Après Mai - Assayas
From excellent to cheesy… The whole thing is very unequal. I like the epoch, I like the tension people have to combine political and artistic activities. And I like the tragic end for all those stupids marxists of the 70' : sick, poor, abandoned, left alone with their ridiculous ideals etc.
Actrices - Bruno-Tedeschi
Quite a good one. Amalric and Louis Garrel play in it. Bruno-Tedeschi is splendid in this cliche of the tragic heroine. Some very intense and powerful scenes (when she tries to kill her mother, when they talk in the bus with Louis Garrel, the character of Noémie Lovsky who falls in love with a 'gay' Amalric etc.). Very good surprise.
Un Homme, un vrai - Larieu
Just awesome. Magnificient, and long as it need to be. The end, at the airport, when they talk about themselves and how they found each other from the other part of the world : the private detective, the children, the 'voyage linguistique'… And the first part is really extreme, as usual in a realistic french movie : we've got a party, then they sing, then they clean with a background music etc. The second part is a pure drama : the writer in front of his very own incapacity because of his choice five years ago. I enjoyed so much so scene of 'escape by swimming' and then the 'waiting' on the beach, when Amalric tries to decide what could be the most sensible decision…. and when he thinks his mind is 'made', everything has to change because his wife has been faster. That's a legendary moment.
A Dangerous Method - Cronenberg
Not as bad as people said. I really liked the character of Jung and him being influenced by Otto Gross. The feminine character has a very difficult role through the movie, first absolutely neurotic and little by little she becomes normal - and finally reach the autonomy and the success when Jung is deadly affected by his incapability to work without Freud support etc. The time is very well given on the screen, and Freud is exemplary played by Mortensen. I really enjoyed the entire movie, which isn't slow nor cheesy, nor 'talkative'.
The Breakfast Club -
You take the five cliche of american's youth : the brain, the sporty, the rich girl, the desperate girl, and the violent anarchist boy. You put them in a room for a day, and at the end, they all have evolved thank to the mutual-learning they will share. That is the purpose of the movie. It's very pleasant to watch… even if there are some expected scenes, and some cliche. But the whole has a serious impact on me. I can understand it's a 'classic'. One could put a lot of classical sociology behind that movie: the roles people have are more complex that the simple appearance, even if the appearance as such is already quite an hint about his social condition. And, finally, (the rich girl says it) we all are totally 'locked' in our roles by the relations and acquaintances we have - and our social-network will not accept any change, any importation of a stranger to the community etc. Everybody shouts at her when she acknowledge that she won't say good-morning to them the next monday even if she does consider them as 'good friends' at the end of the day. It could also be interesting to analyze how different social background influence the way to speak: here it's the young criminal that starts socializing with the others, and they slowly start to talk, to share some of their experiences etc.
The Impossible -
Concerning the huge tsunami in south-east Asia. Absolutely violent.
Un Héros Très Discret - Audiard
Awesome. Especially the second part with Dupontel as a weird gay resistant, with a charisma that's gonna help the young hero to fool around.
Tiny Furniture - Lena Dunham
From the young director and actress who's directed the tv show 'Girls' in 2012. This movie uses already the actors and actresses will find in 'Girls'. But the movie, which can be seen as a prequel to 'Girls' isn't as funny and profound as that. It's more an addition of sequences without any strong logical links. And some really boring materials that are mixed with some really good insightful and originals characters (the sister, the old-friend Charlotte, the dude squatting her flat etc). Good cinematography though.