Reviews (3)

Unforgivably inaccurate and insensitive portrayal...
This is a truly fictional account of the final days of Vincent van Gogh. Anyone who understands the life of this artist will be taken aback by this film's completely insensitive portrayal of Vincent's relationship with his brother. In one scene, Theo actually discount's Vincent's entire output, wishing he had painted more like the impressionists! This film would have you believe that despite a forbidden, sexual relationship with his physician's daughter (who is about half his age), Vincent is driven to commit suicide. First of all, there is no evidence that such a relationship ever occured. Further, the film offers no insite into the true character of the artist and the real reasons that he took his own life. I gave it one star because I can't go any lower... for an accurate account of this artist's life, see "Vincent & Theo" or "Lust for Life."

A distorted and pointless Van Gogh biography
This film--which could have been quite good because of its narrow focus on the last two months of Van Gogh's life--is, in the end, a disaster. The film is grossly inaccurate in its portrayals of Vincent, his brother Theo, Dr. Paul Gachet and Gachet's daughter, Marguerite. Director Maurice Pialat seems to have thrown virtually every known fact about Van Gogh out the window and has rewritten history according his own distorted (and actually extremely boring) vision.

A far better movie would be Robert Altman's "Vincent and Theo" starring Tim Roth. Pialat's film, unfortunately, is a mess.

As a lover of Van Gogh, I did not care for this movie.
Jacques Dutronc was great, it was the directing and the portrayal of Van Gogh that I thought was inaccurate. This movie is only based on the last 67 days of Van Gogh's life. Perhaps, I would have enjoyed it more if we could have watched how Van Gogh evolved. What was he like during the ten years before his death? I'd like to see a movie that can depict more of the essence of Van Gogh, and not only focus on "the worst days of his life". There is a huge misconception in the world, of who Van Gogh "is", and this movie only feeds it. Read "Dear Theo": Van Gogh's letters to his brother Theo. The book is far much better than this movie. At least, we can get the truth through Van Gogh's eyes, not Maurice Pialat's. ... Read more

Amazon.com

This interesting Belgian film from 1994 has a surface subject that might make a few guys wince: an 18th-century castrato, or castrated male opera singer. A superstar in Europe, Farinelli the vocalist--despite compromised equipment--gets his share of groupies and is showered with attention and gifts from rich patrons. Meanwhile, his brother--a so-so composer whose career and fortunes are inextricably linked to his sibling, as per their father's wishes--feels like a sham for enjoying the fruits of another's success. For director Gérard Corbiau, the real story is that of the forced bond between the two men, and their unspoken awareness that their separate destinies have been slowed by the arrangement. Corbiau gives us the best of two worlds: a costume drama with an unusual, even exotic, story line, and a tender, universal tale of real love. The opera sequences are a kick: the breathless crowds, Farinelli's hammy control over the drama, and his stunning castrato voice (manufactured by Corbiau via synthesized merger of male and female voices) and all make for great fun. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (32)

Outstanding view of the greatest castrato
Set in 18th Century Europe, this is the story of castrato Carlo Broschi (known as "Farinelli"), arguably the greatest (at least the most popular) singer of all time. The film delves into his life in a deeply personal, if fictionalized, way. Reminiscent of "Amadeus" in its mixture of truth and fiction, we follow the lives of Farinelli and his brother, the composer Ricardo Broschi, from street trumpet duels through stardom, and Farinelli's life as a court figure and personal singer to King Phillip V of Spain.

Farinelli struggles with fractured memories and painful questions as he learns to use his talent apart from his brother's composing. No, no, that's too flat a description of the story -- after watching this film MANY times, I must say that each time I see it, I find new sub-plots and new techniques applied in direction, cinematography and music.

The film features lush cinematography and a unique and rich soundtrack (featuring the computer-b! ! lended voices of Derek Lee Ragin, Counter-tenor, and Ewa Mallas-Godlewska, soprano, to simulate the vocal range of Farinelli).

I could not give a higher recommendation to this film, which I *believe* won a Golden Globe for best foreign language film, and was nominated for an Oscar in the same category.

CORRECTIONS: Stefano Dionisi is the star, not the Director or Producer (the listing should read, "by Gerard Corbiau"). Also, the name of the film is "Farinelli, Il Castrato" END

A Second Review Of A Great Film
Director Gerard Corbiau's Farinelli won Best Picture of 1995. The foreign film, mixed Italian and French, retells the story of the famous and greatest castrato singer Carlo Broschi. The film is exotic, intensely emotional and loaded with beautiful music of the Baroque Era (1600-1750). With all the good things about this movie, comes some things that might be rather disturbing or inappropriate for a younger audience. This is assuredly an adult film. There are two explicit sex scenes at the beginning and end of the film. This is a movie for an adult who is interested in the period, in the life of the castrati and in opera at this time. The opening introduces Carlo Broschi as a little boy singing in the church choir. Another young lad has been castrated to preserve his voice and is so mortified he leaps to his death. Eventually Carlo's brother Riccardo is obligated to do the same to his brother. We don't learn until later in the film that it was Riccardo and not Carlos' brother that conducted the castration. Here, Farinelli is usually quite ill and is forced to take opium as medicine. Farinelli does not seem to think highly of his brother's operas, which are written exclusively for his voice. Instead, he believes the greatest composer of this time is George Frederic Handel, played convincingly by Jerome Krabbe. In a dinner party, in which the Nobles insult Handel, Farinelli is outraged and declares that Handel will long be remembered and not the Nobles and their operas. This ends up being true since Handel is considered one of the greatest composers of this period togeter with Johann Sebastian Bach.

