Valley of Love

I love French films and have seen, perhaps, a couple thousand...which is definitely a lot for an American. So, I jumped at the chance to review "Valley of Love". After all, two actors who I have loved in many French movies star in this production, Isabelle Huppert and Gérard Depardieu and I was excited to see them again. Plus, sadly, too often actors in their golden years disappear from films...so it was wonderful to see folks in their 60s starring in a film. And, I must say, the film did not over-glamorize them...particularly Depardieu. He's definitely put on weight over the years and appears in boxer shorts during much of the film...a great way to say 'to hell with the world's obsession over weight, beauty and age'! Unfortunately, while I applaud the film for using these folks and de-glamorizing them, the script itself left me very, very cold.

The film is set in Death Valley, California in November. The folks continually complain how oppressively hot it is there, but this is only during the awful summer months when temperatures soar well over 49 Celsius (120 Fahrenheit). Despite what the film says, Novembers are lovely there with average temperatures 25C/77F...and very never a day approaching 38/120. So, ignore this mistake in the film...this huge national park is not all that inhospitable in the Fall.

Isabelle is staying at some resort...waiting. You aren't sure why but soon see that she'd joined by her -ex, Gérard. Slowly do you learn the very strange reason they are there. Apparently, six months earlier, their son killed himself...leaving a very strange letter for each of them. In the letter he promises that if they follow his itinerary exactly in November, he will briefly re-appear to them! This is very strange to say the least and it's pretty obvious that Gérard holds little stock in all this...though he did inexplicably agree to join Isabelle. Through much of their time together, the two are a miserable pair--rarely agreeing on anything and they are a rather crabby couple. It seems pretty obvious why they are no longer together and that they were lousy parents to their son.

What follows is an odd and somewhat surreal film...and one that leaves the viewer very confused as to what really has occurred. The ending is incredibly vague and the entire film left me dissatisfied. I didn't mind the vague ending as much as I just felt like the film wasted some terrific talent and could have done so much more with the characters. Not a terrible film...but one that I really wanted to love and recommend but simply can't.

"Valley of Death" (2015 release from France; 94 min.) brings the story of Isabelle and Gerard. As the movie opens, we see Isabelle walking through a resort, suitcase-on-wheels in tow, and checking in her room. The next day or so, Gerard also checks in, and soon we understand that they area a long-divorced couple who are mourning the suicide of their 31 yr. old son Michael. In his suicide note, Michael invites his parents to be in Death Valley on November 12, 2014, where he promises to see them again. At this point we are 15 min. into the movie but to tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: while Isabelle Huppert and Gerard Depardieu have been in movies together before, it's been decades since the last time. Here they play a fictional version of themselves (at one point, a guest in the resort tells Gerard, 'hey I recognize you, what movie were you in again? do you mind giving me an autograph?", which Gerard signs as "Robert de Niro", ha!). Isabelle and Gerard (the movie characters) have not seen each other in YEARS, and now struggle to understand their son's death, and why they are in Death Valley anyway. Will Michael appear, as he promised? (I won't spoil....) Meanwhile, Isabelle and Gerad talk, and talk some more, and then yet some more. At least the photography (filmed in Death Valley) is eye candy from start to finish. Which is more than we can say about Depardieu, grossly overweight (and has been for years), shown way too many times with far too little clothing. I had the good fortune of visiting Death Valley a few years back, and was surprised how beautiful it was, truly a memorable visit and I'd readily recommend you do it if you have the chance (I did it as a day-long trip from Vegas, which is 2 hours away).

"Valley Of Love" premiered at the 2015 Cannes film festival. I can't recall whether it ever received a release in US theaters (and if it did, it bypassed Cincinnati). But I saw it at my local library the other day and immediately picked it up. The movie was okay, not great, not bad. The movie's entire raison d'être is to watch these giants of French cinema act together. For that alone, I'd have to give 7 or 8 stars, but alas, I can't as the underlying story is paper-thin. Even "Huppert" and "Depardieu" (as they are billed in the credits) can only do so much with the little material they are given here.

Beautiful photography. Chilling soundtrack. Wonderful story. Excellent acting. A mesmirizing French forgotten gem! Only 11 reviews on Imdb, because it was only released on dvd in the US. And it's French. How many Americans watch French movies? This is quite an interesting and mesmirizing movie, although it is only suited for an arthouse audience.

Slowburning French lighthearted drama with a few chilling spiritual elements and some tongue in cheek jokes. Quite a serene and endearing story about loss. Probably only suited for an arthouse audience, yet highly recommended for all the fans of Gerard Depardieu and Isabelle Huppert, who both deliver excellent performances, as could be expected of such grandiose acting legends.

