1999 Madeleine

Contrary to the other opinion, this was probably the best movie I saw at the IFF that year. I've seen a few American movies over the years dealing with the struggles of single people looking for love, but this was a fresh European view. It was like looking at a live-action version of the Carpenters' "Goodbye to Love". The color composition is really quite good, the director filling the screen with muted and stark fluorescent lighting, as the protagonist lives half her life in empty metro stations and phone booths. Her dates are viewed through alienating extreme closeups, denoting the hopeless conversations with men who are looking for "someone else".

I saw this film at the International Film Festival a few years ago. It made little sense. It was directionless. It had desire but no romance. And instead of comedy it had pathos. This film has the distinction of being one of the two worst films I've ever seen.