User reviews

La Belle verte is directed by Colline Serreau,a talented woman film maker from France who made us all laugh with joy with her 1985 film "Trois hommes et un couffin".Her film is probably the only French film of recent times that talks of nature,environment and importance of greenery in our daily existence.In La Belle verte,we see how an alien lady from a green planet descend on French capital Paris in order to gather information about the status of greenery. What follows is absolutely shocking for this alien person as she learns that earth's inhabitants have almost no respect for nature,greenery and environment. Apart from its pro nature stance,La Belle verte is also a searing attack on consumerist society where modern human beings have no idea of nature's power.This forces them to eat meat,listen to music which is nothing but cacophony.An important role in this film is played by Colline Serreau who is effective as Mila,lady from green planet.Thanks to a DVD box set of Colline Serreau's films,la Belle verte is enjoying renewed popularity as a film that has highlighted mother earth's plight.

As opposed to the last reviewer, I found this movie completely refreshing. Finally, a movie that presents the quirks of our modern and frantic living in a very humorous and simple way (check out Kooyaanisqatsi if you need a more abstract and poetic view). This movie doesn't "try" to make you laugh, you just do so because you can see yourself in it.

This may not be a movie that Americans will quite get into since the type of humor and cultural background is very French in deed (and it does point out the absurdity of a lot of things we do here in North America as well as in Europe). It is highly commendable for the social comments it passes (just check out the scene where Vincent Lindon accidentally scratches someone else's car's rear view mirror or when the baby doesn't exist since it doesn't have papers). The movie as a lyrical feel to it and gives us hope. We just have to listen a bit closely. I give it a solid 7,5/10

This movie is undiscovered or perhaps denied genius. Watch it, give yourself to it, you can't help both feel great and wonder what our society's up to these days, how really far behind we are, of our own selves, even. Fantastic idea from start to finish, (ET's, super-advanced humans have been keeping track of a number of civilizations, including ours, which has been the slowest to develop. They're surprised we still use money, and live less than a hundred years. What they note through this point of view will astonish you.) Well done, really well done, every detail well cured, and thoroughly thought out. Surprising, entertaining, intelligent movie. Visually and conceptually stimulating, a more mature movie than say, Rambo. But fit for kids, too.

did you ever wonder why the floor under your feet , in the place where you live are covered with a gray material, & you can't see the soil? why this floor is full of poop? why are there boxes of metal emitting gases that you must breath? why you live in high cages, forced to hear the noise of these metal boxes? why you're driving them, & not using your feet, causing you to eventually have heart attack, if you won't die earlier from cancer from the gases, or an accident with the fast moving boxes? why you eat corpses of animals? why you use pieces of paper entitling you to any value, without which you won't have nothing, not even food? why you eat unhealthy food? why you're sitting every evening watching a box showing people telling lies, & dirtying your mind? why do you let yourself be led by fat selfish people caring only about themselves, their money & power, why don't we really listen to each other, talk to each other, why do we have these hierarchies, in which the stupidiest, incapable ones rule, control & exploit the goodness & capable weaker ones? why we go about doing wrong immoral things just because we're being told, why we we're constantly mad, worried & frustrated with such small trivial things, like a scratch in the mirror of our cars, & never see, appreciate & thank the beautiful wonderful life, nature & world that sorrounds & support us? why we ruin the world, poison ourselves, live in ugliness, support the rich selfish people exploiting us, selling us lies, tobbaco, weapons & arms, killing people with the money that we're forced to pay them as taxes?

if you haven't wondered on all this, its because you're like an ant, small cell in the super-organism, & can't see beyond your cell's vision. what you need is to be disconnected, shocked by artists such as Coline Serreau, that have a vision that you don't have, consciousness, different from that of the ants. such artists, like Jesus & Johann Sebastian Bach, cause the world to change, the super-organism to evolve into something more intelligent, more good for its cells, that are given life.

There is a planet out there devoid of earth problems and where people are living happy lives and long liives( 200-300years old). They send people to planets to spread happiness. Nobody wants to go to earth but a woman who she thinks has earthling relatives volunteers and go to earth to see all the noise,pollution, and people shouting at each other. She uses her superpower by putting her two hands on her head and wringing her head back suddenly,and by doing that she disconnects people and thy become happy, or kind toward nature and other people. Favorite scenes at the airport with two sons. Worth watching

7th June 2011. I am 30 years old and live in London, UK. I was born in Gran Canaria and, a day like today, I happen to watch "La Belle Verte"...........

