User Reviews

For a TV film, Christophe Honoré's 'La Belle personne' is elegant and allusive. It's a rethinking of Madame de Lafayette's' 17th-century classic 'La Princesse de Clèves' for Paris lycée classroom and courtyard--which may make you think of the way de Laclos' 'Dangerous Liaisons' was adapted to an American high school in Roger Kumble's 1999 'Cruel Intentions.' Honoré makes use of the fact that the good looks of youth confer a kind of nobility, high school cliques resemble court life, and teenage machinations aren't far from royal plots. The "beautiful person" (a phrase from the book) is any youth from a good family in a fashionable school. The director features Louis Garrel, himself clearly a "beautiful person," for a fourth time. The way he slips in appearances by Clotilde Hesme and Chiara Mastroianni and a tragic main role for Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet, all from the director's musical film 'Love Songs,' with one song included, makes you feel like the director is playing off his own company of players. As the self-centered seducer Nemours, Garrel, himself part of a French cinematic dynasty (his father and grandfather are both film icons), gets movie royalty for his love interest. Léa Seydoux, who plays the central female, lycée newcomer Junie, is a direct descendant of scions of the two great houses of French cinema, Gaumont and Pathé. Garrel is dreamier than Truffaut's alter ego Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud). More than ever he seems Honoré's muse, his classic young Parisian boulevardier, flaneur, seducer. It's s all beginning to seem at bit inbred (but what genes!). On top of that former 'Cahiers du Cinéma' writer Honoré, not surprisingly, as before, slips in illusions to the Nouvelle Vague, especially Godard.

If this sounds interesting, even classic, but emotionally a bit uninvolving, that's pretty much true. There's some titillation (but not much sex), long kisses, and a chance to look up close at beautiful boy and girl faces. For complication, as before with Honoré, a gay affair is woven in as if it were the most natural thing in the world (though this time there is also a great effort to hide it). But while the director's 'Dans Paris' lurched back and forth between hilarity (embodied in Louis Garrel) and deep melancholy (hovering over Romain Duris) and in 'Love Songs' a sudden death clouded everyone else's life, this time the teenage passions, ostensibly mortal, feel more superficial, and Nemours, who is involved with a woman teacher and a girl student at the film's start, barely shows a flicker of concern about his multiple affairs and broken hearts apart from the worry that they might get too messy. So the film may be a pleasure to look at; it may even provide the vicarious pleasure of imagining life at a snooty Paris high school; but the sweetness and sublime gloom of 'Love Songs' and 'Dans Paris' are now more fleeting and peripheral, replaced by machinations it's somewhat difficult to keep track of.

When Junie arrives at mid-term, her life disrupted due to the death of her mother, all eyes turn toward her sultry pout. One boy snaps photos of her. Nemours, not so much older than his charges, ostensibly teaches them Italian--not very seriously, it seems. This school lacks the ghetto intensity shown in Cantet's 'The Class' or the elite-school rigor of Verheyde's 'Stella.' Nemours purveys Italian by setting up a field trip to Italy (which falls through), having pop song lyrics read and translated, and allowing a student to play a record of Callas singing Lucia, causing him and Junie to fall for each other when Junie weeps and rushes out, leaving behind her photo-portrait for Nemours to grab and stash away.

Then comes the misplaced love-note, which gets very complicated, and leads to a revelation at a Métro stop about boys loving boys. Otto feels betrayed, though on the basis of another boy's mistaken observation. Why does Junie give him a children's book called 'Otto'? Why does he wear a big sheepskin coat all the time, while the other kids wear lighter, hipper outfits, and Nemours' ensembles are like Hedi Slimane, only better? There are bits of guys playing basketball, scenes in a local café with a tough, motherly patronne; and the flashbacks have an appealingly blurry Nouvelle Vague look. We are talking style over substance here, but not exclusively. As in 'Dangerous Liaisons,' those who suffer elegantly stil suffer. And Honoré's relatively weak grasp on what happens in the classroom can't detract from his ability to convey with some vitality the snippy-chic atmosphere in the hallways, and the quick devastation of a teen romance gone wrong (the original 'Princesse de Clèves,' by the way, was fifteen).

Thanks largely Alex Beaupain's songs, Honoré's 'Chansons d'amour' captured a bittersweet melancholy that perfectly fit the gray winter season in the Bastille quarter of Paris where it was set. This time the director has created a different atmosphere, lighter and noisier--but emotionally less engaging. But he has by no means lost touch with his Parisian milieu or his cast of attractive people. This is still a film that will be worth seeing again. Some of it flits by too fast to take in the first time.

