MartinHafer
If this movie had been better paced and had more likable and 3-dimensional characters I would have liked it a lot. As it is, it's at best an average movie. But, the movie is slow as molasses and the pacing crawls like a snail. But, given that Catherine Deneuve's character seems underdeveloped and unlikable, the movie SEEMS even longer and slower than it is. It's really a shame, as there were elements of a good story but it just looks like the film was rushed into production before the complex plot was worked out--sort of looking like it was improvised. And, because of that, it's difficult to know WHO Deneuve is--a drunk, an idiot or a person who LOOKS like a drunk idiot but isn't. Regardless, the film just seemed unreal and pointless. In addition, it abounds with shaky camera work--obviously it was shot with cheap equipment. I'm sorry to sound so negative, but the French are capable of much better stories than this.
George Parker
"Place Vendome" tells of the rise of a widow from an abyss of alcoholism to rescue her late husband's prestigious and bankrupt jewelry store on the renown Parisian mall Place Vendome. Her daunting task is to make her way though the shadowy word of diamond trade from whence she came some 18 years before while hawking several rare cut diamonds. With sinister undercurrents and a polished veneer, the film swirls around an emotionally void Deneuve, her encounters and long over due reconciliations. Those used to Hollywoodish hardball drama with exaggerated characters will likely find "Place Vendome" refreshing or underdone or both. Good stuff for Europic buffs in which Deneuve proves again she's more than just another pretty face.
masked film critic
"Place Vendome" makes a few strange decisions early on. You would expect a thriller set in the Paris jewel industry to be glamorous and sexy, but Nicole Garcia has other ideas. Instead, she presents the industry as corrupt, jaded and full of downbeat, sleazy people. Deals take place behind closed doors, in cheap hotel rooms, and dimly-lit office suites. Garcia does everything to make this atmosphere suffocating - there are few outdoors scenes initially. When the action shifts briefly to London, there are no establishing shots. The only clue that we're no longer in Paris is that the dialogue switches to English.This, no doubt, is an attempt to add realism to the milieu. It succeeds, but at the cost of draining the film of interest. Little narrative momentum is created, and the low-key lighting, presumably aimed at creating a noir atmosphere, ends up murky instead.The main interest lies, predictably enough, with Catherine Deneuve, in yet another mid-life crisis role. Of course, she holds the attention like the old pro she is, but this is itself a problem. We're introduced to various mysterious characters when Deneuve is off-screen, but they seem lifeless and uninteresting by comparison.And yet, the final half-hour actually works. Much is explained about the characters' motivations in a haunting flashback scene, set in an unforgiving wintry landscape. Following on from that the film finally develops some tension. However, this seems to be too little, too late. This is a wasted opportunity.
Teodore
The story of a woman that for meny years remained distracted from her own life, from the passions that made her feel alive. The importance of true love is compared with the material value of diamonds. Only one of these two truly lasts in time. She's got to choose witch one values most for her, the thing that will make her find happiness and psychical steadiness again. Award for Deneuve in Biennale di Venezia 1998 (55 festival d'arte cinematografica di Venezia)
AD
