Love Me If You Dare (2003)
"Jeux d'enfants" (original title)

As adults, best friends Julien and Sophie continue the odd game they started as children -- a fearless competition to outdo one another with daring and outrageous stunts. While they often ... See full summary »

Director:

Yann Samuell

Writer:

Yann Samuell

Stars:

Guillaume Canet, Marion Cotillard, Thibault Verhaeghe

3 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Guillaume Canet	...	Julien Janvier
Marion Cotillard	...	Sophie Kowalsky
Thibault Verhaeghe	...	Julien à 8 ans
Joséphine Lebas-Joly	...	Sophie à 8 ans
Emmanuelle Grönvold	...	Julien's Mother
Gérard Watkins	...	Julien's Father
Gilles Lellouche	...	Sergei Nimov Nimovitch
Julia Faure	...	Sophie's Sister
Laëtizia Venezia Tarnowska	...	Christelle Louise Bouchard (as Laetizia Venezia)
Élodie Navarre	...	Aurélie Miller
Nathalie Nattier	...	Sophie à 80 ans
Robert Willar	...	Julien (80 ans)
Frédéric Geerts	...	Igor
Manuela Sanchez	...	Teacher
Philippe Drecq	...	School Principal

Storyline

As adults, best friends Julien and Sophie continue the odd game they started as children -- a fearless competition to outdo one another with daring and outrageous stunts. While they often act out to relieve one another's pain, their game might be a way to avoid the fact that they are truly meant for one another.

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Plot Keywords:

game | daring | polish | love hate | candy | 

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Taglines:

From the visionary mind of director Yann Samuell comes France's hit comedy!

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some sexuality

Details

Country:

France Belgium

Language:

French

Release Date:

14 May 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Love Me If You Dare

Filming Locations:

Liège, Wallonia, Belgium

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$21,546 (USA) (21 May 2004)

Gross:

$548,707 (USA) (1 October 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nord-Ouest Productions, StudioCanal, Artémis Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Julien is at the cemetery on the day after which he and Sophie haven't seen each other for ten years, he wishes Sophie would just appear and sing "La Vie en Rose", a song by Édith Piaf. Marion Cotillard (Sophie) would later win an Academy Award for playing Piaf in La Vie en Rose.

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Goofs

The first time we see the bus driver chasing the bus his hat falls off towards the left side of the road. The second time it drops directly behind him to the right of the middle.

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Quotes

Julien à 8 ans: [narrating] But there's one game you must never play. And I mean never! Even if your best friend wants you to! And that's burying yourself in a block of cement!

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Soundtracks

"La Vie en Rose"
Édith Piaf / Louiguy
Performed by Donna Summer

User Reviews

Love Means Saying "Game"

The first feature from French director Yann Samuell is an "expressionistic" allegory about love, disguised as a romantic fantasy. It is about how in our relationships we never outgrow childhood games or fully recover from the insecurities caused by deep childhood wounds. It is about how people in love constantly test each other. Each dare is a renewed demand for the other person to prove their love, no matter what the sacrifice.

"Love Me If You Dare" is a gimmick translation of "Jeux d'enfants", a better translation would be "Games of Children". But given the general confusion about this film by English speaking viewers and critics the inaccurate title is probably appropriate. Film Theory 101 would include a discussion of the two basic film extremes, realism and expressionism. Generally the closer a film comes to reproducing reality, the less room there is for the filmmaker to express his artistry. Which is not to say that realism is necessarily less manipulative than expressionism, both aim to effect their viewing audience, expressionism is just less constrained.

When you are used to a steady diet of Hollywood realism, it is difficult to switch gears and watch a film like "Jeux d'enfants" without attempting to force it into the realism mold. The temptation is to gloss over the surreal elements and to take everything you see literally. But Samuell has a background as an illustrator and designer. Note the inventive visuals that employ a multitude of cardboard cutouts and idyllic fantasy settings. This is expressionism. Note the accelerated action segments and strange transitions. This is expressionism. Note the interesting time passage montages and flashbacks.

While you sometimes see similar stuff incorporated into a realistic film, it is explained away as a dream, hallucination, or memory. Here it is a tip-off that this is a surreal allegory like Bunuel's "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie". If you avoid taking "Jeux d'enfants" too literally, stop being judgmental about the actions and motivations of its characters, and focus instead on picking up its allegorical elements you will probably understand it better and enjoy it more.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.