Le fidèle

Gigi and Bibi. It sounds like two cartoon characters, but in fact they are the nicknames of Gino and Bénédicte, the two leads in Michael R. Roskam's new movie 'Le Fidèle'.

Already in the first five minutes of the film, Gigi and Bibi fall in love. This love affair is the main theme of the film. It's not an easy affair, since Bibi is the daughter of a wealthy business man, who supports her race car driving career, while Gigi doesn't have any relatives and earns a living by robbing banks and cash transit vans.

At first, Gigi hides his real occupation and pretends to be a car salesman. When he no longer can hide the truth, he is quick to point out that they both have a lot in common, in spite of their different backgrounds. He likes the risk-taking and the danger that comes with his job, exactly as she does with hers.

For Belgian moviegoers, the film has an extra appeal. Roskam has based his story on the lives of a well-known gang of criminals, who were household names in the 1990's. They captured the attention of the media and the public at large, because they combined extremely audacious and violent robberies with a glamorous lifestyle.

Roskam shows in this movie how such brutal criminals could at the same time be loving husbands and friends. Gigi loves Bibi, and he is extremely loyal to his criminal friends, but he has no respect for the feelings of his victims. Matthias Schoenaerts plays this complex character very convincingly, and Adèle Exarchopoulos is quite effective as the slightly naive girl whose love for Gigi is unconditional.

The last part of the film is different from the rest. The love affair, having been firmly established, is no longer the central theme. Instead, we see a quick succession of increasingly dramatic events, which sometimes feels a bit exaggerated. But the beautiful end scene compensates for this. This long take is technically simple, but very clever and creative from a cinematographic point of view. And the very last shot even more so. It's these kinds of scenes that show how original a film maker Roskam can be.

Wait, I don't say that's not a good movie. No, only it did not reach the point I expected, especially after the trailer watching. This is a melodrama, not a crime film; or may I say a melodrama with some crime accents. You have here one of the best armored truck heist sequences ever. I don't remember a better scene since LE PACHA, back in 1968. It is a must see. For the rest, it is a pure melodrama in the line of Arthur Hiller's LOVE STORY or BOOBY DEERFIELD ( still around car races !!!). This movie is too long for my taste, but performances are amazing, as the directing. A strange film, indeed. Interesting but not what I waited for. Many things unexplained, especially the ending.

Well ... It's a very well made film, with a great cast, lead and supporting; it does have a few less than believable aspects to the plot I must say. But the first part is sort of the car racing + heist film you were promised.

Anyway, yeah, the first part is fine - plenty of chemistry between Gigi and Bibi, lots of action, it looks like it's going somewhere ... and then where it goes is rather dark. And then from there, it turns utterly bleak. Forlorn, sad, depressing; you name it. I felt like there was a dark cloud hanging over me afterwards, and I'm surprised my dreams that night weren't darker than they were. I generally like noir, but this was a bit much for me. Some people have a higher tolerance for that sort of thing than I do though. C'est la vie.

This movie completely lacks cohesion and I'm in agreement with a couple of other reviewers here who have said it's a shambles. Roskam worked magic with the marvellous Matthias Schoenaerts (who tried his damndest to make this work) in Bullhead and The Drop, but frankly this just failed. It sprawled itself over three "acts", the first of which was quite exciting and showed promise but that's where it stopped. The two hours plus running time felt like five.

Oh my gosh, I just watched this film, and I am truly blown away--this film is a masterpiece. Truly a work of art, and like some of the best films of all time, I have found myself not being able to stop thinking about it for days after watching it.

Where do I begin? The film itself is probably a drama, but the bank heist scenes are insane. I have never said this about another film in my life, but this film is the first film I would compare to my favorite film of all time, Heat. This is a different film--that is probably why it has not received as much attention, that and its poorly chosen US title. The biggest difference is this film is set in Europe, and it is more of a drama.

The cinematography and filmmaking displayed in this film are simply fantastic. And of course the acting is phenomenal, especially of course from the two lead roles. I am sure everyone is well aware of their impressive resumes, so there is no need for me to regurgitate that info, but I cannot write a review of this film without mentioning the impressive acting. Both the lead actor and actress are two of the best in the world right now, literally, and both at the peak of their careers.

If you are even considering watching this film, just try it, and trust me, just watch it--you will be blown away.