Le baiser du serpent

I found both script and acting to be painfully bad for the first half hour or so, but things seemed to take a turn for the better after Meneer Chrome lost his wig (no, seriously). Scacchi was as glorious as ever; McGregor was as enjoyable as ever; and the other three principles each held down their corner of the story. The biggest weakness was the garden itself - it seems like the filmmakers were even less able to afford Chrome's vision than Smithers was, with a result that was more suited to a stage production than a movie. I'm not convinced that this movie was a good use of two hours of my time, but I also find that I can't get some of the imagery out of my head - generally recommended if you have patience with period pieces and like movies that ask more questions than they answer.

This story is about a young, Dutch landscaper, Meneer Chrome (Ewan McGregor), who plans to create an extravagant garden for Thomas Smithers and his wife (Pete Postlethwaite and Greta Scacchi). His real plan or the real motive of this garden is to bankrupt Smithers so the not-so nice Fitzmaurice (Richard E. Grant) can seduce Smithers's wife. But Chrome begins having second thoughts about completing the plan after he becomes fascinated by Smithers's daughter Thea (Carmen Chaplin). I think people who have criticized this movie are far too harsh. I found it to have an excellent story with a talented cast. The performance that I felt most touched by was Carmen Chaplin's. Her struggle to find disorder in a world that wants to have order is an interesting element to the story. What I didn't like was the movie's pacing. I felt the message the movie was conveying that you can not control nature. I think this theme would have been better expressed in a short story or a short movie, not a feature length film. A part from that, I can sit through the hour and fifty minutes and feel glad that I saw this movie.

You could speak about an architecture-film like the movies of Peter Greenaway. The personality-change of meneer Chrome (a boyish Ewan McGregor) is developed in the movie in a way that it is the backbone of the story but one asks himself if this is not poor for a movie. The 18th century with its superstitions and snuff-powder is the real background of the movie and the garden is in fact the antagonist. Juliana (Greta Scacchi) is not a real person, she seems to be like the statues of the garden. One wonders why she and Thea/Anna, her daughter (Carmen Chaplin) are attracted to meneer Chrome. Thomas Smithers (Pete Postletwaite) is a highly moral person full of strange fantasies, you cannot think of such a person in real life. Tim Rose Price should be aware that producing such a movie demands other skills than writing it.

Well, to say the least I "thoroughly enjoyed" this movie. Having only watched it on TV I may not have seen it in it's entirety but what I did see I liked. Ewan McGregor just can't be bad in anything I suppose, or at least I haven't seen a movie yet where he didn't steal the show with his dazzling ability to become his character. The movie itself had quite a beautiful look to it and the odd loveliness of the daughter in the movie really gave you a funny sense all throughout it. It's not your ordinary tale, but the writing was wonderful and the acting superb. If you like odd love stories with a twist, this is the perfect example. And it doesn't hurt if you like Ewan McGregor, he absolutely shines.

Like most period pieces, The Serpent's Kiss is long and seemingly drawn out to the average modern day movie goer. However, when it comes to the very core and heart of a movie, (its story and the actors that portray it,) everything is well thought out and enjoyable to watch. Just make sure you are not particularly tired and are up to watching the movie intently. Very surprising, and what makes the movie enjoyable-I might add, is that at the very beginning you find yourself caught in a intriguing plot which slowly unfolds to the unveiling of each character's real motives. Although there are no twist or turns, that would make it suspenseful the movie's full captivator lies in its puzzle piece of a story. Each scene has a plethora of knowledge and insight that proves at times to be quite the delightful opposite of what each character says. Yet, make no mistake, I definitely recommend this movie to anyone with patience and an infatuation for well written, fully understandable stories with moral meaning. If none of this is important to you, however, I would still recommended it. If only on the basis that Ewan McGregor's acting is something to watch intently and eagerly. Catching every detailed moment of his portrayal will leave an impression on even the more action driven movie goer.