Rendez-vous

Oh sooooo disappointing. The most helpful thing I can tell you is Don't Bother! Sure, the acting was great, fearless etc etc. but the script was so very baaad. The writer/director et al- they just couldn't decide WHAT to do with this story. Actually, the only really interesting thing for me in this film- is the performance of Lambert Wilson doing a young Jeremy Irons.'I'm sure my film experiences of him are stunted but I have only known him as a comedic/semi-comedic actor.He does a very riveting job as the tortured soul here. But still, there are so many good films directed by Techine or starring these actors; just skip this one.

It is hard to figure out the point of Andre Techine's "Rendez-Vous" (1985). I suppose it can be officially classified under "Romance", but there is no romance or love or even erotic heat in it. The characters are stereotypes: the nerdy good boy, the aggressive bad boy, the slutty girl with a heart of gold, the wise enigmatic mentor. Furthermore, the film is set in Paris but shot in a curiously claustrophobic manner. A young Juliette Binoche bares all, and Jean-Louis Trintignant, entering the picture in the second half, brings some gravitas to the screen, but overall it is a hollow, uninteresting film. ** out of 4.

Juliette Binoche was only 21 when she made this film, but it was her eighth film. This is really a pointless, offensive, and ridiculous film for which the director was of course awarded Best Director at Cannes, and Binoche was awarded a Best Actress Cesar (which proves how crazy judges can be, and how perverted they are as well). I imagine Juliette Binoche must be hideously embarrassed to think this terrible film of her cavorting around naked in compromising situations is still available on DVD. It is harder than soft porn, and purely gratuitous in its graphic displays. Binoche was not at all interesting at the age of 21, and all of her fascinating qualities developed later when she began to look like a woman: as a girl, she was seriously dull. I do not mean to say that Binoche did a bad job of acting; on the contrary, she did very well, but why bother? This film is a wet dream fantasy of a sick director of the 'let's get the lead actress's kit off quick' school of thought. Everybody in the film is obsessed with sex, death, and all those really new things none of us has ever thought about, so we need the wacko director to remind us. Why didn't he just make a sexy vampire film and be less affected and pompous? If you want horror, death, and sex, there are always vampires to turn to. Instead, we have here a lot of twaddle about Shakespeare and other mock-profundities. How absurd this all is. Binoche ought to get her kit back on. Really, there was no point in taking it off. On the other hand, there is a Cesar for the mantlepiece, I suppose. But was it worth it? This is a film only for psychotics.

RENDEZ-VOUS comes from Téchinés 'romantic' period of the 70s and early 80s, comprising of BAROCCO, LES SOEURS BRONTE and HOTEL DES AMERIQUES. Of these four films RENDEZ-VOUS is without doubt the most worthwhile and successful.

In her first leading role Juliette Binoche is a revelation as Nina a provincial girl who has moved to Paris in order to pursue an acting career. She becomes involved with two vastly different men the gentle Paulo (Wadeck Stanckzac) and the dangerous and intense Quentin (Lambert Wilson).

Unpredictable and provocative this girl bounces between both men. However her whole world falls apart when one of them commits suicide. Cast in a production of Romeo and Juliet by the compelling Scrutzler (Jean Louis Trintignant) this young girl begins to confront her own behaviour and psychology.

Téchiné's brief film is full of themes about female artistic urgency.

Is there anything this girl will do in life that she will not do on stage.

Should there be? What is the dynamic that drives such an ambitious yet lost girl. the film deals superbly with all these ideas without ever resorting to simplae answers. Aided by Binoche's fearless performance the film is incredibly emotional and romantic, helped in no small part by a stunning Phillippe Sarde score.

RENDEZ-VOUS is an intense and at time difficult film, but it is worth every effort to begin to explore this girls psychological motivations.

Rendez-vous is a beautiful, sexy, art-film. It won several prestigious international awards and is critically acclaimed. Juliette Binoche is completely uninhibited and gives a brave, fearless performance where she bares herself completely...both emotionally and physically.

Thus, this film is not intended for the immature. Those with childish minds who cannot handle looking at a beautiful woman's body (such as feminists or other philistines) are advised too avoid this. Another reviewer called it "pointless drivel" and complained about the "gratuitous nudity". If seeing a woman's vagina is too much for the immature mind of that viewer to handle, him and his kind should avoid high-art cinema such as this. His kind would be better served watching gay-porn garbage, loosely disguised as a "comedy", such as "Bruno". That type of film is more suited for those misandric simpletons who prefer looking at male genitalia. Those who appreciate complex, beautiful art and appreciate the female form will enjoy this.

Nina (Juliette Binoche) moves to Paris and she becomes the love interest of three very different men and has tumultuous concurrent relationships with each. Multiple plot and character lines develop from this. This movie will challenge you and you'll find yourself pondering some of the scenes days later. Highly recommended.