado and duplicity as befits these sort of romps. Messieurs Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and D'Artagnan may be twenty years older than in their heyday, but they still have plenty of fight in them, and when the headstrong daughter of D'Artagnan unmasks a nasty conspiracy -- or IS it? -- they race into action once again for France and King Louis.

The production is top-notch and Marceau's Eloise suitably steals the show, giving perhaps the best swordswoman display since Kim Cattrall's Justine in Richard Lester's "Return of the Musketeers", which this film most resembles. (Close runner-up: Catherine Zeta-Jones in "The Mask of Zorro.") The pace seems less than dynamic, perhaps due in part to the strange lack of a musical score to complement the action -- you'll appreciate just how much the soundtrack can add to a scene when you watch these au naturel fights and duels. But on the whole, this was better than I'd expected and eminently watchable, with a fine spirit that even bursts out of the closing credits. En garde, mes braves! A cheval! (Add an extra star if you truly love films of this genre.) ... Read more

Reviews (2)

One of Tavernier's Best
This film was barely shown in the U.S. but it's a fascinating recreation of French filmmaking during World War II and a moving study of a few of the people who worked with the French Resistance. Much more serious than another recent French release set during WWII, Bon Voyage. The film will probably be more interesting to lovers of French filmmaking than the general public. But the performances are first-rate so you might want to give it a look even if you might not be initially interested.

I used to like French movies
The obsession of French filmmakers with the German occupation gets another airing in "Safe Conduct," a scattershot, confusing and uninvolving tale of moviemakers under the thumb of the Nazis. If Tavernier had used maybe half the plot he has, it would be a much stronger movie. We keep moving back and forth between an assistant director who divides his time between working for the German-owned movie outfit and working with the Resistance; and a ludicrous screenwriter who keeps getting himself thrown out of his lovers' apartments. In the the best sequence, the assistant director steals documents out of a German officer's office, which results in him getting put on a plane and flown to England -- for a weekend. Movie and history buffs are the best audience for this middling drama, which nevertheless has richly detailed sets and costumes evoking World War II. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

The Real French Connection
This is one of the best police dramas to come out of France in years. Charlotte Kady has a small gem of a role as an undercover cop in DEA style crime unit. Strong performance and great directing make this a foreign film buff's dream. ... Read more