Ceci est mon corps

"Ceci est mon corps" ("This is My Body") is worth watching but only for Louis Garrel fans. The story is quite pretentious in trying to make a poignant statement on how to get over bad things in life such as family problems and girlfriend/boyfriend relationships and more.

We met Antoine (Garrel) a college student trying to make his own path in life abandoning his studies to become an actor after being chosen to be part of a film. The film's director and screenwriter Louis (Jane Birkin) has cold feet about Antoine selection as the substitute actor, after the one she wanted, Lucas, the perfect guy for the role committed suicide after some emotional problems that involved herself, deeply in love with him, and his boyfriend. Later on, Antoine will be divided in working on the film; his relationship with his girlfriend (Melanie Laurent); his family wishes to keep him studying, since he'll be the head of his father's company; and the attention of the problematic director, who seems to be caring for this guy while trying to forget Lucas, the angel of her life.

Nothing is solved and nothing is developed here that we might haven't seen in another movie; the presentation is good in parts, it gets confusing and unexplained in the ending. Perhaps this was a story about taking wrong choices and not being able to correct them when all you had was a good path that you shouldn't walked away from it. If Antoine had stayed with his girlfriend, forget about movies and being an actor and keep with his education as his family wanted he wouldn't suffered, but he also wouldn't experienced things and wouldn't know much about life. This message isn't clear or even worst the movie might don't have a purpose.

To lighten up things and make you want to watch this film I loved Garrel's acting, he's a real talent doing the difference out there, literally taking challengeable roles and here he's very good as the troubled main character. The other aspect that I loved about this film is how predictable the movie gets in its quotes. A couple of times I knew exactly what the characters would say to each other, it's like deja vu, and this didn't bothered me, I found it entertaining, almost feeling like what the characters were thinking, feeling like a complete Professor Xavier and this had me laughing for a while.

It's a good film, watchable, it gets stuck in some points but just to see Garrel is all worthwhile. 6/10

I don't understand the title for a start! Has it got to do with that male body writhes around to grim music at the start? And then the story is a nothing that thinks it's a dramatic something - carried along by only just comptetent actors. I should've zapped it as I was tempted to do during that opening sequence... But, yes, Louis Garrel was worth looking at, although if it was his body the title was refering to, then we didn't see enough of it. Pity he only had to look sulky throughout the film, though.

I would have strangled his two much-younger sisters if I'd been in his shoes and probably have done the same to Jane Birkin.