Giorgino (1994) User Reviews

The movie that mix David Lean and Tim Burton.

[jackvonb · 8/10 · 19 April 2002]

Giorgino can to some people look a bit long but it's one of rare real romantique adventure film. It could be compare to Docter Jivago with a bit of Sleepy Holow. You must see it.

Forgotten jewel

[uso_dorsavi · 10/10 · 21 December 2002]

Giorgino is a strange, dark, obsessive object; the casting is impressive, the plot is powerful, reminded me of Edgar Poe's tales. Probably not a masterpiece, but it does leave us with the remembrance of strong images, fine music, fear, sadness, confusion, and a sentence that says it all : the wolves are coming. GIORGINO is quite forgotten now, and when it was released nobody seemed to appreciate it. That's a shame. If you ever have a chance to see this, well... give it a try.

Things Are Never Quite So Bad That They Can't Go Worse...

[JustApt · 10/10 · 5 May 2008]

Giorgino is a long, excruciating journey from bad to worse in the life of protagonist after whom the movie is named. Young demobilized, gas-poisoned First World War lieutenant of very delicate health, who previously was a doctor in an orphanage for children with some mental deprivations, goes in a search of their new location and finds much more than he ever intended to and quite of a different nature. Depressive atmosphere of ultimate despair, where the insane ones are much less horrible than the sane, where the madness is a kind of poetry, will hold you hypnotized from the very first frames of this film to the last. And all the beauty: beauty of the winter and mountains, beauty of snowy landscapes and wild woods, I don't even know how all the sorrow and sadness of last days of war could be made so beautiful.

Be Like Children

[Efenstor · 10/10 · 17 August 2008]

I think it's incredibly hard to write any kind of full-scale review to Giorgino, merely because it's one of those viewer-dependent, complex, poetical and philosophical films that are impossible to be watched enjoying their visuals and their story while cracking their artistic core at the same time, yet there are several things which are quite certain and beyond any doubt about the movie for any man of art (which, I hope, I am).

The first: it's a certain masterpiece, even of that kind of art that is able to stand the test of time; the second: it's one of those rare "dark" movies in which the darkness is poetic, even romantic, attractive and much more sad than depressing, just like many of the Pieter Brueghel the Elder or Caspar David Friedrich's paintings. As to the core of the movie, its artistic aspect, someone called it Kafkian though I don't agree with that hasty attitude because actually it's far beyond Kafka's misanthropic logic and much more like Edgar Poe's parables: dark and scary but through that touching the most gentle strings of our souls. Actually, on the poetic side (which is much more important here than the narrative), Giorgino is a tale about eternal peace and love which can be achieved solely through saving oneself's inner child or, to be more precise, the childhood of one's soul. It is no secret, that such childish people are usually branded as crazy or at least misfits by our society, ignoring the obvious fact that they all have a virtue all the other grown-ups have lost: the virtue of true love, the kind of love that is called a God's love by Christian scholars.

Indeed, Giorgino may be called a very Christian movie, with "Be like children" (Mt 18:3) as it's real hidden tag-line, though the film never deals with any kind of moral and concentrates solely on the Christian philosophical aspects. Though I think Boutonnat was too harsh portraying "grown-ups" as some sort of demons, incarnated as wolves, trying to kill childhood in the rare survived hearts, but it's his point of view and he has a right to think so. While watching Giorgino don't try to look for hidden symbols and meanings (though there are some), better try to understand and learn from at least some of the fables Boutonnat had hidden in the twists of the movie plot.

I have to admit that the movie greatly impressed me with excellent photography, especially I was happy to see the rational use of color filters, incredibly smooth and apposite editing, wonderful acting of all the actors and, of course, the atmospheric beauty of winter mountains which reminded me of the Brueghel's "Hunters in the Snow". Also, interestingly enough, one scene, where Death itself shown in the form an old woman with sunken black-ringed eyes, instantly reminded me of Pesta (Plague) by Theodor Kittelsen, the Norwegian painter who made a series of drawings to the story of how the black plague swept out the population of a small town in a mountain valley. Is it a simple coincidence?

Words full of nothing...

[StrangeSavage · 10/10 · 20 December 2001]

That's certainly not the best film ever. But that's certainly worth seeing for people with a special kind of mind. So the one who loves sadness and depression, and scary fairy-tales at night, and wolves and real madness - welcome! If you find a copy, of course:) As for me, I could stand it only once... But since that the Wolves, and Saint-Lucy, and children's drawings, and a headless Christ live in my nightmares.

An awful work !