The movie has some inaccuracies and are not historically true. Naturally, this being a costume drama, there are some elements which were entirely fictional created for the sake of sensationalism. Although it is true Riccardo Broschi did compose operas for his brother Farinelli, there is no real evidence they "shared" the women they bedded. In the movie, a Countess is so enamored with Farinelli that she jumps into bed with him only to discover he's castrated. Thus, Riccardo plants the seed and Farinelli only lures the women into bed and seduces them. This is fabricated material to "sex up" the movie. In real life, Farinelli I'm inclined to believe was chaste. He sung many times for religious services and was a devout Catholic. He may not have been at all bitter for his castration since he lived like a king all his life, surrounded in luxury. He was well acquainted with European royalty, all of Europe loved him and he died after years of singing in the chambers of King Phillip of Spain. The rivalry between the Nobles Theatre Opera and Handel's opera company is true. In fact, it remains the only true thing about this movie. The English in London disliked the German foreigner Handel and his prominence in London. He was so beloved that even King George and Queen Anne protected him. The Nobles schemed endlessly to get rid of Handel. The portrayal of Handel as a musical genius, a man of stubborn, perfectionist character is all true. I think the most moving scenes are those with Handel, such as the scene in which Farinelli is overhearing him play the organ in the church and is moved by the music and the scene of Farinelli singing "Lascio Chio Pianga" from Rinaldo which ultimately moves Handel to tears. All the scenes of opera and Farinelli singing in his majestic costumes in this movie are stunningly beautiful. Finally, this movie's soundtrack is incredible. It contains the combined voices of tenor Derek Rogin and soprano Ewa Mallas as the singing voice of Farinelli. The arias sung here are taken from Riccardo Broschi's operas Idaspe and Artaserse and from Handel's Julius Caesar and Rinaldo. A superb film and a must see for fans of Baroque opera.

The Exotic History Of Opera: Farinelli The Great
This DVD comes equipped with English translation from the Italian that this movie was made in. There are also subtitles in French and Spanish, as well as scene selections. French director Gerard Corbiau decided to make a lush film about the life of Farinelli, the greatest castrato singer in all history, portrayed by Italian actor Stefano Dionisi. On DVD, this film looks exquisite. It's a film of adult material (nudity and sex) and for specialized interests. Opera buffs will want to take a glimpse back to the early days of Baroque Opera when the castrati were the music idols of their day, enjoying rockstar status and great wealth. Everything about this film is really engaging to look at. The authentic historic costumes and the precise European locations provide the film with an immediacy and virtual historic escape. We are there in 17th century Italy following this dramatically heightened take on the career of Farinelli. Stefano Dionisi does a great performance, though his effiminate looks, mischief and diva temperament reveals something of a homosexual but this notion is taken into question when we see him in the love scenes with the many beautiful women that are his groupies and loyal admirers of his voice.

This drama may not be entirely true. The story of how the two brothers who are at conflict (one brother reaps the benefits the other is left frustrated and obscure) may be a deliberate attempt to resemble Milos Forman's Amadeus.Farinelli came from a family of musical ambitions and when he was about to hit puberty he wanted to be castrated for the sole purpose of making millions of money and acquiring world fame as a singer. Castrating male youth so as to keep their high-pitched soprano range was an Italian custom, which died out in the 18th century where women began to enjoy more prominet roles in opera, such as the operas of Mozart. Farinelli was the greatest castrato singer of his day. He was incredibly rich and enjoyed the company of royalty. After his many theatrical performances in operas by Handel and other composers, he gave up the stage to sing in the private chambers of Spanish King Phillip V. He lived in luxury there for the rest of his life.

The film is exotic and beautiful to look at and to listen. The music of Handel is prominent, since it was Handel who most wrote for the castrati voice. Impressive are the scenes at the opera, where Farinelli dazzles and mesmerizes his audience against the colorful and elaborate Baroque stage sets. In one scene early in the film, he sings what looks like the sun god Apollo, in a feathered helmet, and is briefly interrupted by a young lady's turning the pages to a libretto. He continues his singing and finishes with an elongated note that is impossible to hold for any tenor or soprano nowadays. Today, the castrati vocal sound is extinct. Perhaps close to it, and even this by a little off, is the male countertenor or a highly developed falsetto. I find that the female mezzo soprano voice is the closest to castrati singing, especially Cecilia Bartoli. Her singing in the recent Salieri Album comes dangerously close to sounding like castrati.
In the movie, creative editing and synthesizing combined a tenor's lung power and a soprano's high top register to effectively portray the sound of a castrati, which sounded like a weird blend of male and female voices, with the female being the stronger range. With that voice, coloratura is unleashed with freedom, agility and high-flung acrobatics.

Never more impressed
I have eclectic tastes--I watch Fellini, Altman, Halstrom, Eastwood, and Campion with equal enjoyment. But I have never been more impressed with a film than with "Farinelli."

