Com Amor e Fúria

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.

Both Sides of the Blade (2022) follows a couple who's lives are changed when the woman's ex boyfriend comes back into the picture. I'm not quite sure how I feel about this film. It was definitely good and packed a punch, but don't go into it expecting a gritty romance thriller. It was a very personal film and I have a lot of respect for it.

I really liked the cinematography, it was subtle yet created a significant atmosphere. The lighting choices were very good and every shot was well lit, there were some nice colour palettes too. There were plenty of extreme close-up shots that showed the characters' emotions and the shots were very long too with a lack of jump-cuts which I felt worked well.

The music used was very fitting to the tone of the film and it wasn't too overbearing which I liked. However, there was really anything to talk about in terms of general sound design and I would've liked to see more from it.

The phenomenal performances from all involved definitely carried this film. The movie was a very intimate character study and it worked well as the film spends a good amount of time to introduce us to the three main characters, who are all quite interesting and felt realistic! Also, there was quite a lot of dialogue that was very thought provoking and engaging.

The film was slow paced, and unfortunately it occasionally dragged a bit. It took a while to get into because there wasn't much driving force in terms of plot and I would've liked for there to be more to it. However, the last 20 minutes were very intense and I thoroughly enjoyed the final act.

There is not a single character in Avec amour et acharnement to sustain a full viewing--I only made it to the end by telling myself it was a good way to practice my French. I really disliked all of the protagonists and found the lead, the Juliette Binoche character, especially pathetic: whiny, needy, and clingy. Her problems of self-esteem explain how she ends up with serial losers, but don't make it any easier to endure the completely overwrought dialogue of the script.

The good news is that the ending nearly redeems the rest of the film. So if you can hang on for two hours, at least you'll find something worthy of reflection after all has been said and done.

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.