Dieu est grand, je suis toute petite

This is the story of a woman, played by Audrey Tautou, who searches for herself by searching for a religion she can relate to. She tries all of the major religions and ends up with Judaism when she starts to data Francois, who is lapsed in his faith.

Her spiritual quest drives her, Francois and ME crazy. I tend to like character and plot-driven movies, but it is important that I relate to the character in some way. There was no one with whom I could relate.

From a technical point-of-view there are positives and negatives. I rented this movie primarily because I enjoy Audrey Tautou's acting. She is talented and exceptionally charming. In that, this movie lived up to my expectations. Her acting and that of the other case members is quite well done. Unfortunately, the direction and editing aren't quite as good. There are a lot of very short scenes that are distracting and don't seem to advance the story.

By no means is this a bad movie, but unless you can relate to a spiritual journey more than me, this movie probably won't quite do it for you.

'Dieu est grand, je suis toute petite' is a little film by Pascale Bailly that spends a lot of time trying to tell a story in bits and pieces with numerous characters, interesting in and of themselves but confusing to the viewer, attempting to keep up with the breakneck speed of this French comedy. The saving grace is the presence of Audrey Tautou and a few other actors whose screen magnetism holds our interest.

Fresh from a breakup with a boyfriend Bertand (Mathieu Demy) top model Michèle (Tautou) is a wreck of a person flirting with all manner of religious outlets (Hindu, Buddhism, Catholicism, etc) trying to find something to make her crazy life make sense. She encounters a veterinarian François (Edouard Baer) who is a secular Jew (non-practicing, closeted, etc) and not only does she fall immediately into bed with him (and a next morning attempted suicide!) she begins to stalk him trying to embrace Judaism - a fact that at first drives François away and then a little mad himself. The manner in which Michèle and François study Judaism and all its graces and restrictions is (I think) the basis for the rest of the story: the filming technique of flashbacks and fragmentary moments and cutesy scribblings on pages are paced to confuse and make this simple story a maze to follow! Along the way we meet some interesting types including Valérie (Julie Depardieu) who opens her door to her first psychology patient (Thierry Neuvic) and promptly falls in love with him; Ali (Atmen Kelif) who is Michèle's nutty fashion photographer and a number of others. There are funny moments, touching moments, absurd moments, but they are loosely strung together. In the end this is a fun film in which it is a bit trying to connect all the dots! In French, English, and Hebrew with subtitles. Grady Harp

This movie will be easily forgotten. In fact, without Audrey Tautou, it would be pretty boring. Michèle (Tautou) falls for this guy, François (Baer), but also for his religion: Judaism. You see, Michèle is seeking herself in religion. She's been shopping around: Catholicism, Buddhism, etc. There is some tiny bit of thinking on what is it exactly to be a believer, but the movie doesn't go far enough.

But again, watch it for Tautou. She's got a certain spontaneity that is refreshing and that remind me of another Audrey [Hepburn].

Out of 100, I gave it 71. That's good for ** out of ****.

Seen at home, in Toronto, on November 6th, 2004.

I just watched this movie and i felt i had to warn potential watchers : This is by no means a good movie.

You may have been lured into seeing it because of Audrey Tautou of Amelie's fame.

To put it simple : the scenario is so simple it could have fitted on a post it note. It's about a whimsy girl who tries to get in touch with her spirituality.

So she goes from one boyfriend to the other, and each time embraces the religion of his. There are huge problem with the whole plot : we don't know how everything started. There is a tiny little clue about her father being absent, but aside from that, there is no indication of her psychology, her childhood, her past experience of the main character. Nothing. Plus, to be honest she is quite despicable. She is just a spoiled little girl with too much time. At some point she tries to embrace Judaism, and it's the only time the movie conveys any interesting idea. The rest is as shallow and meaningless as the character portrayed by Audrey Tautou. Her male counterpart, a somewhat nihilist but well educated man, portrayed by Edouard Baer really fits in his role, alas the way he tries to seduce again and again a girl which he has rejected twice is simply not believable. How he could be interested by a person which apparently has no brain and exists only through other people's beliefs is beyond our comprehension.

We can even sense some possible twists that could occur during certain scenes, but the director is in this case less smart than the viewers : she just misses completely what could have made an interesting movie. Nothing of what french cinema is famous for. Everything that happens here mirrors the ten first minutes. After those ten minutes, the plot will simply not progress in spite of the various shallow characters thrown our way.

So what can be said about a movie that brings nothing vaguely looking like character development, that conveys absolutely no message, that is not funny at all (ok, maybe i smiled twice), and portrays a girl with cuteness as her only selling point, to sum it all ? I'd say it's a waste of time, plain and simple. I encourage you to stay away from this movie, and rather stay on the good impression you had when viewing Amélie. Don't buy it, don't rent it : just don't.

Like everyone else who has written in, I watched this film (and Happenstance) because I had seen Amelie and had fallen in love with Tautou and was hoping to relive the Amelie experience. This movie is as close as I have come, but of course, NOT Amelie. The fun parts of this movie were: learning about the Jewish faith through the eyes of a non-Jew, hoping that Tautou and Baer really do end up together, and I must mention all of Tautou's awesome outfits and hairstyles as a French "top model." Very fun! The movie a few interesting cinematic moments from a style standpoint, too. I felt that I got confused about the plot at points due to the back-and-forth cut sequences and thought maybe I missed something in translation? Or maybe it was just weak storytelling? Or maybe Americans like me just need to be led by the nose through the plot a little more? The great surprise for me was Edouard Baer. He is handsome, charming, gentle, and caring in his role of Francois, and I immediately fell in love with him myself. The movie nicely balances comedy and seriousness and has sat well with me in the days after watching it. As long as you're not expecting Amelie: The Prequel, I think you can watch this and enjoy the fun and beauty Tautou brings to the screen.