This is a character-driven story, not a plot-driven one. In "Farinelli" the essential debate in all art is fully played out on film: From whence does artistic beauty spring? From the interpretive vehicle or the creative one? From the source of the inspiration or from the one who is inspired? It even dares to ask whether there is an element of destruction in the act of creation. The triangles outlining this debate abound. Handel-Broschi-Farinelli is underscored by the relationships between Farinelli-Broschi-Alexandra and between Performer-Composer-Audience. I have seen this film 6 or 7 times and I still rediscover parallels along these themes. It is an impressive achievement to use art to outline art's own tensions without ever once losing sight of the overriding storyline or forcing your actors into unnatural posturing for the sake of making a debate point.

Others have praised the sets, acting, music, lighting--in short, the ambience and opulence of the film. All that is here. And yet all that is also in "Amadeus" and "Immortal Beloved." What this offers that the others does not is the insider's take: If you watch this movie, you will feel Farinelli's emotions, Broschi's emotions and Handel's emotions as they strive for recognition through their art. This is not a movie from which you walk away sympathizing with one character or another. This is a movie from which you walk away knowing you have lived someone else's experience for a brief time.

Farinelli-Great movie
I saw this movie in the theartre when it was new. It's such a beautiful film to look at, and the music is so incredible you forget that it's in Flemmish and you're reading subtitles.

If you like this movie I would also reccomend reading "Cry to Heaven" by Anne Rice. It's a story of the castrati and gives you an understanding of that time in history. It's a great compliment to the movie. As one has nothing to do with the other it's just a very fortunate coincidence.

It's sad that there are no recordings of these beautiful voice as this custom was stopped and those who had performed had died before machanical recordings were popular. I beleive there was one who was actually recorded by Thomas edison on his new invention.

It's something anyone alaive today will never be able to hear. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

a MUST for lovers of the book.
Ruiz's version of Proust's monumental work probably comes as close to a faithful interpretation of the spirit of the original work as a film can get. While the movie focuses on the last volume of the novel, key elements of the whole are interwoven throughout, to brilliant effect. Ruiz's surrealistic touches are at times so achingly beautiful that it takes your breath away. Ruiz made some interesting (and brave) choices regarding the plot: Swann and Albertine are jettisoned entirely, and believe it or not, it still works. The casting is uncannily on the money, with the one exception of John Malkovitch as Charlus, who appears not to have the foggiest conception of the character as written by Proust. If you haven't guessed already, this film will be tough going for those unfamiliar with the book. For Proustians: an unmitigated feast.

A Worthy Interpretation Of The Classic On Film
Director Raul's version of Marcel Prousts' Remembrance Of Things Past is captured beautifully and faithfully on film. It was made only recently in 1999, but it is essentially timeless. The strength of the film lies in the many dimensions it has, as with the novel. Proust's vision and world comes to life through the cinema, through good performances by the actors, period details and such beautiful, wistful music. The music and the way the film changes time frames, different perspectives, and the Impressionist, sensory images in memory that Proust created in the book are captured with great effect.

For those who have read the long book, and for those who are Proustian, this film is a sumptuous cinematic feast. You don't have to appreciate French literature and film interpretation, you can just love costume dramas. The French are a different breed. They love their champagne, their waltzes and always, Paris. The frivolous lifestyle depicted in Odette's courtesan climate is but one element of French society, at least as it was in the late 19th century. Swann, as we know, is the author himself. Proust put himself in Swann, and became the restless, troubled youth searching for himself but unable to find peace of mind in a corrupt world of money and societal conventions, a world who looks innocent and glossy but hides a dark secret of prostitution and frail morals.

The cast is superb. The music is delightful. What a great idea they had to cast a now older Catherine Deneuve as the courtesan whom Swann loves devotedly, Odette. This DVD is a great experienc e and I recommend this film to fans of French classics. One note: the film takes place in the latter portions of Proust's epic novel, and some of the characters and side stories were cut off due to time. Like Gone With The Wind for America, Remembrance Of Things Past is an epic masterpiece of French literature. Only there they call it "Au Recharche du Temps perdu" which literally means, in Proustian symbolism, "In Search Of Lost Time".

Great Film, Not So Great DVD
I have been a fan of Proust's novel for a long time, and I eagerly awaited this movie, having read articles about its making and, later, reviews of it. Yet I managed to miss it during the, oh, three days it played in the theater here. So I ordered the DVD the minute it became available, and I had two reactions: 1) For the Proust devotee, this is an amazing, beautiful film, probably the best that ever could be done in capturing the complexity and haunting quality of the novels. But 2) The DVD is a real disappointment: the subtitles obscure the image itself (instead of appearing below it), and they're white, set against what often is a dazzlingly white background. And of course you can't turn them off. So you can't get rid of the damn things, and you can't read them either. The image itself (the parts you can see) is pristine and gorgeous, and the sound is superb. And the movie itself--well, it's a masterpiece. Will you be able to follow it if you haven't read the books? I think so--parts will seem enigmatic, but then that's not such a bad thing. The overall story and point will, I think, be quite clear, and quite moving.

Incidentally, I agree with the reviewer who said Malkovich is miscast. I love his work in general, but he seems out of place here, and it's all too clear that he had to re-loop much of his French dialogue. Still, the role he plays, and the way the director defined that role, are so interesting that you can overlook his performance somewhat.

Proust, Captured on Film
Suffice it to say that Chilean-born director/screenwriter Ruiz tackled a monumental assignment. Reducing Proust's lengthy Trilogy (Remembrance of Things Past), to a few hours of screen time would have been beyond the capabilities of most filmmakers. That he has succeeded so well is a great credit to him and to his creative crew.