The story is about a suicide note in which the deceased son asks his 2 parents (Depardieu and Huppert) to visit a place in the American desert, where he will reappear again after his death. The story focusses on the grief of the 2 parents and how they each cope differently with having lost their one and only son.

However depressing this story may sound, this movie goes way beyond just another simple story about loss and grief, because of these excellent directing and tremendous acting talents. Please give it a chance if you are into the more subtle and delicate kind of arthouse movies. You wont regret it. Advised to be watched with subtitles.

Reviewing "Valley of Love" is a great way for me to celebrate my 300th review on Imdb . Thank you for reading !

At the close of this movie I half expected the name Roman Polanski might appear. Many of the under-explored themes and situations bring to mind vague occult aspects from several of his works. First and foremost is the promise of a ghostly re-appearance by the dead son of two French movie actors. They've received letters from their son following his suicide - instructing both to meet in Death Valley USA at specific times - where he will mysteriously reveal himself to them one last time (If not yet seen and you don't want to know anything about it there may be some minor spoilers following...)

On the way to this event there are some bizarre happenings. The disturbing vision of a deformed girl in the middle of the night talking about death. A Wolf's (or Dog's) mutilated head in a bag, left in a toilet block. None of these situations are further explored - they just seem to happen for the sake of it. Cultists and film study groups will have a field day 'making-up' theories on the hidden deep and 'meaningful' messages.

Gerard Depardieu and Isabelle Huppert give strong performances playing their own 'names sake's' and Cinematographer Christophe Offenstein bathes it in glossy images. The haunting minimalist music by Charles Avers is effective and it's disappointing to find the composer's name not included on this IMDb listing (trust this may be remedied). Director/Writer Guillaume Nicloux seems bent on being the replacement for Polanski and nearly bores the viewer to death with endlessly-long walking shots of his stars going somewhere or nowhere. Sometimes it's mildly compelling but ultimately empty.

If you're into talkie supernatural themes or questions without answers you may find comfort here, otherwise be warned...

'Valley of Love', the film written and made in 2015 by Guillaume Nicloux brings Gérard Depardieu and Isabelle Huppert together on screen. These two formidable French actors had never acted together for 35 years in a film. In the meantime they became what the French call 'sacred monsters' they are two actors who - as the joke goes - could read the White Pages (if there still was such a thing) and fill the screen with the magic of their presence. On top of that, the story in the film takes place in Nevada, in the very special place which is Death Valley, a place where spectacular scenery and unique natural and physical phenomena meet, a place that has already fascinated many filmmakers (as an example - do you remember Antonioni's 'Zabriskie Point'?). Nicloux takes the two French heroes of his film right here, this is where he stages his strange and melancholic story. The result of these fascinating premises is a little less than the sum of the promises, but I believe that I've already mentioned enough reasons why 'Valley of Love' is a film that should not be ignored.

Isabelle (Huppert and Gerard (Depardieu) are a couple of actors, once in love, once married, separated for a long time. They had time to rebuild their lives, to start other families, other children were born. Their son, Michael, committed suicide six months before, and left a letter to each of them, with precise directions for them to reunite, spend a week together in the Death Valley, Nevada, and be every day, at precise times, in one of the spectacular places accompanied by legends of the desert, with the promise of his reappearance in one of these places. The week spent together is an opportunity for the two ex-husbands and lovers to find each other and themselves, to face the passage of time, the feelings for each other that have not completely disappeared at the breakup, and especially with guilt of not having able to ensure the self-confidence and life fulfilment of the child conceived together. The two feel permanently alien to the places, not only because of the extreme climate, and not only because they are French dealing with the Americanisms around them (including the intrusion of more or less desired admirers) but also because they do not resonate with the magnetism of the places. When the fantastic appears, they are overwhelmed.

The two formidable actors combine elements of their own biographies, and the impression the film left on me is that Guillaume Nicloux left them a considerable margin of freedom, including adding from their own experiences. Definitely the plot is quite thin and what gives consistency and colour to the film is the way Isabelle and Gerard interact with each other and with those around them. The scenes that contain the small cultural conflicts are funny and provide a necessary comic counterpoint, without which the general atmosphere would have been, I think, too gloomy. The final part includes a surprise and an opening to fantastic, many will probably like it but certainly not all. 'Valley of Love' is a French film set in the American desert, but the location is not accidental and plays an important role in the dynamics of the film's narrative and aesthetics. Viewers with a preference for European films have a much better chance of liking this film.