Working on the adaptation with Gilles Taurand (who wrote Téchiné's excellent 'Strayed'), Honoré has shown a light touch and is working in a consistent vein that is ever more Parisian and urbane, ever more "Dans Paris." Except for "Comme la pluie" sung by Otto (Leprince-Riinguet), this film has no songs by Honoré's 'Love Songs' collaborator, Alex Beaupain. Instead it is peppered with musical numbers and the songs of Nick Drake. Not part of the Rendez-Vous, though it might have been, 'La Belle personne' opened theatrically at BAMcinématek March 6 as kind of followup of a 2007 series there called "Generation Garrel," which provided a sneak preview of 'Dans Paris.' 'La Belle personne' has been bought for US distribution by IFC Films. It played in the London and San Sebastian film festivals.

After teaching us the art of levity with his splendid "Les Chansons d' Amour", Cristophe Honore tackles a loose adaptation of the Princess Des Cleves in a modern day Parisian high-school. Junie, a new comer in mid-term, joins her cousin's class, and soon afterwards gets entangled in the game of love. Otto, a boy that I would term the common denominator of serious lovemaking and affection in the film, of stably pursuing his affection towards Junie, is in a way our guarantor in the film of common sense and, at least for me, someone to identify with. His friends term him simpleton when he admits his embarrassment on how to get closer to Junie. But that happens admirably quickly and unaffectedly from both parts, even though we get to understand that Junie has recently lost her mother, that is why she came to school at this time of the year and why she gives way to moods of grave beauty.

We are then introduced to the third main character, the one who is given ample presentation in a way, Nemours, a somewhat winning womanizer of both his fellow teachers and students, teacher of Italian.

In one of his classes, and under the spell of Callas' Lucia di Lammermoor, Junie gets, for reasons no one probes, overwhelmed with emotion - this is the decisive moment, when Nemours and Junie pierce each other with glances signifying love.

Next step, a miscast letter, that everyone thinks is Nemours' and that is being addressed to Junie, finally gets into Junie's hands - yet it is, as we come to learn, her cousin's, addressed to a boy, whence the pressure to retrieve it, though with admirable clarity and absurdity Junie surmises that it is a letter really written to her by Nemours, even though he plainly denies it. Clarity and absurdity go here together because, even though it was not addressed to her, it was she that was actually the addressee, it was meant for her.

And as everything that is written means tragedy, it soon arrives. Junie, even if having claimed the letter, does not give in to Nemours' lovemaking, but instead gives herself to Otto, after having tenderly and mischievously given him just before a children's book with the title Otto, and half-said to him that there is another person involved. That is really finely crafted by C.Honore in a visual geometry of passion. Eventually, Otto learns that something is going on between Junie and Nemours and calmly tries to confront it with Junie, yet, there is misunderstanding involved: the person who witnessed them, witnessed wrongly that the two kissed, from the perspective he saw them. That is why Junie rebuts Otto's claim; that way, and as it should be, we loose the common denominator in love's proceedings, and love becomes fatal. Otto does not believe her, and in doing so, does not love her any more. He takes it for a blatant lie and soon afterwards after literally singing away his despair, he commits suicide.

From that point on, Junie decides not to give herself to Nemours on grounds that their love will last for some time then expire, ranging it to the hordes of commonality, thing impossible, since Otto, by his suicide, raised the standard to such a degree, namely and actually loving her all his life, that anything less will be degrading. So, after this explanation, she leaves it all behind.

Up until somewhere in the middle of the movie I was still wondering to what kind of explosion C.Honore's boiling sourdine will give in, but I felt in a way that the film regressed to some kind of mannerism, in using devices of the two films that came before it, namely the singing in exactly the same tone, and using an actor/singer of the "Chansons d' Amour", right before Otto's suicide, and then, the cut editing in a somber interior reminiscing the technique involved in "Dans Paris", when Junie and Nemours finally meet, the two of them, alone, inside. It may seem trifle, yet I took it as regressive, since C.Honore set himself the standard so high!That said given the fact that this was made for TV, it is of superlative quality as any film we come to expect from French film-makers. Also the fact of watching the same team of actors playing in two films in a row, gives one a rare warm feeling and the wish that they would go on for some more!Even the fleeting presence of Chiara Mastroianni!

The subplot is a pleasure, too: the way the two young boys' love is presented in a mocking documentary fashion; and the way in their case the third party reacts, recurring to violence, not contending himself, as happens in the other triangle, to the violence of words.

The photography is very good: a gripping, nuanced grayness allover finely portraying the incidents, and at one point, the beautiful faces of the adolescents, not exactly like the rococo fresco coming in the middle of the sequence, but the way a grave, beautiful Giotto stares us. The denouement may not be as sublime as the "beautiful faces" are, but maybe this is the point.

The latest Cristophe Honoré's film is a logical continuation of "Les chansons d'amour". The last phrase in the latter was "Love me less, but love me longer". And how long exactly can one love? "La Belle personne" is Honore's answer to this question. According to the director, unfortunately, love doesn't last forever, at the end it's a very disappointing feeling and the only honest conclusion for it can be the one that happened to Otto. It's a highly sentimental film done in a crude style. The film's composition is very smart, with the storyline that appears messy for most of its duration, but all the loose ends come together by the end, when Junie makes her brave and unexpected decision (a great surprise of the film). All the sideline events seemingly distracting from the main story lead Junie to this particular decision, more in the 17th that in the 21st century style, but justified by all she has seen and by her own uniqueness as a "completely honest person" and a "very strong person" (according to others).