The film is told in a series of flashbacks as Proust lies on his deathbed. The flashbacks are not sequential, so at points one has to pay attention to follow along. The rewards are numerous, however. This is one of the most beautifully filmed works that I've seen in ages. The director is particularly adept at pan-shots. The moving tableaux are breathtaking, like living impressionist paintings. This is particularly true in a scene of a music recital at a country chateau. The various figures are situated on moving platforms, so in addition to the moving camera pans, the platforms also slide slowly back and forth, which makes for a kaleidescopic montage unlike anything I've seen in cinema. Ruiz and cinematographer Jorge Arriagada are artists in the truest sense.

Ruiz also managed to collect a top notch cast for the enterprise. Marcello Mazzarella is elegantly stoic as Proust. He is the artistic, calm eye of the storm as the hurricane of WWI France swirls aound him. Emmanuelle Béart, is stunningly beautiful, as always. Catherine Deneuve is a perfectly cast Mme De Crecy, though her on screen time is relatively brief. John Malkovich's French sounds pretty fair to my untrained ear. He definitely has the juiciest role as a jaded, decadent Baron of the Boulevard. Pascal Greggory chews up some scenery, as well as a boefsteak, as the gung ho, effete warrior, St-Loup (well named, as the guy really is quite loopy).

The movie is slow going at times, which well befits an adaptation of Proust, who's not exactly known for his frenetic pacing. This is a film to savor with several repeated viewings. The DVD is an excellent transfer and the English subtitles are accurate and legible. Highly recommended.

BEK

Breathtakingly beautiful
Well, I had only ever heard of Proust before this film from a Monty Python sketch of the "Summarise Proust competition" (contestants had to summarise In Search of Lost Time once in evening wear and once in bathing suit). I was worried I might hate this film, not knowing anything about Proust other than he wrote a multi-volumed masterwork about time and memory. Then I saw it...wow! I cannot praise Mr Ruiz enough for what he has achieved. The camera work, sets, and lighting are stunning. As Marcel's memory takes him back and forth through his life, the sets and furniture often move around whilst the scene is played out - all emphasising the fragility and hallucinatory qualities of his memory. And there is the music...wow again. It is never intrusive but always creates the perfect background to what is happening on screen. It is not overly sentimental and never tries to force you into feeling emotion (unlike someone like John Williams/S. Spielberg who tries to ram it down your throat). As for plot, many characters and relationships are never fully explained or revealed. Many reviewers seem offended that a film expects them to display attention and interest, but I feel that they're missing the point. Plot is often not the point of the film, instead it is a film about time and memory (hence the title!). Plot is not allowed to dominate the narrative structure, it is the emotions and memory of Marcel. The most offensive thing that some other reviewers seem to find about this film is that it is novel and original - what a crime!! I had never read Proust (and I do not speak French to any degree - I feel I should mention this for the reviewer below who complains that those who can't speak French will have problems) before I saw this film, but I have a long enough attention span and an open enough mind to appreciate the sheer beauty of its images and the wonderful originality of its style. I urge anyone remotely appreciative of excellent filmmaking to see this film. It might even, as it has with me, motivate you to read the book. I am now three and a third volumes in and it is the greatest and most beautifully written novel I have ever read in my life. Thank you Mr Ruiz and thank you Marcel! SEE THIS FILM NOW!!! ... Read more

Amazon.com

Metroland, based on Julian Barnes's first novel, is a tale of midlife, middle-class malaise reminiscent of Ang Lee's The Ice Storm. It's 1977, and shaggy-haired thirtysomething Chris (Christian Bale) has a lovely wife (Emily Watson) and baby, a solid office job, and a nice house in the London suburb of Metroland. Life is good, until the surprise arrival of old chum Toni (Lee Ross), whom Chris has not seen for 10 years and who was his accomplice in teenage shenanigans and heady visions of a bohemian life abroad. Toni, an inveterate ladies man and rootless poet, disdains his old friend's bourgeois milieu and feels it his duty to revive Chris's passion for women, art, and rock & roll. Meanwhile, Chris can't stop fantasizing about his steamier days as a 20-year-old in Paris with his sultry French girlfriend, and fails to notice that Toni covets his wife and that she has sexual desires of her own. While there's a palpable sexual energy in the movie's proceedings that adds a certain zing to the themes of angst and longing, their eventual epiphanies are disappointingly benign. Lee Ross's swashbuckling Toni and Emily Watson's intelligent, knowing wife carry the movie. --Rebecca Wright ... Read more

Reviews (11)

If you liked 'American Beauty'....
you'll love METROLAND, a gentle, bittersweet British film that explores the extremes of middle-age male sexual frustration in the same way - sans violence, of course. Christian Bale, oft cited as one of the biggest stars on the Internet, demonstrates why with an incredible range portraying Chris Lloyd at ages 17, 21 and 35. Subtle changes of mannerism and perspective make Bale's work very satisfying - none of that 18-to-80 aging make-up for Bale!

Emily Watson as Chris' wife is deviously delicious as the manipulative girlfriend and wife. The rest of the cast is superb - from the effervescent Elsa Zylberstein to the grumpy Lee Ross - METROLAND is a must see for Baleheads and intelligent drama.

