pheisbourg

WWI movies are not so frequent, but when they are good, they convey the view most effectively that wars are to be avoided. One aspect was absent: that the action takes place in France. It looks terribly like where the movie is shot, England and Scotland, weather, landscape and all.

This is an attempt to show that Israelis, especially in the armed forces, have their faults, and their dose of stupidity and vanity. In contrast, the cool-headed Palestinian is sooooo cool. The humor here is lost on me and I slept through much of the debilitating dialogue.

Euro intellectual recession-time story? I recommend Copie Conforme because of and in spite of the difficulty in watching it. The difficulty resides in the multiple layers involved in the relationship of the two protagonists, not to speak of the three languages that they both speak in various circumstances. The more the the action evolves, the less we seem to understand the real nature of their relationship. What we do know is that those two have a problem of communication. It is this struggle of seduction/rejection, with setbacks and all that make it worth watching. Atmosphere and the man-woman tension is what keeps it going. The filming is impeccable, with lovely scenes of Tuscany, excellent camera, and the great work on surrounding noises, which I believe replaces any music at all. The acting is also very fine, with Binoche deservedly getting a major Cannes Film Festival award.