The choice of actors is excellent, as always the case with Honoré. I would like to mention Léa Seydoux who has an amazing presence, which was crucial for the story to make sense. Although far from being a standard beauty, she possesses the ability to convey mystery and look beautiful while being sad. Luis Garrel is another actor with a great magnetism who makes the story credible.

In general the film is done with an impeccable cinematographic taste and it's impossible not to mention the song by Alex Beaupain, which just like in Dans Paris, is the only song in the film, but sung right on screen in the emotional climax of the film, and just like in Dans Paris, it occurs like the most natural thing.

La belle personne, like the director's previous films, requires a very attentive viewing or maybe more than one viewing in order to notice the details, and the details are crucial for the adequate interpretation. In some instances, it is also important to know some French (the crucial conflict of the lost/found letter story gets resolved once Nemour points out to Junie that from a grammatical point of view it's written by a man, and not by a woman – the moment unfortunately completely omitted from the English subtitles). Otherwise the viewer might feel lost in curious images without appreciation for the creator's concept.

First half hour of this films wanders among characters' stories and relationships. They are too many of them to keeping track of. And the story never starts. What is going on? First Junie's action occurs after 18 minutes. She kisses Otto. And then everything turns gray, undefined. Nemours falls in love. She realizes that but doesn't react clearly.

Other stories appear in the middle. But we don't have idea what's the point in all this. When the love triangle is about to close, the writer throws one his character into the void. The only interesting and visible conflict in the movie dies before seeing the light. And we are back to an ambiguous situation where the characters don't know what they want. And in turn don't do anything concrete. The end is more of the same.

The main character doesn't care too much about anything. And then we don't care too much about the movie. There is almost no conflict during the film, and when it appears it disappears immediately.

Good movie. Good music. Makes you feel everything at the same time. But some events in the movie just happens suddenly and doesn't have a background. For example, Otto's death and nobody cared about it. Junie just run away without something happened between them. It was a short movie, maybe it could have been longer.

This film was really fascinating for me. Love as everything in life isn't permanent. It's complicated and not fair at all. In partnership it's like: or you feel pain or you bring pain. Young and sensitive girl should be very brave and strong to give up on her handsome and popular crush, knowing that he will replace her in future. Girls, trust boys such as Otto and probably your heart will be in safe.

This film desperately tries to be deep but ends up being utterly superficial. Beautiful actors, Nick Drake soundtrack and excellent cinematography can't hide the fact that this is a confused and amateurish story without a message. The main problem is the script: we never get to know the characters, we don't understand what motivates them. There is no real "story" to follow, no beginning and no end. Time after time the filmmakers seem to forget the main characters/story line and far to much time is spent on subplots and side characters that don't interest us, since they haven't been introduced earlier in the film. The actors are OK but the script just doesn't give them anything substantial to work with.

I was excited to see the film as I found the premise to be quite intriguing, however the film just didn't do it for me. Maybe something got lost in translation? Although I usually do not have this problem. Or maybe it's because the quality I watched it in wasn't the best? Regardless, I did enjoy the visuals. I liked the cold and grey colours added to the picture, which fit the mood of the film quite nicely. The characters, their hair; the clothing all added to this melancholic mood and it was honestly so aesthetically pleasing to watch. It had this worn out vibe; like a picture from older pictures, which I adored. The camera work was good. Not amazing, but good. Some shots didn't quite make sense, but I guess it can be "part of the art". There was also some shaking which did not really make sense with the narrative, but regardless, I enjoyed the visuals.

Alas, I could not really say the same for the story. I am aware it was based on a classic, hence the "tragedy" and dramatisation. The issue? I wasn't convinced. Problematic character number 1: Nemours. A character who exaggerates his emotions and leaves the two people he was screwing (emotionally and physically) for a girl he just laid eyes on. Love at first sight. Bullshit. Junie's feelings I do believe, but she also doesn't exaggerate them (and she's a teenager). She knows she is only attracted to Nemours, however, Nemours, a grown man sprouts out all these fancy words about how he was in love with her and they feel so careless coming out of his mouth as he was not convincing at all. Maybe there was some spark the character missed, or something visually missing.

Another problematic character: Otto. He was a delight, but, his voice was too weak, drowned out by all the other plots happening on screen, so much so, that the ultimate peak of the story -- his suicide -- left no impact on me.

I did enjoy the ending, which I found pleasant and fitting, and a decision which was very mature of Junie.

In conclusion: Aesthetically pleasing -- yes. Was the story convincing? No.