Come for Jeremy Irons speaking French and Alain Delon, stay for the sinking feeling of regret that comes from watching a film that you know would work better in its original novel form.
I haven't read anything by Marcel Proust, and I don't know if I will in the foreseeable future, but Swann in Love does feel super literary, as a movie. It deals with the sorts of themes (mostly the pain and frustrations of love) that often seem to be best explored in literature, as opposed to film, the former a medium that's best for getting uncomfortably deep into a character's head and state of mind.
That's not to say movies shouldn't attempt to adapt psychological and dense novels about love/desire/heartbreak, because there's a way to do it right, even if it involves changing things up drastically (I really like both novel and film versions of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, for example).
As for Swann in Love, it has a few really good scenes, it looks nice overall, and I think I mostly get and appreciate what it's going for... but it fails to add up to something great, and is probably overall a little less than the sum of its parts. Still, it could be worth a cautious look for anyone intrigued by the premise or cast on offer here.
I haven't read anything by Marcel Proust, and I don't know if I will in the foreseeable future, but Swann in Love does feel super literary, as a movie. It deals with the sorts of themes (mostly the pain and frustrations of love) that often seem to be best explored in literature, as opposed to film, the former a medium that's best for getting uncomfortably deep into a character's head and state of mind.
That's not to say movies shouldn't attempt to adapt psychological and dense novels about love/desire/heartbreak, because there's a way to do it right, even if it involves changing things up drastically (I really like both novel and film versions of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, for example).
As for Swann in Love, it has a few really good scenes, it looks nice overall, and I think I mostly get and appreciate what it's going for... but it fails to add up to something great, and is probably overall a little less than the sum of its parts. Still, it could be worth a cautious look for anyone intrigued by the premise or cast on offer here.