À jamais

(2016) Never Ever/ À jamais (In French with English subtitles) PSYCHOLOGICAL DRAMA

Adapted from the novel "The Body Artist" by Don DeLillo that has director/ screenwriter, Rey (Mathieu Amalric) falling for body artist, Laura (Julia Roy). And it's like although he already has a girlfriend name Isabel (Jeanne Balibar) who is actually an actress and familiar collaborator we find out later, Rey ends up marrying his new flame, Laura. At the same time, Rey is being strapped for cash, and is attempting to press for an advance payment for an unfinished script. And then the inevitable happens, is when Rey kind of tells his wife a white lie about where he was heading. Takes a plane to confront his former flame Isabel, only as soon as he heads back home while riding on his motorcycle, he gets himself killed by getting involved into an unfortunate accident. Before his funeral service, Laura then places his cell inside his suit pocket, and as soon as Isabel speaks, Laura attempt to sabotage it by calling Rey's cell. It was at this point, Laura begins to isolate herself and begins to imagine Rey's presence fully knowing he has been cremated. We then see Laura do more odd things such as watch the same road Rey had his accident through security cameras, particularly at night.

Whether the movie is faithful to the source material is irrelevant as I believe that like films, not all books are gems. First of all, the entire relationship between Rey and Laura never seemed real to me, to convince me she was so much in love with him, that she was able to imagine his presence after his death. Rey was pursuing Laura and it was not the other way around. When viewers were informed they were married, viewers are also kept in the dark whether it was a private wedding or did he have guests and who paid for it since money was tight for Rey. Laura was not even working at all, so where was their financial income coming from! And then at the end, viewers are still kept in the dark whether she gets, to keep the villa, as she still owed 2 months rent to the landlord. Did Rey have a will or some financial insurance in regarding his demise. Both the characters as well as the movie itself is just as vague as the viewers who are watching it.

I had to watch this in 2 stages; I fell asleep partway through it. When I started watching a day later, I had to get online to remember what it was about. That should tell you something.

I rated it a 5/10 because it is beautifully filmed, but that's really all it has going for it. The second half of the film is painfully slow, absolutely glacial in its pacing. This is a film that mistakes silence for deep contemplation, and somber lighting and looks for artistry. It wants to be thought of as profound and insightful, and fails to deliver on either.