I haven't read many reviews of the ones already written, but I have seen that many people have given 10 out of 10. I also give 10 out of 10 because it somehow expresses that this "film" should be watched by everybody that needs to "wake up", to see our existence from the distance, with objectivity. It doesn't matter if some people claim that it gets "repetitive". That's just like saying that your mother's, girlfriend or boyfriend kisses are "repetitive". This film is pure LOVE. Forget about cinematography, or technicalities of filmmaking. This film is a film but it could well be a book, or a theatre play. Coline Serreau probably thought that in these days, with film this could get further, to everybody, that's why, I guess. There's only been another film that made such an impression to me: "Into the Wild". Thanks Coline. Thanks for helping me to continue to get re-connected. I keep trying.

Edit: okay some points and intentions still stand, but I realised that this is a vegetarian film and they literally milk cows in the beggining, yikes.

This was a lovely movie that I did not expect to find in Lithuanian. I heard about it from a solarpunk reddit. I have never watched a fictional vegan comedy with vegans travelling interstellar, but it's not vegans being made fun of, the rest of the earth is. This movie understands all the little annoyances that come with being vegan and presents them in subversive ways which a lot of current activists documentaries right now can't do, but there is nothing wrong with those. This movie manages to be completely different and stand out. I long for vegan fictional movies and I am not sure how to find them because for example this one wouldn't show up in vegan movie google results.

I love the French language and eco-feminism. This movie is a combination of many great things. I can't imagine people unfamiliar with veganism enjoying this, some environment might get a little more out of it, but this is a piece of media that's been made for vegans. This is something I have not experienced while growing up. I wish there was a plethora with movies like this and a higher quality of jokes that do not make fun of minorities, but rather make fun of the world and its oppressions.

It is so baffling to think that people have been going vegan way before I was born and yet the progress made towards veganism is so little, instead of this being the most important topic and on everyone's minds we have football, video games, anime and other addictions. Some video games and anime are dear to my heart, but most of them are violent and the ones I love always subvert the material, genre and do things outside the norm.

I laughed out loud while watching and the movie keeps you on your toes and goes to a lot of unexpected places. I hope it becomes more popular as more people turn to veganism.

The film starts with the tired idea of the noble savages: far away on their pristine planet, an agrarian society, that lives in harmony with itself and nature and has people with mental powers, decides it is time to send people on Earth, just because they haven't done it in 200 years. It's just that no one wants to go. Earth is stupid and ugly and corrupt. Yet, one of them wants to go, a woman who has heard her mother was actually from Earth. And she comes, teleported by the mental powers of her peers, only to scorn everything, from the polluted air to the dirty water, from the eating of meat to the concept of money. It goes like this until the very end, where the film just ends.

What I found insulting is that, under the guise of well intended ignorance, the alien woman wreaks havoc with everything and everybody around her, from mental rapes to breaking technology, just because "it's bad for us". Yet she and her society prove again and again that they are very capable of doing the very things that they scorn at the beginning. Her sons soon join her, for the single reason of getting beautiful Earth girls. They quickly learn to drive a car and listen to music, then have fun making two football teams in a large match start dancing and kissing each other, or professional concert players do random interpretations of rock music. When they return, they take a rock CD, after explaining how great their "concerts of silence" are.

I managed to see the film through just because I expected it to end with a great reveal, a satire of the satire, to prove that having double standards and being arrogant about your own culture to the point where you can just violate another was the whole joke. Alas, the film took itself seriously to the end. Imagine a vegetarian with the mental power to "disconnect" you, whenever you feel like eating pork. It's like that the entire movie.

If you don't understand French you are gonna miss a lot in this film because the dialogues are incredible. It was really difficult to get a hold of this film in France and after seeing it I understand why. It shows our society for what it is and how we are all just a bunch of sheep following the leader. No one wants to be shown that they are a sheep, so its no wonder this film received very little exposure. I will make sure that everyone I know will see this movie and make sure that all their friends see it too. Its a wake up call that was made over 10 years ago and we still haven't understood the message. Every high schooler, every college student should see this film, you should see this film. Its a film that calls for change. Loved it.

This movie gives a new perspective about things. It goes way beyond our roots as human beings and teach us to appreciate the very basic of out way of life.

