A French classic, huh?
This is a movie about an awkward creepy stalker man who blatantly stalks women. And what happens as a result of his actions? The women he stalks have passionate sex with him and fall in love with him. It requires serious suspension of disbelief, but it is quite entertaining if you give into its fully unbelievable, bizarre little world.
When you get to the second half, the plot "unfolds" and the film becomes a lot more complex. Now, it's not often that I am bothered by "plot holes", especially as a fan of surrealist and abstract films over all else, but this movie just hits you with consistent nonsense that otherwise sits in a world of realism. It's really over-the-top, and it does keep you guessing, but I could never see this film as any sort of "masterpiece" as so many people claim it to be, due to that. Again, it does remain entirely entertaining all the way through, though. It never really stops for a moment and it keeps finding ways to make its own seemingly simple plot more and more complex.
There are obviously a lot of Monica Bellucci movies I've yet to see but I have a pretty strong feeling that this may be the most iconic Monica Bellucci role there ever was. Clearly she is a fitting and believable choice for a character's obsession as she is universally perceived as one of the most beautiful women in the world. She does bring a walloping allure to her scenes and the majority of those scenes are dreamlike and iconic, but in the long run she actually has far less screen time than I imagined she would have.
This was my first impression of actress Romane Bohringer and she definitely left quite a mark with me - her character and performance actually bringing the most to the table out of anyone, more complex and unpredictable than anyone else in the film by far. Vincent Cassell's character isn't very intricate but he brings enough depth to the character to carry the film.
This is one of those rare cases where I was very on board with the whole outlandish ride this movie takes you on until the ending. I cannot comprehend why the filmmaker would choose to end the movie the way they did. I've heard that this movie takes some people on an emotional rollercoaster but I never felt even a dash of empathy or sadness for any of these people, simply intrigue by their insane and fully nonsensical decisions. I will say that I did not feel satisfied for what happened to ANY of these characters - the film has one of the most unsatisfying endings I have seen in quite a while.
In the end, I watched this film because I'm a fan of Bellucci and Cassell, and when I heard that this was the film they met on, then went on to be together for around a decade and have multiple children together, I had to see for myself where this ultimate celebrity love blossomed, and I'm glad I did! Though this is FAR from a perfect movie, it is a very memorable, dreamlike, relatively sexy thriller that feels like a highest-caliber Lifetime movie. But, to call it a classic or a masterpiece...? Yet again, the French are weird, man.
This is a movie about an awkward creepy stalker man who blatantly stalks women. And what happens as a result of his actions? The women he stalks have passionate sex with him and fall in love with him. It requires serious suspension of disbelief, but it is quite entertaining if you give into its fully unbelievable, bizarre little world.
When you get to the second half, the plot "unfolds" and the film becomes a lot more complex. Now, it's not often that I am bothered by "plot holes", especially as a fan of surrealist and abstract films over all else, but this movie just hits you with consistent nonsense that otherwise sits in a world of realism. It's really over-the-top, and it does keep you guessing, but I could never see this film as any sort of "masterpiece" as so many people claim it to be, due to that. Again, it does remain entirely entertaining all the way through, though. It never really stops for a moment and it keeps finding ways to make its own seemingly simple plot more and more complex.
There are obviously a lot of Monica Bellucci movies I've yet to see but I have a pretty strong feeling that this may be the most iconic Monica Bellucci role there ever was. Clearly she is a fitting and believable choice for a character's obsession as she is universally perceived as one of the most beautiful women in the world. She does bring a walloping allure to her scenes and the majority of those scenes are dreamlike and iconic, but in the long run she actually has far less screen time than I imagined she would have.
This was my first impression of actress Romane Bohringer and she definitely left quite a mark with me - her character and performance actually bringing the most to the table out of anyone, more complex and unpredictable than anyone else in the film by far. Vincent Cassell's character isn't very intricate but he brings enough depth to the character to carry the film.
This is one of those rare cases where I was very on board with the whole outlandish ride this movie takes you on until the ending. I cannot comprehend why the filmmaker would choose to end the movie the way they did. I've heard that this movie takes some people on an emotional rollercoaster but I never felt even a dash of empathy or sadness for any of these people, simply intrigue by their insane and fully nonsensical decisions. I will say that I did not feel satisfied for what happened to ANY of these characters - the film has one of the most unsatisfying endings I have seen in quite a while.
In the end, I watched this film because I'm a fan of Bellucci and Cassell, and when I heard that this was the film they met on, then went on to be together for around a decade and have multiple children together, I had to see for myself where this ultimate celebrity love blossomed, and I'm glad I did! Though this is FAR from a perfect movie, it is a very memorable, dreamlike, relatively sexy thriller that feels like a highest-caliber Lifetime movie. But, to call it a classic or a masterpiece...? Yet again, the French are weird, man.