Fairly interesting look at the married life.
Some people assume that they will stay young and single forever. Sleeping around, partying, no familial responsibility...sounds pretty good right? "Metroland" takes a look at the life of Chris (Christian Bale). Chris is a married thirty-something living in a nice part of town and has a stable job. All seems content in his life. Then one day out of the blue, his old buddy Toni shows up. Toni tries to bring Chris back into his world of the single life filled with hot women, smoking pot and hanging out at parties. This causes Chris to take inventory of his current life and the decisions he has made. Some of this film is in flashback. It shows Chris as a 21 year old photographer in Paris, where he meets the carefree Annick (played wonderfully by Elsa Zylberstein). He eventually meets Marion (Emily Watson), who is another Brit like himself currently in France. She develops a very low-key bond with Chris and eventually they marry. Was it the right choice?

"Metroland" has a superb cast which plays their roles in just the right manner. Where this movie falters, however, is the mediocrity of the script. An introspective movie such as this should have much more powerful and memorable dialogue than it has. Hardly anything ever really comes out and grabs you. It just kinda rolls along and eventually reaches its conclusion. It could've been a great look at the choices we make and where it ends up placing us in life. As it is, however, it falls short of greatness...but it's still worth a look.

The grass is greener
This is the first movie that I've seen that depicts a good marriage in a realistic way. Married people are not immune to wanting to have sex with other people, they just weigh those wants against the value of their marriage. This film takes a look at one man's quarter-life crisis spurred on by the arrival of his devil-may-care childhood buddy. It is an exhamination of what one has versus what he invisioned he would have, and a realization of whether or not he is happy. This film is a glimpse at life, not sappy or overly-dramatic, just good.

A Responsible Dream
Christian Bale stars in "Metroland" as Chris, the early-middle-aged British suburbanite who is suddenly forced to dredge up all his bohemian, idealistic questionings from his early twenties when his old poet-buddy Tony (played by Phillip Saville) shows up. Emily Watson must have sparked many a crush among male cinema-goers, as Chris' mildly stodgy, yet keenly intelligent and feisty wife. Maybe it's just because I'm at a time in life (33) when someone like her is highly attractive, but, well, I thought she was a total babe. But beyond my reaction to her personally, the movie in general has the feel of a real slice of life. This is a set of occurences that many people can relate to, things that strike a real chord.

A few reviewers have commented that this movie lacked a real climax. What did you expect, car chases? Huge explosions? Some kind of cosmic epiphany, perhaps? I think the essence of the charm of this movie can be summed up by Chris' wife's simple obsevation that Tony, the rootless wanderer, is jealous of Chris. Romance and wild times are fine for a couple years when you're young. "Young" in this sense being a socially constructed state, after all -- many people in the world expect to be married and having children, or are busily preparing for it, in their very early twenties, instead of being out drinking and cavorting with Parisian babes. Still, if you are bourgeois enough not to have felt internal forces driving you to get married immediately after high school, as people in many neighborhoods do, after all -- then this movie will speak to you. The point of this movie is that sooner or later, at SOME point, be it at 18 or 30, everyone grows up, and maybe that fact is something other than the zenith of heinousness. I like this movie.

By the way, for anyone out there who likes the basic story of this film, my favorite Julian Barnes book (he wrote the book this movie came from) is "The Porcupine." It's a much more political, different kind of story, but it's really provocative. It makes good use of Barnes' characteristic ear for dialog, and his deft characterizations. If you like Julian Barnes, you should find a copy of "The Porcupine."

"Metroland," at any rate, is positively worth scoping out. Two thumbs up.

The acting was good but......
Generally, I was disappointed. I thought the denouement was lame. I kept expecting something dramatic to happen and at one point, I thought, hey - the climax could go in so many directions. I was starting to feel a good anticipation and then it anticlimaxed for me. Metroland was cool after all. Snore. While the Chris character was a bore - his wife, with her banked fires, had him pegged - he wasn't very original, I really liked Toni. If only they hadn't portrayed him as a girl of the month club member. If they had focused more on passion and career choices, instead of the typical sex and women choices, it could have been more complex and compelling. Instead, it opted for the ironically 'safe' route - Oh goody! It's okay to be bourgeois. Well, maybe for Chris but I see a midlife crisis down the road for the wife, who seemed a much more interesting character than her husband. I guess I just didn't buy the premise. Sure Toni was jealous but they could've had Chris realize that he had sold himself out TOO much and just move the family to Paris for another go at photography. Now THAT would've been a better movie. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Enchanting tragi-melodrama.
'Mina Tannenbaum' charts the prickly relationship from birth of the title character, the precociously-talented artist child of Jewish concentration camp survivors, and her friend, plump, pretty bookworm Ethel. They first meet at a ballet class reluctantly attended by a pubertal Mina who sabotages it, and we watch them at significant turning points in their lives - as love-struck adolescents agonising over their first romances, Mina falling for a renowned Lothario in her art class, and Ethel smitten by a smooth-talking restaurant pianist; as young adults at the outset of their careers, Mina staging her first post-student exhibition hoping to attract dealers, and Ethel resorting to underhand means to further her jounalistic ambitions. These personal dramas seem to be played out against key dates in French and European history - e.g. 1958 (the year of de Gaulle's return to power), 1968 (students' and workers' strikes and demonstrations); 1989 (fall of Communism). The film signals the changing times through the usual signifiers (hair, clothes etc.), but also the differing social expectations of femininity (e.g. overweight Ethel becomes pencil-thin, mini-skirted and bottle-blonde in the 80s).

