Just saw this on a website and was waiting to cry like a baby after reading all the previous reviews. Forty minutes in and I was bored and waiting for something to happen. Here's why it didn't touch me. Firstly, the story of the Nazis and how they treated Jews and gay people is well known. So...nothing shocked or horrified me there. Secondly, as much as the director/writer tried to get the audience interested in the primary players, it just wasn't enough for me. Thirdly, when Jean came home and was on his death bed, he didn't look like you would expect someone coming straight from a death camp. He should have weighed 70 lbs and looked absolutely emaciated. Instead, he looked pleasant, and his face looked pretty darn good. Nice cover girl makeup job. What I saw in this movie was a director trying to make the picture and cinematography look fantastic, but in so doing, he lost realness and intimacy. Everything, the clothes, the sets, the hair, makeup were TOO pretty. It all looked staged and unreal. I just saw a low budget movie, "The Falls: Covenant of Grace", where I cried from the beginning to the end - the difference being the relationship between the central characters had been well developed and the intimacy and realness of the emotions were too incredible to ignore. So...how much a movie costs doesn't necessarily translate into an emotionally engaging film.
Review of Un amour à taire
