Os Ladrões

Everyone is a thief in this film; don't pay for the goods emotional or physical. A psychological film on the need to take love where we can, things where we can because money is in the main excrement in the world excreted from one person to another. Deneuve sums the need for money in a car scene which is quite brilliant as she is talking to a thief who takes. This is our world and we are all involved in theft in one way or another, as deep down it is a love/ hatred towards sexual obsessions and objects, to have, then pass them on. As one reviewer said it is not a ' family ' film, and the acting is up to Techine's high standard. The consequences of crime reminded me of French crime films of the 1950's ( Gabin etc ) and the studies of each character interesting to watch. The only scene that did not convince was Deneuve having her first Lesbian relationship. She acted it well, but the kiss ( a bit blurred or was it my eyesight ) was total fake. I give it an 8 because for once in his films I found it too clever and too contrived. Snow features quite a lot; coldness of the heart, the cold thrill of stealing and the human heart too emotionally divided. Look closely at the scene where Deneuve collapses, and while she is unconscious Auteuil steals her face by taking a photo of her.

"Thieves" has Techine at the helm with Deneuve and Auetuil in the spotlight and critical plaudits aplenty. However, my reaction at the end of the two hour flick was "Yeah, so???". Telling of the intertwined lives of a cop and his brother and a girl and her lover and a handful of other people, this character driven flick wanders to and fro interminably, jumping around in time, examining the details of their fatalistic and pragmatic lives as they fuss and stew and brood over the this and that of their existence. Given subtitles and a soup thin story with no moral, no message, no hero, no villain, just character study heaped upon character study and no character that's even likeable, "Thieves" will not have much appeal for the masses. Recommended for French speakers or French film buffs only. (B)

I've watched this movie less as a coherent whole and more as an interrupted series of brilliant little moments. There is the scene where Catherine Deneuve is riding in the car explaining the philosophical nature of money. It didn't belong, but it was a very nice scene. There is the scene where Daniel Auteuil and Laurence Cote chat over his breakfast in a hotel and he sees her laugh for the first time. Nicely set up. Then there is the scene where Deneuve and Auteuil go to the Opera. The plot is muddled, but the actors provide fascinating little moments. Props to Techine for incredible direction with attention to character insight.

Perhaps the subtitles failed to do justice to the movie, but the visual construction of Les Voleurs crosses all boundaries. The complexities of the plot can be confusing; however, the visual imagery used in the film helps reinforce the characteristics of each relationship the film studies. All in all, a brilliant film to watch if you feel up to reading the subtitles.

This film has a complex, multi-layered structure that grabs your interest...but not much substance underneath. There's no real mystery to the plot, and no real revelations about "human nature" either. Well-acted all around - including a little boy who is wise way beyond his years. (**)