Incontri d'amore

There are films one loves to hate. This one is so awful, so contrived, so inane, so pretentious, so ludicrous at times ( particularly the dialogue ) that I wonder how well-known actors like Azema and Auteuil condescended to be part of such an abysmal opus. That it was well-received in France and Belgium is a sad reflection on some people's critical faculties, and also on the topics that we deem worthy of attention ( or rather on our treatment of them ). I understand that the directors, the Larrieu brothers, until their disastrous foray into serious film-making, had made documentaries about insects, quite a worthy enterprise ( one has only to think of the superb BBC productions ). Perhaps their intimacy with these tiny creatures have deprived them of any savoir-faire when dealing with human beings and their problems, since their stilted direction and clumsy camera work make the spectator wonder:" am I missing something? Is there some hidden intention in such lack of talent ?" I am relieved to note that there is a reviewer in Germany who shares my opinion that this film is unadulterated faeces.

Mardelene is a hobby painter who met Adam by chance while indulging in her pastime on a fine day in the countryside. Adam, who is visually impaired, then introduced her to a country house which was on sale and Mardelene was immediately taken away by its beauty. She convinced her husband, William, who is into meteorology and has decided on an early retirement to purchase the house. Things took an interesting turn as they met Adam's other half during a dinner at the their new place.

Set on a beautiful French countryside and in a charming rustic country house, the story revolves around two couples; the first couple's relationship was put on test as they met the second couple. The trust that was built among them transformed into a slippery slope of pleasure and guilt. A highly poetic film with excellent music and breath-taking sceneries.

This is a very good little film that starts off enigmatically (I thought I was watching something by Rohmer from his Green Ray period) and gets better and better as it goes along. Daniel Auteuil and Sabine Azéma play very well together (their first pairing; I hope there will be more) and Sergi Lopez and Amira Casar are also good as the couple who make swinging look so easy. William and Madeleine are mid-50s, their daughter is getting married in a couple of months so they are facing an empty nest with a little trepidation. Adam and Eva enter their lives and quickly establish an emotional dependency on the other couple's part. It is this dependency and not the sex that becomes decisive for William and Madeleine.

This is the first feature by the Larrieu brothers that I have seen; it is very promising. They know how to create an emotional atmosphere without camera tricks or an annoying sound track. I advise men with heart problems to skip the scene with Hélène de Saint-Père: when she takes her dress off she reveals a truly astounding body.

I saw this film at the 2006 Palm Springs International Film Festival and enjoyed this movie very much. This is not a big film but it has a lot going for it. It's smart, charming, has a lot of style and is quite humorous. Great outdoor scenes. Since it is a story who's principal character is an artist I expected it to go overboard with stylized cinematography and try to create every scene as a painting but it didn't do that. It gave you the flavor of her love of painting without trying to recreate it on screen. This is a refreshing movie in that it's all about middle age people and so is the audience they seek. The baby boomer audience who are in 2006 between the ages of 42 and 60 should expect to see more movies geared to their age group coming their way. The cast is great in this movie and the four central characters and two supporting characters are a fun study. Great music in this too. I would give it a 7.0 out of a possible 10 and recommend it.

As long as you don't take this film seriously it is charming to engage in the sensuousness of the setting and the encouragement for new adventures in the autumn of ones years.