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Pola X (1999)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
12 May 1999 (Belgium)
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Plot:
A young writer becomes intrigued with a mysterious dark-haired woman who claims to be his long-lost sister and he begin an unusual relationship with her prompting a downward spiral involving his domineering mother and lovely fiancée full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
2 wins
&
2 nominations
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NewsDesk:
(13 articles)
Birthday Suits: Deserve's Got Nothin' To Do With it
(From FilmExperience. 22 November 2009, 10:47 AM, PST)
Decade in Review: 2000 Top Ten
(From FilmExperience. 5 November 2009, 1:07 PM, PST)
(From FilmExperience. 22 November 2009, 10:47 AM, PST)
Decade in Review: 2000 Top Ten
(From FilmExperience. 5 November 2009, 1:07 PM, PST)
User Comments:
A Beautiful Disaster
more (40 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Guillaume Depardieu | ... | Pierre | |
| Yekaterina Golubeva | ... | Isabelle | |
| Catherine Deneuve | ... | Marie | |
| Delphine Chuillot | ... | Lucie | |
| Laurent Lucas | ... | Thibault | |
| Patachou | ... | Margherite | |
| Petruta Catana | ... | Razerka | |
| Mihaella Silaghi | ... | The Child | |
| Sharunas Bartas | ... | The Chief | |
| Samuel Dupuy | ... | Fred | |
| Mathias Mlekuz | ... | TV presenter | |
| Dine Souli | ... | Taxi driver | |
| Miguel Yeco | ... | Augusto | |
| Khireddine Medjoubi | ... | Cafe owner's son | |
| Mark Zak | ... | Romanian friend |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
Pierre oder Der Kampf mit der Sphinx (Germany) (TV title)
Pierre ou les ambiguïtés (France) (TV title (longer version))
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Pierre ou les ambiguïtés (France) (TV title (longer version))
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Parents Guide:
Runtime:
134 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
USA:Not Rated |
Iceland:16 |
France:U |
Portugal:M/16 |
Sweden:15 |
Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) |
Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) |
UK:18 |
South Korea:18 (edited version) |
Germany:18
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Pola is an acronym for "Pierre ou les ambiguites," the French translation of the title of the Herman Melville novel on which the film is based.
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Quotes:
Margherite:
Be careful! You dream of writing a mature work, but your charm lies in your thorough immaturity. You dream of setting fire to God knows what, of rising above your times like a dazzling cloud, leaving everyone terrified and admiring. But you weren't born for that, Pierre! You don't even believe it yourself.
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Movie Connections:
Referenced in The Killing Floor (2007)
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Soundtrack:
Isabel
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FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (40 total)
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Following the mixed fortunes of his previous film, Les Amands du Pont Neuf, Leos Carax returned with an adaptation of Herman Melville's controversial novel, Pierre, or the Ambiguities.
Unfortunately, for Carax and French cinema, Carax's film is a disaster. It may have visual flourishes and unforgettable images, but the film is a tale of two halves. While he first half is beautifully shot an d highly stylised; the tawdry second half is heavy-going and repulsive to watch, replete with brutal political statements that leave little to the imagination. Both halves seem like polar opposites. Maybe this was his intention, but Carax will doubtless lose many viewers after the second half.
Catherine Deneuve is criminally underused, even though she was marketed as the prime appeal of this dire film. Although Guillame Depardieu gives a searing performance, the film s too small and delusional for his towering performance to evolve as anything substantial. The notion of tragedy is clearly evident in the film, but Carax executes his vision poorly. A far better example of such an approach is Choses Secrets, which leaves Pola X in the dust.
The biggest problem with Carax as a director is his lack of subtlety or refinement as am auteur. Working with narrative does not suit his inimitable style as one of the proponents of "cinema du look', a term he most likely despises. What's problematic about his penchant for image over narrative, is the emptiness of his images for the most part. Devoid of meaning, his images are there in Pola X to engage our superficial desire to see rather than any intuition.
What's most disturbing in Pola X is the unrealistic progression from dream-like scenarios to brutal, unforgiving reality. What could have been a dreamlike, ambiguous piece becomes too literal and heavy-handed and embarrassing to watch in its mediocrity.
A pity, Pola X could have been more ambiguous as Melville intended.