I wasn't ready to post a review but when I realized that the film is only rated with 5.8 I felt like I had to. This film is not another masterpiece-as I hoped when I saw that both Binoche and Kassovitz are in the cast. However, its simplicity is what manages to raise it on a different level. The plot is fairly simple allowing the characters to effortlessly unfold, especially Binoche manages to convey the conflicted emotions of a woman lost between her past aspirations and the way that her life has evolved, confusing and failing her. Most of all the film is another story about ambition and routine taking us away from all that's meaningful in life, from all the little things that matter. No one has the opportunity to retrospect his/her life while living it. This is what this film is all about, and it is nicely done.
3 Reviews
A great movie about life not turning out the way you expected.
islandgirl19689 March 2013
Warning: Spoilers
This movie does require some suspension of disbelief. A woman falls asleep after a night of passion with a new man, and wakes up 15 years later, having forgotten her life in between. Juliette Binoche is excellent as the confused Marie, who is trying to both work out what happened and how her life ended up in this way. As she struggles to deal with it all, she realises she has one chance to try to turn it around.
If you can just flow with the story, imagining that such a thing as retrograde amnesia( suggested as a possible answer to what's happened) could happen for no apparent reason, and just enjoy Binoche's acting, you will love this movie. I don't normally cry in movies ( too obvious emotional manipulation), but one scene towards the end is raw and heart rending which shows the extent I got lost in the story.
Walked out wondering how I would react if one day I woke up and forgot 15 years of my life - would the 28 year old me be surprised/dismayed/shocked about who I have become? I think that is the beauty of this story for me - the 'what if' that we all wonder about and whether we end up realising our dreams in the way we expected or end up on quite a different path. Perhaps as a woman off 44, it's far easier for me to identify with the character than a 20- or even a 30-something.
Definitely worth watching.
If you can just flow with the story, imagining that such a thing as retrograde amnesia( suggested as a possible answer to what's happened) could happen for no apparent reason, and just enjoy Binoche's acting, you will love this movie. I don't normally cry in movies ( too obvious emotional manipulation), but one scene towards the end is raw and heart rending which shows the extent I got lost in the story.
Walked out wondering how I would react if one day I woke up and forgot 15 years of my life - would the 28 year old me be surprised/dismayed/shocked about who I have become? I think that is the beauty of this story for me - the 'what if' that we all wonder about and whether we end up realising our dreams in the way we expected or end up on quite a different path. Perhaps as a woman off 44, it's far easier for me to identify with the character than a 20- or even a 30-something.
Definitely worth watching.
Well balanced between drama and comedy
akos-0298914 February 2020
A story lifted away from reality just a little, so the focus on simple and important bits of life and love get a context. You could tell the story shortly and bluntly, but the film turns this to an advantage. The actors don't need to rush behind the plot but have the opportunity to explore the humour, the oddity and the sorrow of not knowing what you did in your last fifteen years, and of recognizing whatever it was made you different from what you wanted to be. Binoche and Kassowitz make Marie's and Paul's emotions, confusions and efforts vivid and real. Add nice photography, decent play in the minor roles, avoid trivial pretentions of solutions - you get a film that's fun, interesting and has depth that you can opt for but are not forced into. 97 minutes well spent.
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