jm10701 I rented this movie because I have loved every movie by André Téchiné I've ever seen, and I've seen most of them. After I had received the DVD in the mail but right before I watched it (Thank God!) I read several online reviews warning that it contains an appalling depiction of cruelty to an animal - a dog, evidently. I wish I had seen those reviews before I put this movie in my DVD queue; I'm just very grateful that I read them before watching it.ALL animal cruelty depicted in a movie is gratuitous and inexcusable, by the way, and it doesn't matter AT ALL whether the abuse is real or simulated. Whether the animal hurt was alive or a very well-crafted prop doesn't matter to me as a viewer, although those who do hurt real animals for entertainment - and movies are entertainment - deserve to have the same things done to them (and, thank God, again, that's exactly what will happen eventually).Shame on André Téchiné! What he did here is what's Unforgivable. He is one of the greatest modern movie directors, but after this he's off my list forever. Although I just got the DVD, and it's sitting in the player right now, I'll send it back to the rental company unwatched. By an act of superhuman will I am not going to crack the DVD first, but I sure would like to.I have never before written a review of a movie I didn't see or a product I didn't use. I ordinarily disapprove strongly of reviewers who do such things, but this is not an ordinary situation. My personal experience with the movie is less important than spreading the word of the abuse it contains in any way I can.I sincerely thank those earlier reviewers who published the warning, and I now pass it on to the next generation of movie-lovers who are considering this movie and care about animals. If those earlier reviewers were lying, if they have induced me to disparage this movie unfairly, I regret that, but it's a risk I'm willing to take for the sake of the animals and others who genuinely (and not just glibly to make themselves sound good) love animals.To those of you who despise people like me, I say: I couldn't care less what you think. I didn't write this review for you.

Larry Silverstein This French drama was directed and co-written by one of the stalwarts of the French film industry Andre Techine. It has an all-star cast which includes the veteran award winning actor Andre Dussollier and the very talented Carole Bouquet.At the outset, Dussollier portraying Francis a famous crime novelist, has come to Venice to rest and hopefully write his next book. He meets Bouquet, the real estate agent showing him possible living accommodations, and they seem to hit it off. This takes place amidst the spectacular cinematography of the outlying waterways of Venice, where both ocean liners and small boats co-exist.He says he will rent the very expensive home she's showing him if she will move in with him. After thinking about it and consulting with a friend, and former lover of hers (portrayed by Adriana Asti), she accepts.However, we quickly learn this idyllic setting in the early parts of the film will not last long. As various characters come in and out of the movie, I found almost all of them to be very unlikeable and some of their actions to be actually despicable.For example, when Dussollier's daughter (portrayed by Melanie Thierry) comes to visit him and Bouquet, who are now married, she ends up completely disappearing and abandoning her young daughter and husband. When Dussollier hires Asti, a former Private Investigator, to find her Asti discovers she has run off with a drug dealer. Later, Thierry ends up sending her father a porno tape of her and the drug dealer just to infuriate him, as apparently they've had a long history of conflicts.This is just one example of many. The acting and the dialogue are strong and as mentioned the cinematography is wonderful, but I found by the end of the movie I really didn't care what happened to any of these people.Also, a note of caution: There is a scene in the film where a dog is suddenly murdered and I found this to be brutal to have witnessed.In summary, this French drama left me as cold and unfeeling as the people in it.

Seemp deHond Nothing new at the French Horizon. Former player/writer with a writers block passes his time spying on his wife, his ex wife and his daughter. Meanwhile 'shocking' scenes are intended with a little bit of homosexuality for every character, un peu de violence of course, and let's not forget unsettling parent/child dialogues you can always count on. Maybe this is all needed to fill up the rather lengthy runtime.I seriously can not stand another French dragon like this. What is their obsession with homosexuality, sex and sour relationships in their cinema. For me this is the last one. It probably is a hit at the festivals but I can do without it.

writers_reign Andre Techine is something of a poster boy on the Academic-Pseud circuit and clearly they're going to love this in the Senior Common Room and the BFI Boardroom - expect an article in Sight and Sound any time soon. Clearly it has something very profound to say about something. What exactly? You tell me, naval lint. Very possibly. A middle-aged writer is looking for a quiet retreat; a female estate agent slightly younger (in real life Carole Bouquet is eleven years younger than Andre Dussollier) gives him details of a house a short distance from Venice. He says he'll take it providing she will go and live there with him. She agrees. I know but this is Techine, the darling of the pseuds. His married daughter, who has left her husband to take up with a deadbeat, violent druggie, leaving her own daughter with grandfather, subsequently drops out of sight. The estate agent, who swings both ways, recommends a former lover, ex-private detective, to search for the daughter. The tec is reluctant because she is worried about her low-life son, due out of prison imminently. There's more but do you honestly CARE. Naturally, being Techine he shoots the film on location around Venice but does nothing so crass as offer any 'touristy' scenes of Venice, best leave that to the real filmmakers like David Lean and Visconti, pseuds are above pandering to entertainment. I've given it five out of ten for Dussollier and Bouquet, who deserve something for enduring this drek. Luckily Dussollier went straight from this to work with a real artiste, Ann Fontaine and significantly the film they made together is called My Worst Nightmare.