bmarchal
Joined Dec 2021
Welcome to the new profile
Our updates are still in development. While the previous version of the profile is no longer accessible, we're actively working on improvements, and some of the missing features will be returning soon! Stay tuned for their return. In the meantime, the Ratings Analysis is still available on our iOS and Android apps, found on the profile page. To view your Rating Distribution(s) by Year and Genre, please refer to our new Help guide.
Badges2
To learn how to earn badges, go to the badges help page.
Reviews12
bmarchal's rating
I like this kind of cryptic little film that bets on the open-mindedness of the viewer, his intelligence and his ability to grasp the meaning of the story that is told to him, or even, when the story resists, to make up meanings out of the folds of its opaque shadows.
Enemy left me disconcerted. And then my subconscious worked on it overnight, and the film allowed itself to be distilled. What emerges is now clear to me: it speaks of guilty conscience and sexual desire.
The film is built like a loop: its beginning announces its end and vise versa. The guilty-conscience-spider lurks over all the men in this story, who desperately try to stifle it, as the opening sequence makes it obvious; the women, they are saved by the screenwriter, as terribly attractive, but fundamentally innocent creatures. Men are guilty of their fantasies and imaginations. The film also speaks of the appetite for mystery, of desire for better things, of the fabrication of reality, of infidelity, and therefore of cinema.
The cinema, Villeneuve seems to tell us, would be a virtuous and fruitful way of releasing one's guilty conscience. A clever film in its message and the sobriety that is used to convey it.
Enemy left me disconcerted. And then my subconscious worked on it overnight, and the film allowed itself to be distilled. What emerges is now clear to me: it speaks of guilty conscience and sexual desire.
The film is built like a loop: its beginning announces its end and vise versa. The guilty-conscience-spider lurks over all the men in this story, who desperately try to stifle it, as the opening sequence makes it obvious; the women, they are saved by the screenwriter, as terribly attractive, but fundamentally innocent creatures. Men are guilty of their fantasies and imaginations. The film also speaks of the appetite for mystery, of desire for better things, of the fabrication of reality, of infidelity, and therefore of cinema.
The cinema, Villeneuve seems to tell us, would be a virtuous and fruitful way of releasing one's guilty conscience. A clever film in its message and the sobriety that is used to convey it.
I tried and watched Ju-on/The Grudge, the original Japanese film; what a turkey! Absolute rubbish, no tension, an irredeemable incapacity at structuring the story, no good actors, no substance. Laughable. I can't understand this film is seen as cult.
To complete the circle (pun intended), I watched also The Grudge, the American version.
Although directed by the same guy who wrote and directed the original, this one has been produced by Sam Raimi. Given the much clearer, smoother narration, I'm tempted to think his contribution has been important. The film gains more impact, the storytelling is sharper and more natural and the actors are really convincing. In the end, it makes for a good watch. Not really spectacular or memorable, but still, it's worth a try.
To complete the circle (pun intended), I watched also The Grudge, the American version.
Although directed by the same guy who wrote and directed the original, this one has been produced by Sam Raimi. Given the much clearer, smoother narration, I'm tempted to think his contribution has been important. The film gains more impact, the storytelling is sharper and more natural and the actors are really convincing. In the end, it makes for a good watch. Not really spectacular or memorable, but still, it's worth a try.
