The Big Picture

Really impressive film that was gripping and well acted. It did drift a little and had slight pacing issues but did not detract from a compelling piece with excellent lead performances. Duris has impressed me an awful lot in his previous performances and commands the screen really well becoming one of the best leading men around. I also found the locations in Montenegro absolutely stunning and filmed in a way that really added to the feel and mood of the film. I was particularly impressed with the way it ended refusing to indulge and become predictable. This is such a rare thing these days and deserves much credit and shows bravery in both the direction and concept that was clearly well thought out. Bravo!

Poor guy !

Things happen sometimes spiralling, upending your life!

What to do to fix it?

Good casting !

Well to be honest i wasn't expecting much from this French thriller but i was convinced enough by the trailer that i should give it a try. When i started watching i realized how right i was about the film and how correctly i wasn't expecting much from the film. For about 50 minutes of the film i started counting the films i had seen based on wife cheating her husband, getting charged with infidelity and then good husband getting upset and finally taking care of the problem.

I shouldn't have watched this film i thought...

It was after the first 50 minutes of the film when i was taken aback by the jolting surprise and a bizarre movie experience which remained with me after few days even. THIS FILM MUST BE SEEN.

It explores that side of a character that is commonly not paid attention by the filmmakers. The movie takes a sharp turn and gets lost into infinity, where everything gets stagnant, slow and becomes endless. It can go on and on like this for hours. To me it felt very unusual experience, something both poetic and strange, beautiful and scary at the same time.

Eric Lartigau, the writer and the director did a fabulous job in both of his departments. Although a little more character development of the supporting roles in the second half would have been beneficial making the narrative more deep.

Romain Duris comes up with a startling performance, his character transitions from one mode to another and the actor just goes freely along with it. His deep influential performance is another fact why the movie haunts you after it ends. I was moved to tears by the intensity of his approach towards the character. This one role should transcend his career as an actor to higher level.

The movie was adorned with lilting musical score and gorgeous cinematography enhancing the impact of the film on the viewer. By the end i was thankful to myself that i saw the movie truly relying on my instincts, i was so glad i came across such a warm movie and I'm sure others who watch will feel the same.

Eric Lartigau's film, 'The Big Picture', begins as a thriller, but ends more as an existential meditation on life (the literal translation of its French title, 'The Man Who Wanted to Live his Life', is much more apt than its dull replacement). A man ends up living, first in the shoes of another man, and ultimately as an anonymous nobody: he initial decision to give up his identity is a choice, albeit in straightened circumstances, but its consequences have to be experienced to be understood. The initial portion of the film has the feel of a thriller and does not seem especially well-acted; the latter half is more interesting, but overall, an abbreviated feel permeates the movie. Whereas Antonioni's 'The Passenger', which I also saw recently and which follows a similar course, is all about mood (only hinting at plot), here the balance is different, and the more interesting, introspective aspects are occasionally rushed. There's a lot of interest here, and some ambition on the part of the director; but some of its ideas could, I think, have been allowed a bit more space to breathe.

I found the film a bit illogical and ridiculous as the main character's paranoia have not been depicted realistically...well I have seen the film in the french films club lair with my vision distorted by 2 rows of other people. Anyhow the film might have been a great one had it been cut better. Had it say started at the sea and then retrospectively (getting there backwards) let the viewer to discover the whole, a viewer would personalize the idea and intentions better. In the movie on the other hand, one gets to be introduced to the 'normal' person who gets clearly mad, arranging his life as a paranoic schizophrenic yet acting sanely as before so he even manages to lead a life of a star artist with ease. There are some great plot points like leaving of the loved, stealing of the identity, accidental death, unwanted? artistic praise, sea survival friendship. Unfortunately they are loosely connected with the hero's intentions that are depicted not deeply enough to make a good sense... hence a schizophrenic.