Les amours d'Anaïs

Another one of those-almost uniquely French-light but sensitive, flippant but deep, seemingly inconsequential but thought-provoking, inviting shedding after viewing but stubbornly lingering in one's memory; beautifully acted, beautifully filmed; this offering (discovered on a UK free film channel) comes from a long line of similar French films going right back to Eric Rohmer's works and earlier.

Inevitably, one has to have sex scenes, but thankfully the French still know how to portray tasteful eroticism, an art that the American cinema rarely found. My one adverse criticism would be over the director's sometimes edgy camera work (hand held?) that I found a bit fatiguing.

Are the Japanese the only other world cinema consistently putting out these oeuvres?

There's a regrettable, sexist tendency for movies to feature ditzy female characters, who are not just young and pretty, but also young (meaning immature) at heart, and in need of a good strong man to take care of them. 'Anais in Love' is almost one of those films, in that its titular protagonist is indeed a bit juvenile; but she's also strong-willed, proactive, and not looking to be saved on anybody else's terms. Indeed, deviating from the traditional rom-com template, she starts out chasing men then falls for a woman. The problem here is rather the ending, which is underwhelming, bland, and critically not the consequence of the character's own actions. We see Anais careering through various affairs throughout the film, then one of these ends, and with that, so does the film. It feels like there's a missing coda, some concluding section where Anais comes to terms with what she has learnt from her experiences or fails to do so. Instead, the film just ends, oddly inconclusively.

Sometimes, rarely, you come across a film that is so disappointing that you are sort of reeling from it the morning after, thinking you'd better done the accounting, washed your hair, or stared at a patch on your carpet.

This is one of those blessedly rare films.

This film lives or dies by the amount of sympathy you can summon for the scatterbrained, narcissistic, hyperactive protagonist. If you attracted by her, or aspire to be like her, you may make it to the end.

For the rest of us, what remains is a sort of 21st century French comedy cliche' bingo: manic pixie girl? Check! A touch of Amelie Poulain? Check! Slightly nauseating sex scene with an extremely older guy? Check! Mother who has cancer, because that's what older women do right? Check! A touch of sapphic love? Check!

I gave up about two thirds in. I don't know how it ends but I can sort of figure it out. I am also slightly outraged this has been compared with the much superior "The worst person in the world", which features a similar protagonist and similar themes, but with so much more originality and insight.

This title popped up in my Amazon Prime and looked like something light and fun. My experience of recent French films has been mixed, with many being overly erotic and taking themselves a bit seriously. This film though was a delight from start to finish. The main character Anais, young and beautiful, absent-minded and clumsy and quintessentially French, dashes around everywhere in a series of gorgeous summer frocks. She is having a relationship with a handsome man her own age but it's already over practically within the first scene. In the very next scene Anais is enrapturing a married man twice her age, although he goes on to leave her frustrated. With a summer job at a symposium (she is a student) in the lavish French countryside, she encounters Emilie, a similarly beautiful 50-something married academic, and quite unexpectedly falls passionately in love with this older woman. I won't spoil it from there, but suffice to say I laughed and cried. I had to rewind and watch the last 15 minutes again as it was so beautifully done. I lamented "overly erotic" films earlier in this review and this title was rated 18+ by Prime but it is perfectly pitched, containing one of the most sensual, tasteful and romantic love scenes I think I've ever watched, without being over the top. I'll be buying the DVD of this film as I can imagine wanting to watch it over a bottle of French red many times in the future. This film is everything anyone would ever want from a modern French romance, perhaps because the story is everything anyone would ever want from love itself.

The film is very captivating, as long as you put aside your prejudices and preconceptions, and let yourself go. The main character is very attractive and is shown leading a life with obstacles, but also overcoming them, to the point that not only his social, family, economic, but also emotional well-being comes into play, for which against all odds she fights to be happy.

I had the opportunity to immerse myself emotionally in the story, thanks to the excellent performances of the main leads and the way the director managed to capture the emotions of these great actresses.

The ending is priceless and is the consecration of a great story.