fw-1

I saw Alain Resnais' last movie this afternoon, and i was a bit disappointed. All the critics said how marvelous this was, and i tend to think that this opinion was influenced by their respect for a very old and famous director. Personally, I could sum it up like this : the work of an old director, filming his old actor-friends, for an old audience (the average age in my theater was about 60...) ! I found the pessimistic and bitter-sweet tone interesting, but the whole movie was kind of dull, and I never could get involved in any of the stories. The acting is globally good, with a special distinction to Sabine Azéma, who plays a very unlikely character (would such a person exist ?). The visual effect of the snow is really beautiful. What else, as they say in a certain commercial before the movie ? Nothing else really.

This movie is certainly not a comedy as some reviews claimed. This is a documentary-like shot movie about being old, lonely and dying. Dehumanization and absence of compassion are also two of the themes treated here. The story is focused on the context of Romanian hospitals, but this could be generalized to most social systems globally, i think. And my own experience of old people dying in hospitals here in Belgium is of course not so awful, but somehow related to Mr. Lazarescu's experience. And even the nice characters, who really try to help, don't really change anything to the poor guy's fate. So this movie is really deeply pessimistic. In my opinion, it was also a bit too long (about 150 min.) and definitely not easy-watching. But interesting and thought-provoking (and a bit depressing too...)

Definitely overrated by the critics. This movie may be a masterpiece in comparison with most gore movies with liters on blood shed on every plan, but apart from that, it is quite dull and finally not so thrilling. Remove the "sudden noise" effects that make us jump a little, and you'll discover that there is nothing left to scare us. In what the plot itself is concerned, it has a taste of "déjà vu" (the sixth sense, abre los ojos - from the same director -, el arte de morir - another spanish movie -....). So, how long will this kind of plots surprise us, really ?. If you really want to be stuck to your chair with thrill and atmosphere, watch "Gaslight", a movie which is considered as a reference for this one. It was shot by George Cukor in 1944 and this is a masterpiece ! And you'll find by watching this old stuff that Ingrid Bergmann is far better than the "continually half-opened mouth" Nicole Kidman.