The History of Love

I don't know the novel, but from the hints of the film I could gather that the novel must have some deep appeal and intrigue. The film adaptation lacks any of that. The different layers of the story hardly make sense on their own, becoming only shorthands and clichees with little emotional impact. The episodes are longish and loose sight of the bigger picture. Production value and acting is good though, only the script lacks finesse.

If you've read the book, this movie will be painful beyond all belief. It will prove sometimes good authors cave for monetary reasons and give up the purpose of their novel for some cheap big screen existence. All that was beautiful in the novel, the true symbols and emotions was stripped apart to bit and pieces of modern gimmicky references. Stilen names of characters and brief concepts of ideas was all that was left. A innocent girl in love with her family turned into a moody teenager, a sweet sad old man turned into an angry spout of distaste, and a sad beautiful mother turned into a crazy agoraphobic? Did the author lose the rights to her book in a card game? They left out the actual history of love...

There is a good story and good actors but it's just too confusingly told in a jumble of flashbacks. Good cast wasted. Don't bother.

Incomprehensible.

My opinion---

After "Go, Live and Become", "The Source of Women" and "The Concert" - Radu Mihaileanu returns with a most successful romantic fresco, where he will evolve these characters in different periods of their life, By the carelessness, love, promises and dramatic passages of their respective lives, with all the delicacy and emotions that Radu Mihaileanu knows how to put into his achievements by making us share them. This beautiful movie is also served in the most beautiful way by a cast of the most successful brings all the strength that will make this movie really good, thanks to: "Derek Jacobi" (masterful), the young "Sophie Nélisse" (Beautiful), "Gemma Arterton" (superb) and "Elliott Gold" (perfect), plus an effective scenario, you have all the elements of a superb film that I advise of course, because its quality is no doubt, good movie time.

This is a fantastic movie, full of symbols. It conveys the most diverse emotions from sympathy to admiration, from sadness to enthusiasm.

Radu Mihaileanu managed to build an amazing character, Léo Gursky with whom it is impossible not to empathize. He is like an oxymoron. You can feel both his sorrow and his positive and innocent attitude towards life. He conveys sympathy as well as dignity at the same time!

The film is also very dynamic, with intertwined plans, which keeps you focused.

In a world where relationships are consumed so quickly, what a wonderful lesson we are given by these loyal and faithful characters who decide to love one person for their whole life!