Reviews by johanlefourbe

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.

I already saw this movie but since it was ages ago and since it was available on Netflix, I was quite eager to check it out again. Well, after all these years, I thought I did forget most about it but, after a few mins, I remembered right away why I loved this movie so much at the time and actually still do. Indeed, ever since I discovered his work in the 90's, I became a big fan of Ken Loach and, in my opinion, even though it seems to be rather forgotten, it is in fact easily one of his best movies. The most intriguing thing that I didn't notice the first time around was that they keep mentioning an abortion which might have been forced on this young woman but, eventually, you're never quite sure if it actually really took place after all. In fact, it seems that she was already struggling even before that. I also believe that the way the parents were portrayed was actually so well done and very well nuanced. Indeed, sure, this environment was really toxic for her but I don't think it was necessarily the parents's fault. Anyway, the whole thing was terribly bleak and really heartbreaking and I thought it was very disturbing but still really impressive. I mean, if you think that 'Girl, interrupted' gives a realistic view of a psychiatric institution, you'd better watch this flick. I have to admit that it was all rather depressing to behold and you'd probably feel like sh*t after watching this but it is always better than the sugarcoated garbage coming from Hollywood. To conclude, even though it is pretty much forgotten and probably one of the most obscure movies directed by Ken Loach, it is actually really good and it is definitely worth a look.

Back then, I had the opportunity to watch ‘Butterfly Kiss’ in the movie theater when it was released and I was really blown away by the whole thing. With this in mind, I was really eager to watch this 2nd movie directed by Michael Winterbottom so I saw this one also in the movie theater when it was out and, once again, Winterbottom really impressed me. Basically, it is the only film I have ever seen which deals with multiple sclerosis which happens to be a terrible disease. Anyway, the story was quite simple. Robert Carlyle meets a girl and they fall in the love right away. But after a couple of months, he starts to get multiple sclerosis and it gets worse and worse. The point is what should she do : dump him and leave him alone with this terrible disease or stay with him and spend her life with a cripple ? On one hand, they are so in love with each other but, on the other hand, they just met each other a couple weeks ago ! How do you take such a decision ? Anyway, it was some terrific stuff and the directing and acting was pretty amazing. To conclude, I thought it was a really strong drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Michael Winterbottom.