I gave this an 8 out of 10 because while I believe that the first half hour of the film is necessary to set the stage, it lost my wife who is ordinarily a die-hard Gerard Depardeu fan. When watching a film you've paid 8 bucks for, you don't have a choice. You feel a need to sit and watch and get your money's worth. But on DVD or on-demand, the lesser attention spanned may walk off before the film gets rolling.
OK, that said, once it gets rolling it becomes a wonderfully astute, and touching film about our humanity. Gerard plays his usual lovable oaf and brings warmth and humanity to the film when the other characters, while sympathetic, are cold and "reptilian" to quote the narrator. Gerard's character made me ask whether a certain level of foolishness was necessary to keep us humble and honest.
Finally, the film is very French and high culture to the point of being almost a parody of such films. It's a kind of dark comedy that's so subtle, that some people won't get it. I know my wife didn't.
Finally, there are distributions available in wide screen and even HD that was magnificent. I'm sure it's still great on letterboxed but try to get the widescreen/HD version or upconverted.
OK, that said, once it gets rolling it becomes a wonderfully astute, and touching film about our humanity. Gerard plays his usual lovable oaf and brings warmth and humanity to the film when the other characters, while sympathetic, are cold and "reptilian" to quote the narrator. Gerard's character made me ask whether a certain level of foolishness was necessary to keep us humble and honest.
Finally, the film is very French and high culture to the point of being almost a parody of such films. It's a kind of dark comedy that's so subtle, that some people won't get it. I know my wife didn't.
Finally, there are distributions available in wide screen and even HD that was magnificent. I'm sure it's still great on letterboxed but try to get the widescreen/HD version or upconverted.