Flashback

This was a great movie. It's been on my watch list for a while. Finally I had the concentration to watch some subtitle movies. The actress is also the writer.

The writer puts herself in some fun and some historically interesting scenarios. It starts off with a character who is kind of repugnant but she is funny. She's also biased because of her family history and doesn't know it until she goes back in time. She gets taught gets taught a lesson on history and on equality. I learned a lot about French history too. More than I knew going in.

They even set it up for a sequel. And the issues they depict are really important and relevant today. Especially where I live a country where we all are supposed to equal and free but everybody is not equal and everyone is not free. As of right now there are some states that are trying taking control of women's bodies.

It's not all bad. The premise is intriguing. The dialogue...especially the lines given to the lead (Caroline Vigneaux) is witty. And speaking Ms. Vigneaux, she's hilarious. A gifted physical comedian who delivers visually as well as verbally. She's a joy to watch. And the pacing is good too...right up to the point where the viewer starts says 'OK, I get it. I got it 20 minutes ago. Now, wrap this up.' Only the movie doesn't. It keeps going on and on and on. Neither I nor my wife could make it to the end. We agreed that we couldn't take another minute.

What went wrong? Maybe it was the overtness of it all. Maybe the fact that after the first 20 minutes of the film, it had said all it had to say. Or maybe it was just the lack of subtlety. We both wanted to like the film. But too much is always too much.

No pun intended - we have come a long way, but we also have a long way to go. Sometimes it does help going back and investigate what happened before - to try to avoid making the same mistakes again and again. Women do have it hard - and quite a few issues that are being pointed out here are very important ... but is it necessary for men in the now to teach our main character about this? Maybe yes, maybe no - let's not focus on that, because that is a how do you feel about it? Question .. what we can focus on: the movies handling of it all ... by making fun of it.

It is in the eye of the beholder - does it make sense for and to you? Is it funny enough while still being able to carry the very important message? Are the cliches handled ok? Is the main character way too annoying? It is a bit like Christmas Carol ... just a Feminist Carol - I reckon that is what some would call it. Again, I do not try to make this a good or bad thing - it is what it is. And as I said, there is a lot more work to do ... there is a lot more way we have to go, before there is equality ... hopefully we will get there ... not sure if I'll be alive to watch it happen.

The character is a pain in the ass and you wanna punch her constantly, but the idea is really good. Especially with current events in the US for example, more woman need to see this.

I watched this because it looked fun. However the humour masked issues, which are assumed to have been left in past - but still impact the lives of women. Although entertaining and a lot of fun, I ended up feeling (as a man) very much humbled by the experience - especially when faced with some very upsetting contextual historical information in the end credits.