Since it was written, directed and acted by Coline Serreau, whose mind have created one of the most interesting "futures" or "origins" of the human race. Because it differs from all the robots, clones, zombies, chaos, destruction, desolation, etc. that we have seen across the ages.

Humorously presented, it touches a very special feeling in us as humans and leaves us thinking why, really, are we here.

It may be kind of hard to see for some people because it touches all of our main aspects in life: politics, religion, classes and races. But make no mistake, this picture should be seen by everybody. You won't regret.

When I first saw this movie on Youtube, I was amazed about the foresight of her maker, Coline Serreau. That's why it's a shame after its release in 1996 this movie was banned in the EU and neglected in the rest of the World. It was far ahead of its time, and the ones who banned it knew that it would change the people, as a result of which they would lose their power. However, times have changed and the DVD can now be downloaded for free at www.romanovs.info/labelleverte.php with English, Russian or Portuguese subtitles. This movie is no SF anymore but will be our true reality in the next few years. Dear ones, watch this amazing movie, and let it change you, so that you can change the world.

Once again I am struck by the original talent of Coline Serreau, who shows in "la Belle Verte", in a very simple and yet beautifully profound way, all the insane sides of humanity. Very much unlike her later film "Chaos" (2001) ,the choice of style and expression for "La Belle Verte" is a very undemanding form of comedy, which gives the movie an altogether very light tone, totally free of complexions and not at all inviting to intellectual debate. She simply points to the almost ridiculously obvious differences between a life of beauty and respect of life and one of disease, stress and egoic battle. Interesting is off course also to see the director herself in the leading part. Merci Madame! /Henrik Ajax

After this movie there is no going back to all the lies. You will remember the truth.

The life we are living in is a unnatural mess, and we are living in an Alice in Wonderland world where everything is wrong and upside down, where fear, paranoia and anger rules over love, peace and compassion.

Definitely watch this movie so that we can Share the truth and wake up! Let's create paradise on earth! :)

Since I am a big environmental fighter for clean and sustainable life, this movie was a big refreshing from the start. A funny, simple said story was something new for me since watching Earthlings. Excellent acting crew, camera, director, screenplay and story were very much promising until beautiful nurse forbidden to alien Mila holding a baby whose mother left it because Serbs raped her (during the war in Bosnia probably-but not said). It had to be a Serb who was a rapist and a Bosniak women who is a victim. Crimes were on both sides but this was a classic fascistic move from a story writer or director. Shame, this movie was more promising but fascistic media always has to be involved in our lives. In 90s every Serb was a war criminal and now every Muslim is present as Osama Bin Laden but that's another story. Shame Shame!

Just saw this last night. It is very original, funny and has a great message. It's not the best piece of film-making cinematically speaking that I've ever seen, but well worth seeing and will give you a fresh look at "progress" of western civilization.

I only wish there were more films like this that had a real message to them, unlike the trite "slices of life" that are so common.

Warning that I don't the translation if very good.I don't know French very well but the title itself should be translated "The Beautiful Green" and not "Green Beautiful", plus we saw other translation anomalies. Wish I knew French better!

It is a film about Values. Real values. About best things in life - things that are not actually 'things'. And it's very funny in places. I would say it's best to watch the picture in a mellow spiritual mood together with a loved person, if there is one. If there isn't - La Belle Verte will surely bring out your inner good and you will soon find yourself in a better position towards those around you. To put it short - French cinema at its best!

No doubt about it, the idea for the film is quite original. An alien from a lovely planet is sent to earth for the first time in 200 years to see how the earthlings are doing. The novelty comes from its reaction to earth's current state, pollution, noise, cars, big trees etc However, I find the novelty wears off about half way through the film and the story becomes incredibly weak and repetitive. The alien returns to its planet together with sons and 2 girlfriends found on earth. The latter part of the film shows long scenes of "gymnasts" prancing around in the grass and swinging from trees. The whole thing starts to get boring and I nearly fell asleep ! From what I can gather the "planet" scenes were shot in the Auvergne area of France, a region of extinct turf-coloured volcanoes, a very beautiful area and thus one of the saving graces of the Film. But let's face it, French cinema has never been very adept at this kind of film, it's more a US speciality. So certainly nothing to write home about, and nothing lost if you miss it.

I think some of the messages and the intent of the film are interesting, I simply couldn't get past the terrible acting. The performances were very "stage like" no subtlety, no nuance, amateurish French is not my first language, however it's not the script or the narrative, just the delivery that I couldn't handle.