NE TE RETOURNE PAS / DON’T LOOK BACK

This has happened before – and I have never made any bones about it. I watch a film, cannot decide what I think of it and a dilemma raises its’ head: To blog or not blog, that is the question... I loved it in a lot of ways – yet was also disappointed with it. In the end, I decided the enjoyment it provided largely outweighed its shortcomings, but well… Watch it and see, it’s not a bad film, no, not at all. I mean, everything to one side, the main stars are Sophie Marceau and Monica Belluci which to my mind, indicate the film is “watchable” at least but to be hones,t in my mind, it didn’t live up to what those great names promise…
Anyways, meet Jeanne. She is a writer, lives in Paris with her husband and two children. She is successful in her job and happy in her home, all in all a pretty average situation. There is, however, one strange thing about her: Her memories start at the age of eight. Absolute blank before it. This has actually become her new project and she is trying to write an autobiography when strange things start to happen. Things seem “different”. Furniture seems to have changed place. She starts forgetting telephone numbers and losing addresses. Her husband and children just… Look different. To add to all this, her family seem to have no idea what she’s talking about, claiming everything she claims has changed has always been that way… Until she starts seeing changes in herself as well. Everyone around her is denying it and it seems incomprehensible and scary to Jeanne herself – but one thing is very clear: She is literally turning into someone else. But then, a clue comes her way. In her mother’s house, she discovers a photograph, containing a vital clue. She sets on a journey following that clue which will lead her to a rather disturbing secret in her past, a secret she doesn’t even remember…
Now, as I said there is much about this film I like. First of all Monica Belluci and Sophie Marceau are both absolutely brilliant. As you can imagine, acting plays a major part in this film and both actresses show us once again their considerable talent in their portrayals of Jeanne’s fear, confusion and at times sheer agony as she transforms. And the story is absolutely wonderfully told it is, in a word, riveting. (So much so that even doing overtime to finish the work on it didn’t seem like a bother!). It is very well directed and both our tension and confusion mounts as the story progresses – oh what in the world is happening to her? Your reaction to the answer provided by the film may well be “Oh. What?” It’s not a bad conclusion. It just lacks development. I honestly think if they had added about half an hour or forty minutes onto the film to explain certain points, give more detail, enlarge on certain emotions and illusions the film would be a masterpiece. As it is, it ceased to be so and ended up being a cool movie for a Saturday night at home. As you may have guessed, the film is not “supernatural” but a psychodrama (slight spoiler but I thought I’d risk it; the film has been extensively talked about in art circles so there’s a good chance you already knew that). So you might argue that it isn’t necessarily meant to make complete sense. And the lack of sense makes sense in a funny kind of way but well… Like I said, I felt it needed developing…
Don’t let me rabbiting on about developments put you off it though – oh no. I have often said before, man cannot survive on A + films alone; watch it and enjoy it. Just don’t expect it to change your world. I sort of expected it to change mine, so I was disappointed but you have been warned so you should be ok ;)