L'amore che non muore

Or something along those lines - so no pun intended. The bad boy syndrome ... you have it here too. And you have to suspend your disbelief for a few things so the movie can work in its entirety. The old he isn't that bad - I can save him route - is our character right this time? There are some indications early on where this might lead - question is if love can move anything and if so ... how much that would be.

This tells us the story in three different timelines and we are having a bit of a back and forth. That said, it not a frantic back and forth. Also get your mind out of the gutter - this is a love story ... with some violence in a different area ... if no one believes in an individual ... well he won't believe in himself either.

It is often on the verge of cliche, but never really falls off or flat. It works quite nicely - and the actors are the ones that make it work. You will always disappoint some people with the way your resolve or "end" things, but I think this chose the best way to go ... in all ways imaginable that is. A movie for almost everyone - drama baby, baby drama.

Original scenario. Lellouch did really great with this movie, one of the best scenario and movie of the year. Great Nostalgie starting from the opening font style. Picture, music, image all other the movie is a great memory of the 80s and 90s.

The "kids" are playing very well, looking forward new movies, they are to become great actors. I was a bit afraid of Exarchopoulos as usually I don't really like her but she does pretty well on her scenes which are pretty made for her. Chabat is obviously great as the GOAT he is, i remind me of Didier at the start for thise who know, you'll know. Civil is perfect in the role, this dark style fits him very well.

The film is very long and pretty uneven between its first part when the characters are teenagers and the second part, ten years later.

The acting is really good. The young actors are fresh and genuine. Adele and François are top. Alain Chabat is a big teddy bear and as usual, you want to punch Benoit Poolvoorde.

The musical background really sets the 80's tone in small industrial French town. Mostly British and American songs but so grounded in the era.

You end the film with a smile on your face.

It is not the best film of the year but a beautiful crazy passionate love story. Despite being uneven, you follow Clotaire and Jackie all the way.

Good girl, bad boy, hopelessly crazy about each other to the point of becoming toxic. Classic. She is bored and stuck and craves some joy and excitement. People have been tiptoeing around her. Her father is very sensitive to her needs and overprotective. He is neglected in a numerous family where he lashes out to get his dad's attention. It's not the response he needs, but it's all he knows and it's the only thing that works. Nothing special about this setup. But somehow you get drawn into their world. And it only escalates.

I was very mad at this movie for about two thirds of it cause I thought it gave me the ending at the very beginning. Surprisingly, and with a bit of movie magic, things turn out differently. So differently that it's a little far-fetched. A little too much artistic license. But maybe after all that heartache and bad luck... Loved the eighties and the nineties reflected here, I thought they did a damn good job conveying that. And I liked the child / teen versions of the characters. In fact the adults are present for only half the movie maybe. Probably why it turned out to be a two and a half hour movie, which is excessive in my opinion, and I paused it several times, but it did give me that epic feeling after all. The soundtrack helps too.

I had no idea there was an eclipse in the eighties as well, but I was too young anyway. The one in the nineties was not nearly as exciting for us as it seems here. Didn't seem that memorable to me. And I didn't have the special glasses and I looked at the sun directly (well, maybe a little fearfully) and I guess I was just fine.

Gilles Lellouche's near 3-hour epic crime romance adventure is quite ambitious. For Lelouche to explore some interesting themes about crime, angsty, love, and the extremely energetic tone, it's an accomplishment of French cinema in this current times.

Lellouche does offer some great aspects about it's concept. The strong performances, beautiful colorful production, tone, and camerawork really helps establish the environment, tone and setting. Unfortunately, what prevents it from being an epic masterpiece is the writing and structure. Oftentimes, Lellouche applies too much into the narrative. It's clear what the story is wanting to express and there are some pretty good aspects about it. But with a narrative that feels unnecessary stretched out and having characters that don't feel too emotionally connectable doesn't do much service to what Lellouche would have wanted.

I do appreciate some of the ambitious take Lellouche does. The fact he was able to capture the time period perfectly and have a good pacing does show the passion. But it's style over substance moments ends up over staying it's welcome. Realistically, this movie didn't have to be near 3-hours.