Le règne de la beauté

I intend to see this film again, to follow its action and dialog (with subtitles) more closely than I could at the cinema house, if and when it comes out on DVD. That DVD incarnation of this film is quite likely, given the fame and popularity of Denis Arcand's films; this one is still in the theaters here in Québec, director Denis Arcand's home province. The movie is essentially a pastoral, by turns urban, by turns rural pastoral, in the life of a promising young male architect. There are lots of sports that feature in the life that he and his woman, the latter a gym teacher, anyway, lead. She has a lesbian dalliance, and he takes up with a woman from Toronto (who later in the film comes to take a position in Quebec City).

Do not let all that yuppie quality and comfort of lifestyle deter you. Éric Bruneau is a stunningly handsome, slender but very appealingly and tautly muscled young man (with a nice face, too). Women and gay men will "flip" at his numerous scenes shirtless and buck-nakedly nude. It is worth seeing the film if only to gawk at this extraordinarily beautiful young actor; there even are moments, fleeting ones, admittedly, of full frontal nudity. The women are attractive, too. I hope eventually to have a better idea of what the various goings-on really add up to. (I am very fluent in French, having lived and worked in Québec for many years, but my hearing is beginning to deteriorate as I age, so subtitles help more and more. The magnificent Québec scenery, too, is gorgeous and very skillfully filmed.

I saw this a couple of hours ago and am thinking about it now. First, it left me wanting to visit Quebec City, especially during the winter. The city and its surrounding countryside looked beautiful. Some of the homes in the film, which after all is about architects, are stunning. But mainly it's the story about one ambitious young architect who actually says that love is not the be all and end all in life. He lives this philosophy in that he loves more than one woman at once and chooses not to be faithful.

The ending of the film was sort of odd in that it just happened, without showing how, and we the viewers have to assume what happened. In that assumption is confirmation of the film's meaning, i.e., Luc had to pursue his lust/love of the moment, though that didn't mean that he no longer "loved" the previous ones. He just couldn't stay with them for he needs the new and novel. He is described as ambitious with regard to his architecture, and I'd say he is with his loves, too, in that he seems to keep trying for someone new and more beautiful.

Though Luc is portrayed as gentle in his personality, and subtle, the truth is he's a selfish macho person who constantly plays sports - six different ones in the film - not including hunting, in which he shoots geese, and can't help but fall in love and get involved with beautiful women. And, he appears happy, despite some intimation of guilt; he gets over it pretty well. He is the true powerful, white male, enjoying the best that life has to offer.

I found it visually gorgeous throughout, which ain't nothing. The characters could be better revealed and a lot is glossed over, both morally and practically speaking, but the actors were fine and the story was interesting. I'd never watch it again, but had to weigh in to provide some balance for all the haters.

Love the work of Arcand and this effort is among his best. Visually stunning cinematography and strong acting throughout, in particular a strong performance turned in by Melanie Merkosky. Totally an enjoyable flic, two thumbs up as they used to say when critics mattered.

Being a huge fan of ''Le Déclin de l'Empire Américain'' and of ''Les Invasions Barbares'' I was anticipating this film to be pretty awesome until I read reviews that were saying that even though the images are absolutely stunning, the movie was empty. Well I definitely agree about the images, but the film wasn't empty at all. It was a realistic look at the life of a beautiful, successful young adult. The characters are ''modern'' if I can use such a term. They admit to cheat on their partner without any guilt like it was normal and I feel a little social criticism on Arcand's part. It's like the film Nashville, there's not really a story, but some observations by the director. I don't compare this movie with Nashville, but I think you get the point. It's a beautifully shot realistic view into a young successful architect life