[melimelo34 · 2/10 · 20 May 2005]

So boring you'll fall asleep after the 20 first minutes. Sorry Mr Boutonnat, I do admire your work (all these beautiful "films" you directed such as "Tristana", "Sans logique" etc...) but here, the plot is extremely... vain ! Except the magnificent photography, everything appears dumb and there's no envy to know what will happen at these "medium" actors. Moreover, the dialogs are minimalists. The famous question "where are the children" is repeated so often it looks like a farce. Believe me, it's a pure waste of time (concerning the plot), and 3 hours is a long long time. Certainly the real reason of this box-office total mess !

The greatest flop of all time

[Radu_A · 10/10 · 11 June 2020]

For those who are not familiar with French pop culture, this is still worthwhile to see, but just so you know, Mylène Farmer is the Madonna of France, and Laurent Boutonnat made the videoclips that spiralled her to fame - very French mini-movies which feature erotic fantasies in a historical setting.

The fame from these clips, often considered the best music videos ever made, enabled Boutonnat to mount such a large production of 80 million francs, that is to say 12 million euros. He did not just direct and write the script, he also produced and wrote the score. So of course he had to fail! He was in control of the whole project, which explains its ridiculous runtime, and the waste of buckets of money on a superfluous appearance by Louise Fletcher, who was the nurse in "One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest", and the construction of sets in mid-winter Czech Republic, which could not be used because the camera lens froze over.

But this is perhaps the most glorious failure in the history of film. It is so pretentious that you just can't help being drawn into its mystery. Most critics complain about the suspense petering away - the protagonist asks "what happened to the children" at least a dozen times -, but it's actually a fascinating experience, like watching the video of a car crash in slow motion. VERY slow motion.

Boutonnat succeeds in almost immediately building up a lot of atmosphere, and then just leaves the viewer there, in an uncomfortable tight space. But one really gets sucked into this feeling of being lost that the protagonist has. Since the whole film doesn't go anywhere, one stays glued to the seat, asking oneself: "Why am I still watching this?" Because it's already about the experience, not the story. I'm pretty sure that's precisely what Boutonnat wanted to achieve, and that the film flopped was probably intentional. This is a film that says: "This is art. Take it or leave it. Don't bother me with your expectations."

I am amazed

[baddezil · 10/10 · 20 May 2008]

I finally managed to see this movie...after so many years of expectancy...

I was so curious to see if this movie it is as bad as some people say..

And my opinion is that this movie it wasn't bad at all,on the contrary it was AMAZING...

I enjoyed every second from it...from the beginning until the end...

The actors were great they sent me the feeling that i was living the story at the same time as the movie was playing...

The landscapes were so beautiful were the film was shot...and it did charmed me.. Also the music was extraordinary and i have nothing

to reproach..

I think that the plot was very original i don't think that i saw a movie like this...

It is a shame that it isn't recognized all over the world..to bad for those who didn't get the chance to see it. i give this movie 10/10

A moment of Pure Poetry...

[itty-1 · 10/10 · 15 July 2002]

How to summarize this film ? it is simply impossible. Why you should see it ? maybe for the story, very probably for the actors (Giorgio, Catherine...), above all for the universe and the poetry. This is a tale. Sad, sometimes dark, but a tale. I LOVE this film !!!! Just waiting for the DVD !! Thank you mister Boutonnat.

This film is cult

[davidjulien · 10/10 · 23 April 2008]

Although it has been a failure in movie theaters because mainly Mylene Farmer, one of the 3 top stars in France had not the first role. Fans had changed their mind after that and were waiting for it on DVD. When it has been released on DVD this year it has have a tremendous success ! The others fails was the slow pace and the incredible length (3h) at that time (1994) that have annoyed critics. But the melancholic story makes mandatory that slow pace and long time. The moral of the film is you cannot escape from the death you are destined for. It is the same theme than in the movie "Final Destination" and makes it a Gothic tale. The atmosphere is very melancholic.

"Giorgino"

[kmhf-25079 · 10/10 · 4 March 2017]

I have started to write this review to the birthday of Mylène Farmer, a great French singer. Only because of that film I have acquaint oneself with her magnificent clips.

I will not repeat all what was written before me, I will say that "Giorgino" has made a lasting impression on me as a film that combines incredible bleakness of the narrative with amazingly beautiful paintings of nature. I bow before the genius of Laurent Boutonnat as director and composer, who wrote music which penetrates you and penetrates to the heart and turns the soul - I first listened to the soundtrack and then watched the film, and not left disappointed.

