Both Sides of the Blade

There is not a single character in Avec amour et acharnement to sustain a full viewing--I only made it to the end by telling myself it was a good way to practice my French. I really disliked all of the protagonists and found the lead, the Juliette Binoche character, especially pathetic: whiny, needy, and clingy. Her problems of self-esteem explain how she ends up with serial losers, but don't make it any easier to endure the completely overwrought dialogue of the script.

The good news is that the ending nearly redeems the rest of the film. So if you can hang on for two hours, at least you'll find something worthy of reflection after all has been said and done.

Christine Angot's novel Un tournant de la vie is filmed as Avec amour et acharnement and the results are mixed. I have been a fan of Claire Denis' work since Chocolat; she has always struck me as someone who has her finger on society's pulse better than most directors do. I wonder if her purpose here was to do a remake of Jules et Jim--certainly that's the feeling I'm left with as I watch Binoche fighting with Lindon as he tries to make her admit that she kissed Colin at the reception. The skill of these three actors is so evident, but so is the thinness of the script. Why show Binoche at the radio station interviewing the footballer Lilian Thuram talking about racism, it adds nothing to the story. Lindon's past as a rugby player and his prison sentence are only alluded to, surely they need further development. Gregoire Colin has made six films with Denis and fits in with her plan so well but I wish his part had been bigger. See this one if you are a Denis completist.

I haven't read the book this is based on, but after seeing the film and getting that WTF feeling, I had to see what other people thought and yes, the book was not well received. Which is in sharp contrast with the directing and acting in the film, which was really good.

In short, this film is more of a play than a film, just a few characters, a lot of talking, a lot of emoting, strong emotions that overwhelm reason. I don't like theater plays much and this film is a perfect representation of why not: a lot of noise and a story that brings little entertainment, even if - perhaps particularly when - it's well executed.

You have three major characters, two guys and a woman. The woman is with one of the guys, but has been thoroughly in love with the other one a decade prior. And suddenly he pops back up into their lives. And they can't just say "this is awkward and I will take no part in it", so they dance this ridiculous dance that has a relatively predictable poor ending. Oh, and then there is this 15 year old idiot son of one of the guys who pretty much has no bearing on the story, but wastes a lot of screen time.

You can't fault Juliette Binoche, of course, she can act better than most when she's sleepwalking, and Vincent Lindon was great, too. The direction of this story was good, too, in the sense that such a nebulous plot was made bearable. But in the end the story felt biographical, because it made little sense narratively, and all of the characters were really annoying most of the time.

Not going to claim this is the best one by Denis, but it is still a good go by the 70-plus French stalwart. If anyone else had made a movie out of the Angot novel, it would not be anywhere near as good. Denis gets terrific work out of the troupers Lindon and Binoche, and finds real depth in material, that maybe is not all that deep actually.

Next time around, she brings to the screen one of the late novels by the wonderful American writer, Denis Johnson. No relation, of course.

As an Avid movie goer I found Both Sides of the Blade as one of the best movies I have watched in the last few years. It reminded me on Red, Blue, White and Double Life of Veronica. In a way it is not as deep as those movies; it has a very simple plot depicting human psyche, emotions, insecurities, doubts, desire, relationships and it's challenges that can happen to anyone in the real life. If you're into art cinema you will be very happy watching this one. Both protoganists Juliette Binoche and Vincent Lindon act incredibly well. JB act makes this movie close to a masterpiece.