But the most important historical context is the girls' Jewish heritage as probably the first generation not to directly experience the Holocaust, but living under its debilitating shadow. Both girls have complex relationships with their mothers, Mina's especially devastated by her experience in the death camps; both at different times try to cast off their Jewishness, shown in their dissatisfaction with their looks and appearance. One of the film's running themes - centring on authenticity, imitation, reproduction, presence/absence - connects all these disparate elements: the girls' friendship and identity crises, their careers and relationships, the historical milieux (the move from history to postmodernity), the media/marketplace, family and Jewishness.

In order to capture the complexity of the girls' personalities, and the various external and internal pressures exerted on them, the film adopts a complex mode of narration. It is framed as a parodic documentary about Mina the famous artist, narrated by a bimbo cousin who pops up throughout the film, bridging chronolgocial gaps, explaining unstated motivations etc. (other figures act as Greek choruses throughout too). Within the narrative, however, the girls' own subjectivity filters the storytelling, breaking its linear movement with visualisations of their emotions (for instance a teenage argument in a bar is shadowed by the girls' self-idealised projections in forties finery catfighting behind them) or by interweaving through time, meeting previous/future selves. Further, their paralell stories are often narrated by one to the other, which they often correct, elide or gloss, with the viewer allowed to see various conflicting versions of the same event. Add to this the other media of representation that may or may not express various emotional states - paintings, TV shows, pop songs etc. This conflict between word and image plays out the drama between the writer and the artists, and the betrayals of their respective arts.

In its mix of whimsy and subjectivity, of a mythical vision of Paris and special effects projecting interior states unavailable to realism, of its tuneful melancholy score and arch narration, 'Mina' seems to prefigure 'Amelie'. This film is much less comfortable in tone, however, its manipulative charm often turning sour, its soap opera always teetering on tragedy, its romantic verve darkening into a sense of Jewish anguish striving for the Kafkaesque, the glossily-imagined present haunted by the crippling past. 'Mina', with its Chinese-box examination of a great figure's life through the biased witness of those who knew her, is also a female-centred 'Citizen Kane', similarly finding its Rosebud in a once-cherished token of childhood discarded in an artwork-crammed dumping ground. Agnes Varda's polemical folly 'One Sings, The Other Doesn't' is more realistically updated too. It doesn't always work, but all these tensions make for fascinating and captivating viewing, and if the director is particularly unfair on Ethel, ditching the complex earlier character for 80s caricature, the extraordinary acting keeps you hooked throughout.

with friends like these ...
Martine Dugowson's film about 2 French friends is cluttered with arthouse stylistics which work against the great heart of the characters. What begins as a slight and offputting experience gathers weight as the film progresses and reaches a touching climax. There is nothing queer about these two women's relationship but there is purity and truth in the performances. Romane Bohringer from Savage Nights is the painter Mina, who identifies with Bette Davis' Mildred from Of Human Bondage, and Elisa Zylberstein is Ethel, who identifies with Rita Hayworth's Gilda. Dugowson intercuts footage from these classic films to demonstrate both her film school mentality and an identity metaphor. The women's friendship continues in their lifetimes and is the constant when lovers, jobs and hairstyles come and go. The film is also an exploration of being Jewish since Mina's mother is a Holocaust survivor and Ethel's wants her to marry in faith. In an amusing cafe scene fantasy Mina is Yentl and Ethel is a whore. This is the kind of film that you want to view straight away again because by the end you've become so fond of the characters, which is both a compliment and an insult to the director. (An insult because one viewing is satisfying enough). We get a swirling black sea which is revealed to be coffee, and a character walking by garbage before we are shown the teardrop-shaped facial disfigurement they have suffered.

Mina est Magnifique!
This movie is great, the actresses are wonderful, Bohringer does an amazing job as Mina, especially with her final scence. The soundtrack to the movie is great too. I was moved to buy a Dalida CD after hearing "Il venait d'avoir 18 ans" in the movie (its in the scene where Ethel is lip-synching as well as Mina's final scene). This movie makes a person think long and hard about just how important friendship is. Anybody who either speaks French or loves foreign movies owes it to themselves to see this film.

Best French Film on Female Friendship
Like others, I accidentally stumbled upon this movie on a WorldView/PBS type channel. It is such a powerful story of the truth of female best friends. We love them, we fight with them, and we cannot possibly live without them. Sometimes, as this movie points out, to the extreme. When the rest of the world falls away, Mina and Ethel had each other. Mina was the talented and difficult artist and Ethel was the once chubby, later ascerbic hopeful writer. Their friendship began as children and the movie takes us through their twenties and into their early thirties. Including many tender moments of togetherness and bitter moments of being apart. In each character you will find something of yourself, even on the unpleasant side, and you cannot help but become endeared to each one. Sometimes our friends are the only honest and constant thing in our lives and often when we realize how much they mean, it is too late and they are gone.

One of the best movies
I too accidentally watched this movie on a public international channel as I was switching through television stations.

I was very moved by this movie. I enjoyed how the director delved into the friendship and the changes the women went through. I laughed throughout the movie and cried a lot as the movie ended. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Perfect French Romantic Comedy
This is a wonderful, subtly deep romantic comedy about a group of film makers and fashion designers in Paris. With interesting, fully developed characters, no violence and real sex, it is the kind of thing Hollywood would remake poorly (e.g., compare Abre Los Ojos with Vanilla Sky) if they could--but they can't. Abortion, infidelity, "feminism" vs. "misogyny," the craving for recognition and fame--and their difference from the search for true art and love are all handled with a most delicate touch.

