Le règne de la beauté

Personally I liked all of Denys Arcand movie I saw, I've seen "L'age des Tenebres" four times at the cinema and then some more when I bought the DVD... I had some expectations when I heard this movie was coming out, and I must say I haven't been disappointed at all, even if I believe this is maybe not a movie for everybody... There's no real story who would make the film worthwhile by itself, I believe that to appreciate it the viewer must immerse himself in all the beauty depicted in the picture; beautiful actors inside and out, beautiful and picturesque countryside, beautiful music all along, beautiful buildings, beautiful sex scenes with beautiful naked womans... I think this movie fit right in Denys Arcand's style, I think if you liked his previous movies and are not too superficial in your expectations you won't be disappointed at all... It's kind of a poem, filmmaker Sofia Coppola tried to do something like that with her 2010 movie "Somewhere" about the relationship of a rock star and his young teenage daughter, but in my opinion she missed her shot in a gigantic way compared to this one... In her movie there were things like 5 minutes of strippers doing nothing but dancing at their pole, I understand we're supposed to immerse ourselves into the protagonist's world but there's a limit to feeding boredom to the viewer... Overall I didn't see the time fly watching this picture and I didn't come out of the screening room of the theatre, so I suppose it will be entertaining for at least some persons who appreciate beauty, like me...

So much to like about this movie - if you can appreciate the content rather than what's missing. Excellent acting, beautiful scenery, interesting storyline. Could be 3 hours long and go into more detail. Leaves you to imagine what was really happening in the marriage and how the lives of the three main characters went forward. One of those movies where you want more - more details, more of what led to the events that transpired. I feel the writer, director, or both we're allowing you to feel the story rather than explain it. To allow you to experience the emotion that each of the main characters were feeling.

I loved all the beauty I saw in this film. But apart from the gorgeous views and buildings and good music, what else does the film have to bring? Telling the sad story of our today's society is important, but let's not pretend that everything is fine and we should accept and live with it! I don't want to spoil it, so I'll let you watch and judge!

Love the work of Arcand and this effort is among his best. Visually stunning cinematography and strong acting throughout, in particular a strong performance turned in by Melanie Merkosky. Totally an enjoyable flic, two thumbs up as they used to say when critics mattered.

Most critics have scorned at this movie for not being the usual politically, critically engaged Denys Arcand movie. Arcand started by exposing the many ills of a corrupt and dominant liberal (in the economic sense) society, used a lot of sarcasm in later movies to depict the ills of large state bureaucracies. This movie makes no exception as he stages architecture juries and again Quebec's health system. I do not agree with some of his reductionist statements, but I do love all of his movies for being pure art. "Le règne de la beauté" is by far his most achieved artistic statement, whereas he brings out the beauty of all the characters,making them so endearing, and of course showing the best sceneries across the four seasons in the province he truly loves.