heidifromoz-93383

I watched this movie yesterday and have to say it was a struggle to sit through almost two hours of mind-numbing action, if you can call it that.

In a nutshell, a guy invites his fiancée to a bucks' night (along with another girl so she doesn't feel too alone); during this time, with the booze and pills flowing freely, uncomfortable 'secrets' emerge as the participants snipe at one another (when it gets heavy, they fight physically). I came away not quite understanding what their issues were - partly because they often mumbled, their dialogue often seemed meaningless, not to mention their drug-induced hallucinations.

The movie's aim is to reveal the toxic relationship of the engaged couple, but the only thing I deduced was that she was super needy and hoping to get a permanent visa through marriage. The other characters are dislikeable, unattractive, loud-mouthed (when they aren't mumbling) and often rambling on about stuff that doesn't seem to have a bearing on the plot - such as it is.

The music is dreadful, often drowning out the conversation. The plot is all over the shop, fluctuating between scenes of boys being boys, or couples fighting, and verbal attacks coming from nowhere with no apparent reason. And then of course the hallucinatory scenes.

At the end, we aren't quite sure what has transpired and the end result, because everyone is being incomprehensible and moody. As for the title, does anyone know what the significance is? There is a scene with birds in the first half, but that doesn't give a clue.

To sum up, one star - because it ends, eventually.

If I watch B-grade movies, it's usually as a precursor to falling asleep and it generally works. This one was no exception, probably because it was (IMO) boring as.

The story focuses on two people who meet by chance; there is a twenty-year gap between the young, single woman and an older man and we observe their main interaction over twenty-four hours, with a brief encounter several months later. This kind of scenario (one on one) requires strong characters, an interesting story-line and engagement by the viewer. Unfortunately, it's a mediocre tale about stereotypes: she is finding herself, desperately wants a boyfriend/husband and latches on to the sympathetic, happily-married family man, with predictable results.

While the male lead appears sympathetic and believable in his role, the woman is irritating in her know-all manner and smart-a responses. However, it is no surprise that he gives in to the once-off opportunity, despite the remorse afterwards (the old cliché of "she made me feel alive" comes to mind). These are not exciting characters and their short-lived relationship is dragged out over the duration of the movie, with nothing to relieve the tedium.

Because the characters are dull, we don't really care about the predictable ending (although it's meant to be a twist on the familiar theme) and where they go from there. We're just glad it's over.

This is also known as "A Grand Affair ".

The movie did nothing for me, though I enjoyed the glorious settings in Europe (especially Italy) and the stunning architecture. The era is WWII, the story portraying miserable, dislikable characters. We have the Don Juan scenario of Jonathan Rhys-Myers' character, Solal (a high level exec at the then League of Nations in Geneva) seducing his subordinate Adrien's wife Ariane (Natalia Vodianova). Ariane succumbs willingly after a couple of meetings, Adrien is kicked into professional obscurity and the other two embark on their journey of passion.

Then follows scene after scene of sex, fighting, self-introspection, more fighting, more sex. Solal, who - despite his self-assurance as an experienced seducer - seems unsure of himself, fixating on Ariane's past lovers and getting violent; she walks away, comes back (to more sex and introspection). And thus it goes.

Other viewers will no doubt find deeper meaning here, but really how much sex does one need to get it across? The backdrops, costumes, buildings are lovely to behold but ultimately cannot carry the story on their own. One has to be invested in the characters, and I wasn't.