Impardonnables

It took months (and numerous requests) but netflix finally put English subtitles on this movie. Worth the wait, this is an entertaining film (is there a bad one shot in Venice), with an excellent cast. They make it out to be a much larger age difference in the movie, but Bouquet and Dussolier are in fact only twelve years apart. He just looks much older, as Carole Bouquet is youthful and extremely attractive for her age... bit.ly/1jSPox2 .. Is it a stretch such a good looking woman would so desperately choose and want to be with him? You'll have judge that for yourself... European sensibilities and being in love making it a distinct possibility.

Oh goody: more neurotic people to watch ruin their lives and those around them. I love foreign films as they depict other views but this one left a lot to be desired.

The adorable dog being slammed against a wall to kill it was especially brutal. I'm sure the male who wrote this into the script is a brutal, evil person. Isn't there enough violence around us? Do we really have to call it entertainment?

The scenes of boating and Italy's waterfronts were interesting. The soft light in some of the scenes seemed kissed by the sun. But be forewarned: your time would be better spent taking a two hour nap.

This movie is about love relations with voyeurism. Husband and wife, daughter and father have no other aim than the blunt show of their sexual ineptitude going adrift. Add to this that the other themes are about hopelessness and dissatisfaction, disrespect and bad communication, etc... This is boring, just a bad idea, bad ideas. Venice is great, nevertheless, as a character in itself, beside that the actors are great too. Bad time spent watching this even if Dussolier plays perfectly the sad father and husband, hiding feelings with bitterness so well, but Sorry All the other movies of André Techiné are better than this one.

For forty years now, Andre Techine has made films that have delighted me (Les roseaux sauvages, Les voleurs) or annoyed me (Le lieu du crime, Rendez-vous). He seems to be on safe ground when he deals with homosexuality, the need for family ties, and beautiful surroundings (here he can film Venice in all its splendour). He flounders when dealing with straight relationships: what is going on between Dussolier and Bouquet, anyway?-- they seem to be in different films.

Carole Bouquet is so splendid to look at that I can forgive almost any deficiency in the script in order to drink in that lovely face. Adriana Asti (Gina in Before the Revolution, the film that moved me more than any other) has the best line: "You turn everybody on but nobody turns you on!" It's so true, you admit ruefully. Melanie Thierry has a small part as Dussolier's daughter and leaves a good impression.

Nothing new at the French Horizon. Former player/writer with a writers block passes his time spying on his wife, his ex wife and his daughter. Meanwhile 'shocking' scenes are intended with a little bit of homosexuality for every character, un peu de violence of course, and let's not forget unsettling parent/child dialogues you can always count on. Maybe this is all needed to fill up the rather lengthy runtime.

I seriously can not stand another French dragon like this. What is their obsession with homosexuality, sex and sour relationships in their cinema. For me this is the last one. It probably is a hit at the festivals but I can do without it.