zetes
I think Michel Gondry meant for this to be his masterpiece, but, man, is it ever a mess. There's so much imagination, so many wonderful images, and everything's in service to such a nothing plot with paper-thin characters. The story is your basic "boy meets girl, girl inhales snowflake on wedding night, develops water lily in lung, becomes deathly ill" kind of thing. Romain Duris and Audrey Tautou are the boy and girl. They have various friends, but they don't have much character and don't do anything. This could probably be included among the worst movies of the past year, but, as I said, it has some marvelous images and hand-made special effects. I still feel like Gondry could find his way and make a good movie, but he really needs to focus and not just let his imagination run wild. For the record, I did watch the 130 minute French version, not the 94 minute American release. Even at 130 minutes it still feels like half the script was edited out!
July_Faraday
I really liked this movie, despite the weird visuals. The movie represents life itself, and its truth is universal, it reflects today's society as well the one in the beginning of the last century when the book was written. The love story is heartbreaking, and you root for the characters until the end and try not to lose hope. Somehow you find yourself along the story. The obsession of Chick about an author/philosopher strongly symbolizes today's society, where we idolize things, we are obsessed with material possessions. Audrey Tatou is great in the movie, as well as Romain Duris, they make a perfect screen couple and deliver the essence of it. I really recommend this to everyone who wants a movie that will linger for a long time and will make you think deep about it.
3xHCCH
The basic story seems simple enough. Boy lives a charmed magical life with his outlandish inventions. Boy meets the girl of his dreams and marries her right away. Girl falls ill with a mysterious ailment, and boy does everything in order to save her.In the hands of noted French director Michel Gondry however, this tale is taken to surreal directions, fantastic and absurd. It was obviously going to be an art film from the get-go with the out-of-this-world imagery that gets weirder and weirder as the mood of the film turns from happy to somber. There were disturbing images of blood and gore, which felt misplaced in this film whose general mood was romance.Audrey Tautou is of course a familiar name, playing the ill-fated Chloe. This role is somewhat reminiscent of her past roles. Romain Duris plays Colin rather unevenly, as you cannot really read his true personality of his character. Omar Sy, who was recently seen in "X-Men: Days of Future Past" plays Colin's faithful friend with the flair for preparing fancy food, and dancing with his rubbery legs to jazz music.This will not be an easy watch for mainstream movie audiences. This is strictly for the art-house crowd. I read that this was based on a beloved French book and fans of the book liked how this film brought their favorite story to life. However, for those unfamiliar with the book, the two hours plus running time will be unbearably slow.
Ellie_k
This film is so captivating by its surrealistic beauty. There were quite a few moments in which I felt completely immersed into the world which unfolded before my eyes. Regardless of the surrealistic interpretation of everyday life, all emotions and the essence of everything that happens to the main characters is so realistic - all the joy, the moments of shyness, the starving for affection, the soreness of despair, the unfaithfulness - all of those are pretty real and everyone can recall having felt some of those ways in certain times of their lives.Moreover this film takes the audience through a blend of emotions going from one extreme to another and revealing both the beauty of true happiness and the bitterness of absolute sorrow.I highly recommend this film to everyone who is looking for a worthwhile experience.
AD
