Incroci sentimentali

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.

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.

I have rarely seen a so accurate story, too much accurate maybe, because it may be disturbing if one way or another, you have yourself lived those situations. Awesome actors - and actress - performances that make it even more powerful. French movies are excellent in such topics, dialogues are so real, as in real life. The story is very common, without any surprise, but so well done, in a different manner than for instance Claude Sautet did in CESAR ET ROSALIE which was smoother for more or less the same plot, but Yves Montand, Samy Frey and Romy Schneider would had not fit with so extreme scenes. However maybe I am wrong. Anyway I guess that CESAR AND ROSALIE inspired Claire Denis for this film.

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.

While the characters are interesting and the premise is solid, the overexposition in the script all throughout makes you want to jump off the balcony as it renders something with a lot of potential into a student-level film, with brilliant actors left to deliver debutant dialogue. It's lazy, preachy, pretentious and simply put lacks tension all throughout, which for any movie but especially a drama is deadly.

At the end of the day, the only character worth caring here is Jean, thanks to Vincent Lindon's delivery, but even then it's not even clear what he really wants. Francois wants Sara, Sara wants who knows what, Jean seems to want to be a good parent yet doesn't do much for it. Weak objectives which lead to a futile, slow and boring progression.

I wish I could get the time wasted watching this back.