Sozinho Contra Todos

Good, well-directed French film in the vein of TAXI DRIVER, where an out-of-work, 50-year-old butcher slowly begins to lose control with the people and the world around him as he encounters one indignity after another. Unable to find a job no matter how hard he tries, having to contend with abuse from the fat and controlling dominant woman he lives with just because she has a few dollars, facing the burden of having fathered an illegitimate girl who now lives in a home and is unable to communicate, the tensions mount until the butcher is in danger of taking his frustrations out on himself and the miserable scum around him. The butcher's bizarre feelings and motivations are translated to us through what he's thinking, instead of relying on talk.

This is a brutal, honest, powerful movie that pulls no punches and draws the viewer into the mind of the man slowly going over the edge. Many people will be able to relate to feeling as lost and hopeless as he does, at least at some dark point in their lives. Here is a foreign film that succeeds in staying consistently interesting and captivating, despite its not having a plethora of special effects and pretty young teen stars (which so many recent American films seem to require). *** out of ****

A brilliantly disturbing film, unlike anything I have ever seen. This is an incredibly detailed account of how a disturbed human mind rationalizes everyday reality. It's like looking right into the mind of a man pushed to the brink, a man capable of anything. The film darkly builds as we watch the main character fall lower and lower, becoming more and more desperate. I love a movie that can capture an emotion so strongly, and this film defiantly grabs you and does not let go. The tension literally drips off the screen making it difficult at times to take, but like a car crash, you can't take your eyes off of it.

Noe's direction is excellent. The pace is slow and methodical and cut up with a surprising sound affect that makes you jump almost every time you hear it. This just adds to the disturbing, uneasy atmosphere that the film creates.

Its a trip that not all people should take, but those of you how are not easily offended, and have a strong stomach and a good eye for art, you should go far out of you way to see this film.

This is Gaspar Noe's deliberately disturbing film of one man's resentment of his own life. It's a highly cinematic monologue of malevolence by a volatile, middle-aged protagonist. The film's brilliance comes from the daring moralism it projects right up to it's startling conclusion. Without giving anything away, this is a mean-spirited, convincingly fiendish love story that sadistically gives it's audience a 30 second chance to leave the theater before things get resolved. A absolutely terrific monster movie for mature audiences only!

Man, that movie was intense. I saw Irreverisible a while back and just discovered this film. As I tried to rate it I have to admit that if a film effects you in the way this movie just did then there is something to it. I know many people who would be disgusted by this film and simply say they did not like it, it was a "bad movie." The reality is that every movie doesn't have to be uplifting and make you feel good. All I know is that I feel extremely alone and weird at the moment, independent of anything going on in my life. In that way, I think the film did its job. To an extent, the main character is so sick and jaded that one doesn't exactly relate to him or identify with the character. At the same time however, for those of us that don't experience life as rosy and joyous all the time, there is an element of utter pessimism that one can relate to. In a traditional sense, not that much actually happens in this movie. The majority of it is filled with an inner dialogue and scenes of people just sitting around.

I suppose it's odd for me to say that I like this film, but as I said, I think it did its job. The soundtrack was well done and the acting was thoroughly convincing. If you can deal with "depressing" and disturbing movies, I'd give I Stand Alone a shot. If not, rent Big and go to bed feeling nostalgic and hopeful about the future.

'I Stand Alone' goes where few movies dare these days. It presents a portrait of hatred, disgust, despair and nihilism. Many would probably not like to face up to the fact that people like "The Butcher" exist in our society, but they do. By ignoring them we compound the problems they present and represent.

Philippe Nahon plays a middle aged unemployed French butcher who is trapped in a loveless relationship with his pregnant girlfriend (Frankye Pain). She has some money and uses it as a power trip, promising to set him up with a new shop. When that doesn't eventuate he attacks her in a fit of rage, and leaves with a gun and three bullets. He heads back to Paris with no money and no prospects. As he sinks lower and lower into hopelessness his anger intensifies, and his mind races with fantasies of violence and revenge.

This is a confronting and profoundly disturbing movie, mainly because of it's realism and believability. While it certainly features some scenes of extreme violence, and one scene of explicit pornography (blurred in the print I watched), most of what makes it so powerful and horrible is the almost non-stop venomous monologues of "The Butcher". Director Gaspar Noe self consciously apes Scorsese's 'Taxi Driver' in several scenes, but this movie is a truly original vision. Highly recommended for movie buffs with strong stomachs, and the ability to deal with dark and troubling material.