Alice e Martin

Although the performances were good, this movie is quite frustrating. While a non-linear narrative can be effective and compelling, the disjointed plot or lack of one leaves the viewer bored and confused. The story line is further strained by the lack of development of much of Alice's and Martin's characters. For instance, one can't understand why Martin's father was such a brute or why Alice would choose to stay with Martin. It's a shame because this movie could have been a lot better.

With Techine directing Binoche you would expect something special, something emotionally involving, something...good. But, sadly, this movie is, for the most part, disappointing. First of all we don't truly care about the characters, Loret, who plays Martin, is wooden and distant, and the blossoming relationship between the two leads is unconvincing. Binoche is on top form, a beauty to behold, but every time she's off the screen the film nosedives. Perhaps Alice's past should have been explored too. The psychological leash Victor has on Martin isn't tight enough to convincingly escalate into patricide. However, it isn't all bad. The cinematography is beautiful, in particular, when Martin opens his window, as a child, and is greeted by the snow falling. Golden Spain too. Alice Et Martin isn't diabolical, but with the talent involved, you would expect so much more. 6/10

A weirdly inconsistent film, mixing hamfisted direction with an occasional obsessive attention to telling detail, seemingly shallow interactions with deeper thoughts, and Juliette Binoche's acting with Alexis Loret's acting. Loret can't act at all, even though he is pretty. This is not a great French film, but there's a lot to like about it nonetheless. Juliette Binoche is in fact that pretty, and she can act too. It has some (but not all) of the unforced naturalness that distinguishes French cinema. And it does not look upon its audience as a bunch of slack-jawed troglodytes, always a plus. Seven of ten, not the thing to convince someone to enjoy French cinema but pleasurable nonetheless.

Once a critic for Cahiers Du Cinéma, André Téchiné wakes generally high expectations from movie viewers, but he not always satisfied them. The interest for melodrama that distinguishes him from nouvelle vague predecessors returns in Alice and Martin which is not free from the thematic of dysfunctional family of others of his films. In this case the results are more unconvincing. At the beginning and for a long time we don't know what happens, and when we know, it does not matter enough. The disproportion between the elliptical and not few scenes of unnecessary diffuse dialogue does not contribute to go deep into the drama. Secondary characters like the tyrannical father, the mother, and the stepmother of the protagonist are delineated in the style of the stereotyped Spanish telenovela. The nicely photographed landscapes (a mark in Téchiné's pictures) add to the pleasure of the viewer but not fulfill the holes in the screenplay. The story, excessively charged with family quarrels, suicide, involuntary crime, tempestuous love, professional aspirations, madness, atonement, and final redemption, can't easily catch the spectator. Adam Gai

In her review of 'Alice et Martin' in Cinopsis, Marina Bergamelli states that the reason why Techine made this film remains obscure.

For those people who understand and know that such emotional worlds exist, it is a cathartic masterpiece of great value.

It takes courage to make a feature film of this nature and am grateful to the people who undertook such an artistic endeavour.

Film would be dead without them.

Julian Flynn