Rue des plaisirs

This movie caught my eye while I was channel surfing. I don't know what kept me from changing the channel despite the slow, unstructured plot - but I'm glad I stayed with it. The story is highly predictable, but I think they didn't try to avoid that. Instead, they tell the story in a very creative way. I can see why it would annoy those who like a very structured movie. But this movie is kind of like listening to a song without really caring about the words. Likewise, the story isn't really the point here, it's about the characters in the story.

Midway through the movie, I was pretty sure the lead actress was Casta, but I didn't even know she had an acting career. I look forward to seeing more of her. She was very graceful, above obviously beautiful, and helped center the rest of the cast. I really loved the sets and the costumes as well, and I believe this is the first time I've taken a line to mention this in a review. All these little things put together made it an enjoyable viewing experience, as long as you believe enough in the characters to want to know what happens to them.

You'll probably never seek out this film unless you're already a fan of Casta. But if the mood fits you right, or you simply like movies set in the '40s, this can be a very rewarding film.

You're always on for something special with Patrice Leconte. While "Rue des plaisirs" is not his best film, by far, it's still enjoyable. The cinematography is great and the cast is doing a good job. The story is told by a trio of Parisian prostitutes well past their best-before date. It's the story of P'tit Louis, the handyman at the brothel, and Marion the newly arrived girl. P'tit Louis vows to take care of her for the rest of her life. He's in love with her, but he won't tell her. He'll just be by her sides, to try to make her happy, even pushing her in the arms of a prince charmant who turns out to be a trouble maker. It's not a great film, but one could argue that it's a great love story. Great music from the 30's on.

Seen at home, in Toronto, on March 12th, 2006.

78/100 (**½)

Au contraire to popular (printed or otherwise expressed) beliefs regarding this great movie, I am forced to express that this story is one of the best if it is not completely safe to say 'the best' and most touching love story ever!

It is my belief that there are certain people that have a certain sweetness/innocence to their figure so that when/if set to the task of stating/showing the true nature of pure love they can do it in the most powerful way. This is exactly what happens in this film in my opinion.

A simple man, petit Luis while surrounded by women all this childhood - meaning that the opportunity to watch the properties / associations of pretty girls was so abundant so as to get used to them - meats the figure of his dreams on one very simple day just like that. Now this could happen to anyone of us. What makes the huge difference and makes this be extraordinary is that he had the purity in heart so as to admit it to himself or else believe in it straight away. He knew of this. And he knew straight away. This is the first point that I agree to completely. When telling a tale of true love it should start like this, yes.

Point number two is that he wants his love to be happy and in this film there is a unique way of showing this property of love. Anyone truly in love want their loved one to be happy but very very rarely they find the power to submit their selves in a state at which all that matters is their loved one and they therefore would stop at nothing to ensure their happiness even if they would have to endure infinite amount of pain! Most people would think of their lives after a point / would seek happiness through a different route / or simply would stop believing in it. This is not the case when the nature of their love is most true though. This is exactly the reason why this film is one of true love. Because the subject of love never loses faith, never subdues to society; his feelings are beyond reason, beyond the point of any return and there is not one condition, one set of circumstances in this world that can intervene/change/manipulate that.

And number three point is a small artistic detail. There is this awesome, cute little song that Marion sings while waiting, it is like: "si tu veux faire mon bonheure, margueritte, margueritte ..". It shows (at least to me) the pure nature of hope. I admit there are plenty of ways to describe what hope is but this one is the most sweet that I have even seen.

Overall this film is a must! You do need to take the time to see it no matter who you are or where you come from...

I know some movies just miss their mark, but this one's outta the freakin universe. Laetitia Casta can't act! Fine. At least show some of her real talents! But no!!! A movie about French prostitutes with a hot supermodel and absolutely no nudity? What were they thinking? Please someone give me back the 82 minutes this movie stole from my life.

This story is about a prostitute (Marion) and her loving friend, bricoleur and brothel mascot (Petit Louis) in post-WW2 Paris. He believes that he is not good enough for her, he mentions that he cannot make her smile (she does however love him in her own way, a fondness without rapture). But he has a selfless amour fou and so sets about finding a man who does make her smile (mainly is good looking and reckless enough to make her smile).

The story reminded me a lot of the work of Marguerite Duras, she also told tales of amour fou and desperate living. This movie, similar to her India Song, has a chorus of three women in the background, providing some narration / commentary / framing. It feels like an overt homage / reference to Duras.

Whilst I did enjoy the movie, it wasn't capable of achieving those Duras-ian heights. Leconte wasn't working with Delphine Seyrig and Michel Lonsdale, nor with a cinematographer like Pierre Lhomme. Also, Leconte is not a madman. The movie does not have that Duras / Genet level of absolute commitment to madness, it does not have the weird revelry of those who felt the scorpion's sting and just went with it / danced the tarantella, instead of looking for help. It is a mad tale that is not imbued enough with madness. It should be liquor-soaked and hallucinogenic, it is not. The calibre is not the same as with a masterpiece of urban madness such as Berlin Alexanderplatz.

It is not helped by very improbable in scene action moments.

Another jaw-dropping oversight is to create a movie set in a brothel in the transition from Occupation to Post War Paris, and just not mention that one of the main reasons they were closed was collaboration with the Nazis. It's a gobsmackingly large elephant in the room.

I did give the movie a good rating in the end, because I got a glimpse of something beautiful of something that was close to happening, of a near entrant to that obscure and overgrown part of the cemetery that holds the pantheon of despair-drenched mad love movies. Because of the shiver I had whenever that black Citroen turned up.