The actors played for such an atmospheric film like "Giorgino", in my opinion, just awesome, although for me in the first place was, of course, Jeff Dahlgren (Giorgio Volli) and Mylène Farmer (Catherine Degras) - in my opinion, Love, embodied them in the film, simply the most tragic of all that I've seen (except maybe "Titanic", but now, after seeing this Creation, I can't be sure). Very impressed with the way of the image of the Doctor, how is the main character portrayed, and the image of professor Beaumont - absolutely, completely different ideas about medical ethics and all of humanity, with respect to both the patients, and in general to people.

Thanks to the director and all of the actors that have made it possible for the viewer to touch the unexplored parts of the Soul that always feel, but at the same time, too often muffled in itself, the name of which is Sympathy and Compassion to the Human Being.

"The Fiery Angel", painted with coffee

[hvsams · 10/10 · 30 November 2023]

The movie feels like it was made before its time. A contemplative, artsy, indecently long, paradoxical gothic meta-horror that reflects on the genre and its interaction with other genres. Because you might think: okay, black horses? Check. A decrepit church full of morbid symbolism? Check. A creepy village? Check. Ghosts of wolves? Check. A pale and bleeding handmaid? Check. A Romantic protagonist, ready for anything, going through inhumane suffering? Check. An offbeat womanchild of a heroine? (Should France have its own Fair Folk, I bet she, just like Machen's little girl, would've been obsessed with them, and just like her, Catherine would've died at the end because of them.) Check. Youth, saving itself from the religious zealotry? Check! (This was the first reason why I remembered Victor Hugo here, and the second is the movie being very reserved with colours. I know it's for the historical gloomy atmosphere, but I remembered that he loved to draw Romantic landscapes with charcoal and paint them with coffee, and they, too, have all shades of sepia in them.) But what you've eventually watched is much more like a story about a historical time period and the ethics of medicine. At some point, you might probably think that it could've easily been an indie horror from one of the newer decades - long and socially relevant, only Giorgino is by far not as humble with a budget and thus, probably, feels somewhat dissonant. It's almost as if this film, juggling Gothic tropes and showing them off one after another like songs performed at a concert (no wonder it's a film from three prominent musical figures), didn't wait for the theoreticians to become obsessed with all kinds of horror just a bit and appeared decades before the term "elevated horror" was even coined.

Funnily, nowadays its main subjects, such as femininity, mental health or a glum folk revision of religion, are the core pillars of almost any prominent horror title (just as the very method of filming a horror movie the way it basically becomes a social story with esoteric decorations). The movie is actually quite successful at binding all of its topics together and rhyming them with each other. You'd guess this is how an isolated village of First World War Europe would look and feel, with women taking control and justice into their own hands, putting away the traditional, subdued role both in the plot and the narrative. It's almost always the guys who are shown vulnerable, sick, and weakened; it's an old crippled priest who becomes the young doctor's connoisseur and someone to share candies with, that the dead children didn't get, it's the master of the old manor who loses his mind and barely comprehends what is happening around him.

The men's wing of the madhouse is probably the scariest part of this supposedly supernatural Gothic movie, not least due to the absurd, tragicomical chaos of war. In fact, even before Giorgino, Boris Vian and The King in Yellow made me think it's something about the French culture to find social collapse simultaneously horrendous and hilarious. Even the main story sometimes looks quite ridiculous - the riot of a disturbed girl and a retired soldier on his last legs against the tired women, embittered by winter and anxious loneliness. It is still tragic all right, though, and the global nature of the movie makes this tragedy of a girl unfit for these tough times even more touching. In fact, her fate echoes for me the novel "The Fiery Angel" written by Russian author Valeriy Bryusov shortly before the Russian Revolution. It is about a young woman in a wrong time period (whose name, surprisingly, isn't Tristana but instead just Renata) whose madness brings her into the dungeons of a German Inquisition of the XVI century and... and I won't tell you whether her beloved soldier comes in time to rescue her or not. This question is answered in the book.

Like Mylène's heroine here, Renata was a special, rare, Ophelia the maneater. Even drowning in scraps of lyrics, she drove men crazy, and there was little good waiting for all of them. Although, despite starting Giorgino mainly because of her, here, unlike in Ghostland, I didn't only feel invested when she was on screen, and that's another good sign. Funnily, it's Ghostland, a trans-insensitive exploit horror, that looks much older than its time although it plays with the tropes of horror just as consciously and no less enthusiastically than Giorgino, and is equally hard to criticise and evaluate properly - because what can you do with a chameleon movie changing its genre on the way, right?