Le Concile de Pierre

I could not agree more with Frederica Boldrini in her comment. It has been a long time that I haven't seen such a bad movie.. I reach to a conclusion: Monica Bellucci is a good actress when her role doesn't oblige her to speak. For example, in the movie "Malèna" she was great because she didn't speak much, in "Irréversible" likewise, etc…As regards to Catherine Deneuve I never liked her very much but I was surprised to see her in such a bad movie and doing an awful acting… More surprised I was with the German actor Moritz Bleibtreu. He is an outstanding actor, and during the film I kept asking myself what the hell is he doing in this movie?..Does he understand fluently French when he read the script?..Well, I hope that I'll never see him again in a movie like this. Please, don't go see this movie. I'm sorry for the director..but even me as a humble spectator I'm able to see that it's a bad movie with bad acting, so how is it possible that the rest of the crew didn't reach the same conclusion?...

Monica Belucci's fully committed performance, as well as her commendable willingness to appear as unglamorous as possible (with very short hair, limited or no make-up, often bloodied-up and dirty), are wasted in this semi-supernatural thriller that suffers from a muddled script (just like a previous adaptation of a Jean-Christophe Grangé novel, "Crimson Rivers" - maybe his books are just too hard to condense in under two hours of screen time), an incomplete finish that feels like a set-up for an (unlikely) sequel, cold direction, plodding pacing, and a completely humorless tone. I honestly found it a bit of a struggle to get through. It will probably be watched / remembered only for the first "cross-generational" on-screen meeting of Belucci with Catherine Deneuve. (**)

I selected this film from the Blockbuster new release shelf b/c I like foreign films and well crafted horror/suspense movies.Catherine Deneuve was very impressive as mother Laura's friend Sybille,a lady who is disarming yet distant,she is easy to picture as quite comfortable strolling a white beach on a winter morning."the Stone Council" is effective in it's climax,timing,and presentation.I would recommend to fans of older films of the genre such as "Rosemary's Baby" and the original "the Wicker Man".Monica Bellucci deserves honorable mention for her portrayal of a mother who won't be stopped from saving her adopted son Liu from his kidnappers,who believe their ancient sorcery will make them immortal (come on you creeps - who really wants to live forever....?)

For X-Files lovers, you will find anything you like: paranormal powers, folklore, gifted child, conspiracy, military bases, forest by nights… However, put in action by french cinema, I left disappointed. OK I knew beforehand that it was a scary movie but with such a title, I expected to go to Rome and Vatican. So going instead in Kazakshtan is not my cup of tea because I don't have connections with this culture… However I appreciated to see the large, bare landscape and typical town…

Next I wanted a recent movie with La Belluci as I stopped watching her in 2005 and I'm surprised to see that this one was shot in 2006! I just wanted to see if she was able to act again instead of being the silent, sexy lady with the dynamism of a elephant! OK, here she speaks and in addition Russian, her accent is still charming and soft but honestly, she drags the movie down with her lack of vitality: always head down, never nervous, it's irritating to be with such a slug whatever sexy she can be!

At the end, I found that Deneuve was much more involved as for one time, she put her outside her comfort zone! I support paranormal french movies but I think it would have been much better with a more involved and reactive mother instead of La Belluci!

I began watching this film with great interest due to the genre and the 2 lead actresses. I was told it was the French 6th Sense. I only wish my 6th sense had been working and told me not to waste my time watching it. only got to the end by playing games on my computer at the same time. as it had subtitles I had to keep looking for a while but soon there wasn't much dialogue and all I could hear was Monica Belluci gasping and panting as she struggled to survive a series of shocks and physical feats that would have put Bruce WIllis under a lot of pressure. Catherine Deneuve must have had a laugh making some of the scenes and had a frozen blank for most of it ( trying not to giggle perhaps)? The camera concentrates on close ups of Monicas face a lot too and as she appears to be in shock and gasping for air for a large part of the film it becomes very annoying. Yes there are a few spots that keep you watching for the special effects and but mostly these sort of scenes have been in many other films. If you get to the end well done!