anordall

Was Jeanne d'Arc a supermodel? Did she, at least, look like one? Miss Jojovich does, and perhaps this is the reason why she can't keep her mouth closed - she thinks she is in a sensual performance for a TV ad. She is blonde in the beginning of the movie, yet she has dark-brown hair in the end, quite appropriate for a supermodel. Together with the ultra-British English of all actors and the use of modern jargon and slang, these are items that add to this total disaster I had to witness during 2 and a half precious hours of my life. Besson should be ashamed of signing such a film. Not being able to follow Victor Fleming in his 1948 version of the story, duly and truly metaphysical, he cooks up a hard-to-digest mixture of baby and middle-aged Christs, angels, demons, ghosts and the like. To say nothing of Jojovich's hysterical shouting, which adds to her very poor acting. All my sympathy to Cassel and the few others who give a decent performance, but this does not save the film.

A great movie, made in a special way. Not only was it made for TV, it has the style of a soap-opera. Those who have seen it must have noticed that there are a number of "episodes", separated by a gradual darkening of the screen (till completely black, then lightening up again). The acting, the decor and so on are pure soap-opera. Some reviewers have seen a touch or two of Douglas Sirk, but there's more than that to it: when Martha gives her German address in the embassy, the name of the street is "Douglas Sirk"! Pure melodrama, but with great results. Fassbinder gives the movie the necessary pace to portray a convincing tragedy resulting from fatality mixed with individual characteristics. The final words appropriately are "When God takes a step, man cannot change it".

This movie stands up to the greatest ones in movie history. It shows to the best what movie language is - a movie is made to be seen by you, the spectator, and the author gives you what he has in his mind, in a way that will seize your attention from beginning to end and, also, will please you, will make you think or even will make you feel uncomfortable. Light, sound, movement, all this is substance for creation. Everything, from the reflections of the old town's buildings on the car's windshield to the irrational mixing up of languages (he doesn't speak Italian, but suddenly is is speaking Italian!), serves to the purpose of building up a piece of fine art while telling a story - and what a story! She plays a joke on the old lady (an excellent actress) in the cafeteria but soon she and his recently-made friend are playing the same joke on themselves and they no longer know that they are half-strangers, they believe they have been married since long! He (un?)willingly becomes the "perfect copy" of her ex-husband and has to abide to his own theories that a copy will serve its purposes as well as the original. The movie will open a thousand new doors to your mind - if you agree to join the play!