Éternité

As an artistic look at the seemingly idle rich (there are no visible means of support) that covers a century of interrelated lives in Paris, this movie is about as eye popingly gorgeous as it gets. Highly praised Vietnamese born director Tran Anh Hung and Cinematographer Mark Lee Bing, along with the director's wife, Tran Nu Yen Khe as art director and narrator (every so often there are surprise dialogue scenes) create a sumptuous, highly romanticized treat for the senses but offer little else in the way of a fully involving story or pace. If you like dreamy pastoral images, National Trust Properties and costumes, all set to beautiful classical piano music and song from the conveyed eras, then you won't mind the snail pace. From the numerous long shots (some that seem to serve little purpose) it looks somewhat like Editor Mario Battistel may have had most of his suggestions overruled...?

While wars come and go (unseen) taking with them some of the cream of this family's youth - their life at home is nothing short of curiously blissful. The difficulty of life and death struggles with common diseases of the day is harshly brought home in all its tragedy. Still, we follow these otherwise blessed families as they glide through the years up to a more modern era. Looking for something to slow you down (or help you sleep?) it's here in Eternity.

I can see why people can not praise this film - it is very hard to digest. It is set to so many beautiful classical melodies, and the world it sets into motion is just as luminous and wonderful as the music.

The most beautiful french women stay perfect through dozen childbirths, the children are all tender-hearted and dressed with utmost taste and play lovely games.. Nobody does anything else but loving each other with tenderness and softness and deepest understanding and acceptance. Everything is set in paradisaical garden and color and flowers filled rooms... It is a kind of world that we probably all dream of - with not one note of dissonance, of bad taste, of disorder, of any kind of ugliness or dirt. Except there is still death and loss and terrible pain.. and most graceful and elegant way to live through every turn of life...

Is it a Tran Anh Hung's oriental philosophy and unique artistic sensitivity translated into Western setting, or do they really exist - these perfect, subtle, fragile and prosperous families? Is it them we get a glimpse of - sometimes - on Parisian streets and elegant sea resorts? In any way - the film is extremely beautiful to watch and in the current world of terrible deficit of untainted images and characters, it is worth of the highest appreciation...

A family story across a century. It begins with Jules marriage by the end of the 19th century and it goes till the end of the 20th century when his granddaughter runs to a bridge in Paris to meet the man she loves. During that century love is always present with men and women knowing each other, starting good relationships, weddings, separations and even a few tragic deaths. All this runs in a luxury scenery and environmnent, interior and exteriorl A very pleasant movie to watch. And the performance of actors and actresses is excellent with fine close-ups of their faces. Everytning appears as going very well.

A family saga. Or rather an inventory of births and deaths of a family spawning close to 200 descendants in the present day. It really feels like a succession from the birth and death records, the movie is filled with narration, much more so than actual dialogue between the characters.

It also idealizes motherhood, pregnancy and matrimonial love to a point that becomes uncomfortable and difficult to swallow. These women have arranged marriages, but somehow are very lucky to find genuine love with their husbands. They also experience multiple pregnancies and miscarriages and children dying very young. This is why we need contraception people. But I'm sure this is not what Tran is trying to tell us. In fact I am not sure what he is trying to tell us at all. The only thing you can always be certain about with him is stunning cinematography. And yes, everything looks gorgeous, from the period sets, the interiors, the costumes, the hairstyles, the framing to that garden where whole generations of new children play and young love is born.

It also helps that despite a lot of women becoming widows there are no financial concerns whatsoever, so this is clearly an upper middle-class family with incoming revenues and a leisurely lifestyle, but surprisingly there is no nanny in sight. These women are perfect mothers able to devote themselves to up to 7 children a piece. Well, we've clearly regressed as women since then judging by these superhuman mothers here.

I adored this film. Such unhurried beauty..I felt my desire to slow into that unhurried pace of life. The cinematography was sumptuous, coupled with the director's desire to show the the beauty of 'mundane' activities, like collecting fresh eggs, or catching baby frogs. This film is the perfect Sunday afternoon film. Gentle, deep, meaningful and with a reverence for a mother's, wife's and friend's love. I bought it immediately after watching the rental.