Reviews by johanlefourbe

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To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this movie but I still remember it so well. Indeed, somehow, I saw the damned thing in the movie theater when it came out and I was just seriously blown away. Basically, I had absolutely never seen something similar before. It was the 1st movie directed by Michael Winterbottom that I saw and I have been following his career ever since. As a matter of fact, he has became one of the most prolific directors making at least one movie every year. Anyway, it is one of my favorite movies and it is definitely one of the most disturbing I have ever seen (and I have seen some weird sh*t...). I have to admit it, it is actually really difficult to describe the plot but the main character played by Amanda Plummer, in her best performance ever, was just electrifying to watch. So, the plot was not really important as the main focus was on those women who wandered through life like two lost souls. Even though it is an acquired taste as it is a very dark and grim picture, I thought the whole thing was just fascinating to behold and it is definitely worth a look.

It has been a while since I have seen this movie and I would really like to watch it again at some point. In fact, I do have a DVD of this movie but it’s only dubbed in Dutch and I would rather re-watch it in the original French language. Anyway, it’s a movie I watched so many times as a kid and, back then, I thought it was just spellbinding to behold but it’s a movie that I can be appreciated by children and grown-ups alike. It was made when there was still no computer animation and I do believe it’s a shame that the hand-drawn animation has been dropped by most studios because such movies were also quite gorgeous to look at. On top of that, in this case, there was also some humour and adventure and it was probably the most poetic animated feature I have seen so far. It’s such a pity that Paul Grimault  never managed to release another full length feature afterwards because I do believe that the guy was probably one of the best animation directors that ever lived. Anyway, I really loved the damned thing, it is one of my childhood favourites and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in animated features.

I already saw this movie, in fact, I even saw it when it was released in the movie theaters, but since it was ages ago, I was quite eager to check it out again. It is basically an obscure French movie but I thought the whole thing was just spellbinding to behold. The main character was played by Daniel Auteuil, one of the most famous French actors (at least, in France...) and the movie was based on some rather amazing true story and, apparently, except for changing the names, Nicole Garcia mostly followed the actual facts of this case (especially how it ended). The first time around, I mostly focused on the story itself (which also inspired 'L'emploi du temps', another strong French movie) but, with this rewatch, I paid more attention to the rest of the movie. Indeed, it is such a dark and oppressive movie, I was actually surprised by how tough it was to (re)watch the damned thing. Still, the main character was so fascinating. Basically, it was about a guy who wanted to play the 'game' of life but didn't want to follow the rules and it is staggering that he managed to keep this up for almost 20 years. I have to admit that I have always been fascinated by con artists but this movie (and 'Kajillionaire' as well by the way) displayed how incredibly depressing this kind of lifestyle could be. In this case, the guy was so lonely, it seemed to be unbearable, even to me who is not actually really fond of people in general. Anyway, the whole thing was just so intense and I thought it was just fascinating to behold. To conclude, I thought it was one of the best French thrillers I have seen and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.

To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this flick and I should definitely re-watch it at some point. Even so, I remember the damned thing very well, back then it really blew my mind and, in my opinion, it is easily one the best police movies I have ever seen. In fact, I would go even further, it is probably even the very best one. Basically, it was directed by Bertrand Tavernier (I have noticed that his movies are barely seen by listal users which is a real a shame. Indeed, he is in fact one of the best French director ever). Anyway, I love this flick a lot and the main reason was because it is actually so raw and realistic. Indeed, in this movie, there is no big action star like Mel Gibson or Bruce Willis or Wil Smith, some hero shooting bad guys and saving the day at the end of the movie. Indeed, instead, you just have some unknown actors who really looked like some actual cops and the whole thing felt almost like a documentary. Anyway, To conclude, I think it is a great movie and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.

I already saw this flick but since it was ages ago, I was really eager to check it out again. This movie was the 3rd one directed by Mathieu Kassovitz and I think it is actually his best one. 2 years before, Mathieu Kassovitz made ‘La Haine’, arguably the most influential French movie made in the 90’s and, back in those days, it was a huge cultural phenomenon. Personally, I always had some mixed feelings about this classic and I thought that his follow-up was actually much more interesting (apparently, I was one of the very few who thought so since this movie didn’t make many waves and quickly disappeared). To be honest, I have to admit that, after rewatching the damned thing, it wasn't as flawless as I thought it was. Indeed, as usual with Kassovitz, the whole thing was just too pretentious. Furthermore, even though I understand that Max was supposed to be an average aimless young man but the guy was just so clueless and, as a result, it was rather difficult to care for this loser. On the other hand, Michel Serrault was just terrific and, in my opinion, he did deliver the best performance of his impressive career. Anyway, to conclude, even though it is a really obscure flick, I think it is a great picture and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.