La guerra è dichiarata

At the beginning, I didn't want to see this movie, even if I read it tried not to be just a sad movie about a couple and their poor kid suffering of cancer. The movie is sad, even if end in a fairly good way, but it's bearable. But it also shows that life in this circumstances should also be positive or least one has to make an effort to make the story positive.

Said this, this movie moved me almost to tears, imagining the poor kid, even if the movie never shows his suffering.

And it's a movie that shows normal people, with a normal life, facing a tragedy. It could also be a movie that shows again we never have to give up and loose hope, but well, that's a true statement.

I thing that the best way to describe this film is "a real and credible story so well narrated". The acting was marvelous and the music memorable.

So delightful to see, and again, very credible. It takes the subject of that sickness on a very mature an natural way so this it's not the kind of Hollywood movie where you feel sad, but you can't feel close to the characters.

If you compare it with My Sister's Keeper, another movie on a similar subject, you will note that Declaration of War seems more realistic and dramatic. It also remember us that life is not made but superheroes, We are real people, full of a fears and insecurities.

Very recommended!

"If the premise looks dreary and distressful, that's the last thing Donzelli tries to evoke in her film, which is why, she over-dramatizes the most heartbreaking moments, viz. when the family members receive the bad tidings, to dull the edge of its pathos (their reactions are explosive rather than implosive), also by introducing Adam at the age of 8 (played by Gabriel himself) right out of the box, audience is reassured that all will be well. DOW plays up to the solidarity between Romeo and Juliette, and among their extended families throughout, meantime, it is also crucial to point up that even in the face of unforgiving adversity, people needs to offload their pressure and kick up their heels once in a while, an "open kiss" party could just do the trick, Donzelli and co. practice what they preach, seeing everything through rose-colored glasses, it is the Gallic spirit billowing out of the most arduous ordeal for a brace of young parents, a sentimental French chanson can just bob up at the drop of a hat, traversing different places to form a duet of the heart."

read my full review on my blog: cinema omnivore, thanks

Roméo and Juliette are young actors in Paris. They meet at a club, and fall in love. He has a single mom living with her girlfriend. She has a middle of the road family. The couple has baby Adam but they notice that something is wrong. The doctors eventually discover that he has a brain tumor. They are devastated and they struggle through the difficult situation.

For all the personal drama, there isn't as much tension as one expects. It isn't melodramatic but there are a couple of incidences where the actors feel like overacting. The drama is never that dramatic but it is a great little slice of life. There is no medical breakthrough or large world implication. The couple isn't doing anything over the top. It's simply life poured onto the big screen.

I saw this movie in a nearly completely empty theater on a Saturday night! Not good when you consider that there is so little else going on in the artistic desert of America. I just love the fact that this film is so intimate, so close yet the viewer is not left with a feeling of voyeurism. Rather it is a story of despair, hope, and almost surreal disconnections. The actors are the kind of people you know in advance. They are from a very naturalistic acting school that has a feeling of realism and joy that is affecting and not over done. The story is difficult to watch, but somehow drives along. I am sure an American company will re-make this and I am sure I will skip it. It is not that the French do this type of movie so well. It is that these actors are so much more interesting than the current crop of American standard bearers. I recommend this, but hurry, before it disappears.