La vie de Marianne

Having recently seen this movie in its original theatrical version at the FESTIVAL DU FILM DE PARIS, followed by an interview by its director, Benoit Jacquot, I find that his main attraction to this project, the casting of some of France's youngest, rising actors with no classical training was a mistake. The two lead actors are clearly out of their element in this, a classical tale set in the 18th century.

It must be admitted that the movie is incredibly tiring with for example dialogues over ten minutes no exception, but I disagree that this would be a to heavy role for the main actresses, as I was quite surprised by the acting achievements. I think that the combination of being really calm but expressing her mind in a very quick and firm use of language makes Virginie Ledoyen perfect for roles like this. Further i think it must be said that this movie can be compared (as far as the atmosphere of that time and the costumes and the scenery are concerned) with movies like "Valmont".

It must be admitted that the movie is incredibly tiring with for example dialogues over ten minutes no exception, but I disagree that this would be a too heavy role for the main actresses, as I was quite surprised by the acting achievements. I think that the combination of being really calm but expressing her mind in a very quick and firm use of language makes Virginie Ledoyen perfect for roles like this. Further i think it must be said that this movie can be compared (as far as the atmosphere of that time and the costumes and the scenery are concerned) with movies like "Valmont".

This little known film, produced for TV, is a real gem. The three hours of the film seemed to me like two hours, it was that fascinating.

Of course no one knows how the people of the 18th century really behaved, how they moved, or talked, but when I watched "La Vie de Marianne", I thought: "They look not like Hollywood actors wearing costumes doing their job, it could have really been this way in the old times". It felt authentic, I felt immersed into the past.

The casting, the performances, the music, the costumes, the camera-work, the editing: Everything is splendid. Central to the film are the dialogs, which are sometimes long, but, due to the situations and performances, never tiring.

I noticed three strange (surrealistic?) inserts, two in the first half, one in the second half of the film, that seemed to have no direct connection with the rest of the film, but added to the atmosphere and fascination of the whole.

"La Vie de Marianne" is beautiful, entertaining and thought-provoking. It adds a lot of funny touches to the ultimately quite depressing tale and should have been shown in cinema instead of TV.