Monsieur & Madame Adelman

Saw this on a long haul flight: beautiful love story, well directed and put together. In essence it is the story of a couple from their acquaintance till death. Great fun, laughs and tears! It also takes you through the different phases historically and especially in France - as I grew up there, the familiarity might be somewhat biased - so really enjoyed it. Absolute recommendation to see this movie!

This film veers between Woody Allenish interactions and social observation, "Scenes from a Marriage" and "The Wife". (If the latter film had not come out so soon after this one, it would be tempting to find a distant model for it here.) Sometimes it is wickedly funny to the point of biting satire, sometimes it is idly absurd, for long stretches it is touching in the way of any intimate look at a marriage. While it has many comic moments, it is distinctly NOT a comedy. It is rarely unwatchable, but does go on too long after a while. While there's a lot to be said for the different sections, they don't always add up to one film. A surprise for American viewers is Ronald Guttman in a colorful and very ethnic turn.

"Shot with a nimble-fingered, compulsively twirling and rotating camera, MR & MRS ADELMAN freewheels in an almost mercurial form through the tonal discrepancies derived from a mishmash of components: a heady rom-com about a girl sets eyes on her Mr. Right and never let him go, a cynical satire on a writer's block (Victor's unpremeditated fixation with being Jewish, he even alters his bourgeois, Gentile surname de Richemont to Adelman), fame and egregious ego, an astringent matrimonial drama plumbing a husband's sexual frustration and a wife's desperation to hold onto the breadwinner of the family, or a reportage on gender politics within a nuclear family, but between Victor and Sarah, the one who gets the oneupmanship is evident along the way, as the story is as much an affirmation of a wife's high-wire maneuver of molding her husband into the man she wants (if not necessarily she worships) him to be, even without that final volte-face, as a no-holds-barred dissection of a tumultuous relationship that often blights a middle-class union where self-efficacy is foregrounded."

classic french cinema, full of psychoanalysis. fast moving witty and indiscreetly correct dialogue for those needing subtitles. what comes as surprise is the revelation, or at least the unmentioned-until-absolutely-necessary of who the madame is. this gave a entirely different, while parallel, level of information about madame and her extended family. we see only what we are allowed to see, but only once the viewer had been prepared. the essence of what is communicated can have other sources, other motives. as expected sex is in full Freudian motion and this particular French relationship is more passionate drama and manipulation than romance. poor guy was out of his league. viewed as unstated confirmation it will be liked in Hollywood New York, but, what with the state of things, it worries me. if possible, see the most excellent 2014 Turkish film Kis Uykusu, to understand how compassion is missing in the French film.

it is definitely worth seeing both as entertainment and education. could even change your world view. 7 of 10

A movie as we never seen in the french landscape. A beautiful story of love. Doria Tillier is a great actress. Furthermore, the twist at the end show the genius in the Bedos' direction.