HBC at her best
This is a not so interesting movie completely redeemed by a wonderful performance by Helena Bonham Carter. She's beautiful, heartbreaking, funny and oh how she can speak french!!! ... Read more

Reviews (11)

If you liked 'American Beauty'....
you'll love METROLAND, a gentle, bittersweet British film that explores the extremes of middle-age male sexual frustration in the same way - sans violence, of course. Christian Bale, oft cited as one of the biggest stars on the Internet, demonstrates why with an incredible range portraying Chris Lloyd at ages 17, 21 and 35. Subtle changes of mannerism and perspective make Bale's work very satisfying - none of that 18-to-80 aging make-up for Bale!

Emily Watson as Chris' wife is deviously delicious as the manipulative girlfriend and wife. The rest of the cast is superb - from the effervescent Elsa Zylberstein to the grumpy Lee Ross - METROLAND is a must see for Baleheads and intelligent drama.

Fairly interesting look at the married life.
Some people assume that they will stay young and single forever. Sleeping around, partying, no familial responsibility...sounds pretty good right? "Metroland" takes a look at the life of Chris (Christian Bale). Chris is a married thirty-something living in a nice part of town and has a stable job. All seems content in his life. Then one day out of the blue, his old buddy Toni shows up. Toni tries to bring Chris back into his world of the single life filled with hot women, smoking pot and hanging out at parties. This causes Chris to take inventory of his current life and the decisions he has made. Some of this film is in flashback. It shows Chris as a 21 year old photographer in Paris, where he meets the carefree Annick (played wonderfully by Elsa Zylberstein). He eventually meets Marion (Emily Watson), who is another Brit like himself currently in France. She develops a very low-key bond with Chris and eventually they marry. Was it the right choice?

"Metroland" has a superb cast which plays their roles in just the right manner. Where this movie falters, however, is the mediocrity of the script. An introspective movie such as this should have much more powerful and memorable dialogue than it has. Hardly anything ever really comes out and grabs you. It just kinda rolls along and eventually reaches its conclusion. It could've been a great look at the choices we make and where it ends up placing us in life. As it is, however, it falls short of greatness...but it's still worth a look.

The grass is greener
This is the first movie that I've seen that depicts a good marriage in a realistic way. Married people are not immune to wanting to have sex with other people, they just weigh those wants against the value of their marriage. This film takes a look at one man's quarter-life crisis spurred on by the arrival of his devil-may-care childhood buddy. It is an exhamination of what one has versus what he invisioned he would have, and a realization of whether or not he is happy. This film is a glimpse at life, not sappy or overly-dramatic, just good.

A Responsible Dream
Christian Bale stars in "Metroland" as Chris, the early-middle-aged British suburbanite who is suddenly forced to dredge up all his bohemian, idealistic questionings from his early twenties when his old poet-buddy Tony (played by Phillip Saville) shows up. Emily Watson must have sparked many a crush among male cinema-goers, as Chris' mildly stodgy, yet keenly intelligent and feisty wife. Maybe it's just because I'm at a time in life (33) when someone like her is highly attractive, but, well, I thought she was a total babe. But beyond my reaction to her personally, the movie in general has the feel of a real slice of life. This is a set of occurences that many people can relate to, things that strike a real chord.

A few reviewers have commented that this movie lacked a real climax. What did you expect, car chases? Huge explosions? Some kind of cosmic epiphany, perhaps? I think the essence of the charm of this movie can be summed up by Chris' wife's simple obsevation that Tony, the rootless wanderer, is jealous of Chris. Romance and wild times are fine for a couple years when you're young. "Young" in this sense being a socially constructed state, after all -- many people in the world expect to be married and having children, or are busily preparing for it, in their very early twenties, instead of being out drinking and cavorting with Parisian babes. Still, if you are bourgeois enough not to have felt internal forces driving you to get married immediately after high school, as people in many neighborhoods do, after all -- then this movie will speak to you. The point of this movie is that sooner or later, at SOME point, be it at 18 or 30, everyone grows up, and maybe that fact is something other than the zenith of heinousness. I like this movie.

By the way, for anyone out there who likes the basic story of this film, my favorite Julian Barnes book (he wrote the book this movie came from) is "The Porcupine." It's a much more political, different kind of story, but it's really provocative. It makes good use of Barnes' characteristic ear for dialog, and his deft characterizations. If you like Julian Barnes, you should find a copy of "The Porcupine."

"Metroland," at any rate, is positively worth scoping out. Two thumbs up.

The acting was good but......
Generally, I was disappointed. I thought the denouement was lame. I kept expecting something dramatic to happen and at one point, I thought, hey - the climax could go in so many directions. I was starting to feel a good anticipation and then it anticlimaxed for me. Metroland was cool after all. Snore. While the Chris character was a bore - his wife, with her banked fires, had him pegged - he wasn't very original, I really liked Toni. If only they hadn't portrayed him as a girl of the month club member. If they had focused more on passion and career choices, instead of the typical sex and women choices, it could have been more complex and compelling. Instead, it opted for the ironically 'safe' route - Oh goody! It's okay to be bourgeois. Well, maybe for Chris but I see a midlife crisis down the road for the wife, who seemed a much more interesting character than her husband. I guess I just didn't buy the premise. Sure Toni was jealous but they could've had Chris realize that he had sold himself out TOO much and just move the family to Paris for another go at photography. Now THAT would've been a better movie. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

If you liked 'American Beauty'....
you'll love METROLAND, a gentle, bittersweet British film that explores the extremes of middle-age male sexual frustration in the same way - sans violence, of course. Christian Bale, oft cited as one of the biggest stars on the Internet, demonstrates why with an incredible range portraying Chris Lloyd at ages 17, 21 and 35. Subtle changes of mannerism and perspective make Bale's work very satisfying - none of that 18-to-80 aging make-up for Bale!

