Nés en 68

Rarely have I seen a film so well acted, and it would be unfair to single out one of the actors. Having said that Laetitia Casta excels and I can think of none of her contemporaries who could have carried the full and long length of this saga which crosses over the last third of the 20thc into the first disillusioning first years of the 21st. The scenario depicting the social and political upheavals of France during this period of time is conveyed well, if sometimes formulaic. The events of ' 68 were too self-conscious for my liking, but then the directors of the film were not there to see it. I was, and it was confused, unglamorous and to many people in Paris itself it was just a brutal inconvenience. This part of the film, in my opinion needed a bit more roughening up and perhaps shot in black and white. The hippie period that follows was overcooked literally by too many flowers and nudity and what was called at the time polymorphous perversity ( quaint that as in the film it is totally heterosexual and brief moments of Lesbianism as long as one man or two were there. ) As for the second half the homosexual perspective comes into gruelling perspective with HIV and full blown AIDS. There is a death scene that I had to leave the room it was so graphic and no doubt necessary but for those who are traumatised by the reality of dying could be a nightmare to watch. No more spoilers, but to say that this is arguably a near masterpiece and despite certain contrivances it in the main works. A final encounter at the end of the film rang very true, and an ending becomes an uncertain beginning into the future that is already upon us. To sum up a film that should be seen and without prejudice of any kind.

A two hour and forty-six minute soap opera about dozens of people I didn't care about for even ONE minute. Not even for one SECOND.

A heavy, plodding, totally humorless and lifeless look at the most exciting and eventful 40 years in the history of the world. I refuse to believe it was as boring in France during those decades as this movie makes it seem.

I love France, the French language, French movies, and the charming, cranky, creatively self-centered French people who love their country so much that they sincerely believe it's the center of the world. They deserve better than this dead, stupid, catatonically boring, navel-gazing, leaden record of their recent history. They've made some fantastic movies, but this is not one of them.

So miserable, i don't know a thing about France history, so i can't clearly understand this film, just a quick shot to see what happend, and then i have to said that i got into it so deeply, but when i walk out, nothing there in my mind :(((( i feel sorrow, just want to forget all these pain it made

Having lived through the Student Riots in Paris, May, 1968, the United States Civil unrest in the 60's, AIDS in the 80's and advancement of technology in the 90's to the present, I can relate to everything in this movie. Perhaps, younger people may not quite understand the intensity of this movie and its historic nostalgia. I highly recommend this movie as a viewpoint from the French point of view during highly volatile times.

The film deals impeccably with disaster that ranged from death, imprisonment and the glimpse of the Twin Towers.

I would like to have seen the friendships of the people developed a tad bit more than what they were; however, the viewer can leave all to the imagination, or, perhaps relate in one's own life.

In short: This film is a waste of time. I came here thinking I will see a good French drama or an engaging autobiography of the lives of some free-spirited college students from 1968, but none of that happened. The movie simply follows the life of the main female character whom I forgot her name, and her friends and multiple lovers, and then later her children whom we see grow up. But nothing interesting and nothing makes you want to relate to the film. Kind of like watching a soap opera all glued into one very long film, but without anything worth watching. After watching the first hour and half, I decided to increase the speed of the move to 1.25 faster than 1.5 faster, then finally I decided to fast forward all the way to towards the end and even then I didn't finish it. Simply a waste of time that didn't make me feel anything.