Reviews by apo55a

On a hot Sunday in September, Grégoire Duval, an uneventful pharmacist from the small town of Pontarlier, walks along the banks of a local lake. He sees a pretty young woman sunbathing, topless. Giving in to a sudden impulse, he approaches and throws himself on her to kiss her. This screams; he strangles her very quickly.

The young woman's lover, Sylvain Sautral, a dull young man of modest origins, is accused of the murder, then charged and tried. Duval, the culprit of the murder, is appointed juror to the assizes which judge the young Sautral. Duval intervened many times during the trial to clarify the circumstances of the crime, allowing the acquittal of Sautral.

But the notables of the city do not consider that the acquittal constitutes a sufficient reason to exonerate Sautral; the young couple was known for their libertinism, which shocked the good provincial society which found itself in a very bourgeois café in the center of the city. The pharmacist Duval is therefore forced to give himself up in order to remove suspicion.

Yet no one wants to condemn him: perhaps everyone knew, refusing to judge one of their own. Even Sautral will refuse to face the truth; while trying to stop him from committing suicide, Duval kills him. To ward off the scandal, the superintendent and Duval's wife have him locked up in an asylum. The pharmacist finally accepts this decision, being certain of never wanting to come out of this imprisonment which fulfills his desire for punishment. (source: wikipedia)

What great talent wasted in this film! I saw this film only once because it brings together "monsters" of French cinema, but I hate the kind of films that Bertrand Blier (Bernard's son) makes.
I consider the cinema as an entertainment (divertissement) or even as a means of making known the History or the mores of the people; humor is my favorite cinema; on the other hand, I don't like "psychological" cinema at all, which has no meaning for me. (Idem for Goddart, Truffaut, etc.) Bernard Blier is employed here in a genre that absolutely does not suit him. Like Depardieu, he is a real actor, complete, as comfortable in comedy as in tragic roles ("Les tontons flingueurs", "Quai des Orfèvres", for example.

The film is inspired by a true story, that of Angélique Doucet, a resident of Châtelus in the Vercors. Sandrine is a computer trainer in the Paris region. But she can't stand her life and decides to devote herself to agriculture. After a training, she arrives in the Vercors massif to take care of a farm that she wants to buy from the old grumpy Adrien. Their characters will make "sparks." (source: Wikipedia)

In conclusion, it's a beautiful story that demonstrates that friendship is not a question of generations.
A very beautiful film shot in one of the most beautiful regions of France, the Vercors.

Personally, I watched it several times, always with the same pleasure.

The story of the three musketeers continues with "20 years later" and "The Vicomte de Bragelonne", who is the son of Athos. It is actually a trilogy that ends with the death of D'Artagnan at the siege of Maastricht. (Netherlands) Aramis is the sole survivor of the Musketeers at the end.

"Joseph Balsamo" is the first part of the long novel by Alexandre Dumas father entitled "Memoirs of a doctor" (Mémoires d'un médecin). This book then includes "The Queen's necklace" (Le collier de la reine), "Ange Pitou", "The Countess of Charny" (La comtesse de Charny).
Some believe that "The Knight of the Red House" (Le chevalier de Maison Rouge) is the continuation and end of the novel. The main characters of "Memoirs of a doctor" disappear except Queen Marie-Antoinette. I personally tend to consider "La Comtesse de Charny" to be the end of the novel.

Jean-Paul Belmondo enters perfectly into the skin of this hyper alcoholic lawyer. The plot is gripping and it is not easy to disentangle this skein: everyone can be guilty... Christina Reali, the very beautiful, is the daughter of the famous lawyer.
This film is a "remake" of "The Strangers in the House" (Les inconnus dans la maison - 1942) with Raimu in the lead role. Even though I really like Belmondo, I had to admit that the great Raimu was the best in this role.

This film is full of tenderness, love, emotions and nostalgia. For someone born in the 1950s, they have seen entire neighborhoods of their youth disappear to make way for architectural horrors. Promoters don't care that you spent your life in happy times. Lunches that weren't fast food dirt yet but still real food, the coffee didn't come out of a machine. The film is entertaining and makes you dream; the little living flying saucers are really endearing. the various characters in the house are played to perfection by the actors. I find the general rating quite severe.

Absolutely stupid and without object, film without interest; Natalie wastes her real talent there! (As well as his partner) ******************************************** *************************************************** *************************************************** *************************************************** ************************************************** ********************************

Very bad compared to the original movie "The Blues Brothers" The main actors are pitiful and the music worse than in the 1979/80 movie. 2/10. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Enormous, fabulous story! Read and reread several times. A Masterpiece. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------