Emily Watson as Chris' wife is deviously delicious as the manipulative girlfriend and wife. The rest of the cast is superb - from the effervescent Elsa Zylberstein to the grumpy Lee Ross - METROLAND is a must see for Baleheads and intelligent drama.

Fairly interesting look at the married life.
Some people assume that they will stay young and single forever. Sleeping around, partying, no familial responsibility...sounds pretty good right? "Metroland" takes a look at the life of Chris (Christian Bale). Chris is a married thirty-something living in a nice part of town and has a stable job. All seems content in his life. Then one day out of the blue, his old buddy Toni shows up. Toni tries to bring Chris back into his world of the single life filled with hot women, smoking pot and hanging out at parties. This causes Chris to take inventory of his current life and the decisions he has made. Some of this film is in flashback. It shows Chris as a 21 year old photographer in Paris, where he meets the carefree Annick (played wonderfully by Elsa Zylberstein). He eventually meets Marion (Emily Watson), who is another Brit like himself currently in France. She develops a very low-key bond with Chris and eventually they marry. Was it the right choice?

"Metroland" has a superb cast which plays their roles in just the right manner. Where this movie falters, however, is the mediocrity of the script. An introspective movie such as this should have much more powerful and memorable dialogue than it has. Hardly anything ever really comes out and grabs you. It just kinda rolls along and eventually reaches its conclusion. It could've been a great look at the choices we make and where it ends up placing us in life. As it is, however, it falls short of greatness...but it's still worth a look.

The grass is greener
This is the first movie that I've seen that depicts a good marriage in a realistic way. Married people are not immune to wanting to have sex with other people, they just weigh those wants against the value of their marriage. This film takes a look at one man's quarter-life crisis spurred on by the arrival of his devil-may-care childhood buddy. It is an exhamination of what one has versus what he invisioned he would have, and a realization of whether or not he is happy. This film is a glimpse at life, not sappy or overly-dramatic, just good.

A Responsible Dream
Christian Bale stars in "Metroland" as Chris, the early-middle-aged British suburbanite who is suddenly forced to dredge up all his bohemian, idealistic questionings from his early twenties when his old poet-buddy Tony (played by Phillip Saville) shows up. Emily Watson must have sparked many a crush among male cinema-goers, as Chris' mildly stodgy, yet keenly intelligent and feisty wife. Maybe it's just because I'm at a time in life (33) when someone like her is highly attractive, but, well, I thought she was a total babe. But beyond my reaction to her personally, the movie in general has the feel of a real slice of life. This is a set of occurences that many people can relate to, things that strike a real chord.

A few reviewers have commented that this movie lacked a real climax. What did you expect, car chases? Huge explosions? Some kind of cosmic epiphany, perhaps? I think the essence of the charm of this movie can be summed up by Chris' wife's simple obsevation that Tony, the rootless wanderer, is jealous of Chris. Romance and wild times are fine for a couple years when you're young. "Young" in this sense being a socially constructed state, after all -- many people in the world expect to be married and having children, or are busily preparing for it, in their very early twenties, instead of being out drinking and cavorting with Parisian babes. Still, if you are bourgeois enough not to have felt internal forces driving you to get married immediately after high school, as people in many neighborhoods do, after all -- then this movie will speak to you. The point of this movie is that sooner or later, at SOME point, be it at 18 or 30, everyone grows up, and maybe that fact is something other than the zenith of heinousness. I like this movie.

By the way, for anyone out there who likes the basic story of this film, my favorite Julian Barnes book (he wrote the book this movie came from) is "The Porcupine." It's a much more political, different kind of story, but it's really provocative. It makes good use of Barnes' characteristic ear for dialog, and his deft characterizations. If you like Julian Barnes, you should find a copy of "The Porcupine."

"Metroland," at any rate, is positively worth scoping out. Two thumbs up.

The acting was good but......
Generally, I was disappointed. I thought the denouement was lame. I kept expecting something dramatic to happen and at one point, I thought, hey - the climax could go in so many directions. I was starting to feel a good anticipation and then it anticlimaxed for me. Metroland was cool after all. Snore. While the Chris character was a bore - his wife, with her banked fires, had him pegged - he wasn't very original, I really liked Toni. If only they hadn't portrayed him as a girl of the month club member. If they had focused more on passion and career choices, instead of the typical sex and women choices, it could have been more complex and compelling. Instead, it opted for the ironically 'safe' route - Oh goody! It's okay to be bourgeois. Well, maybe for Chris but I see a midlife crisis down the road for the wife, who seemed a much more interesting character than her husband. I guess I just didn't buy the premise. Sure Toni was jealous but they could've had Chris realize that he had sold himself out TOO much and just move the family to Paris for another go at photography. Now THAT would've been a better movie. ... Read more