Foreign language films have always been very close to my heart, find them very eye-opening and educational. So has the lovely and very poetic French language, which from experience of studying it at school and at music college is one of the more accessible languages to learn, with not having to learn as many rules or phonetic symbols/alphabets. For instance, Russian is another wonderful language, but seven years on from first starting to learn it there is still confusion translating phonetic symbols and remembering hard and soft signs.
What drew me into seeing Laurent Cantet's films was his themes and subjects. They seemed so intriguing, so realistic and very easy to relate to, and have always liked that in film. 'Time Out', dealing this time in choosing between truth and lies and living a deceptive life, is another fascinating and very well done film of his, though it will never be one of my favourites. 'Time Out' handles its quite disturbing story, and it gets increasingly so, in a way that is mostly quite powerful. It sounds very unsympathetic and difficult to get behind, as dishonesty and deception are not worthwhile traits, but Cantet's storytelling is surprisingly (or at least to me it was) the opposite.
Visually, 'Time Out' did not look cheap and actually gave the film a realism. Some of the shots are quite beautiful surprisingly. Cantet directs with remarkable skill and efficiency, clearly engaging with the material and balancing it surprisingly well. The script is thought-provoking, remarkably nuanced if sparse. The characters do compel and feel real rather than being caricatures. Aurelien Recoing's lead performance is quite astonishing, as is expressive Karin Viard giving depth to a role that could have been thankless or plot-device-like (neither the case).
Really admired much of the storytelling here, which succeeds in not making the tension heavy-handed and making the family drama realistic and easy to relate to. There is tension which increases, but it is of the subtle kind rather than overt. More telling is the emotional impact, enhanced by the most hauntingly beautiful music score of any of Cantet's films perhaps, which made for some very poignant moments. The pace is deliberate and meditative, but it didn't seem dull to me.
Personally would have liked more development and insight into the motivations, with it not always being clear why things happen. 'Time Out' does go on for a little too long, with some of the slight stretches feeling on the dull side.
'Time Out's' ending felt rather abrupt and tacked on.
On the whole though, it is a fascinating and well executed film. 7.5/10 Bethany Cox
What drew me into seeing Laurent Cantet's films was his themes and subjects. They seemed so intriguing, so realistic and very easy to relate to, and have always liked that in film. 'Time Out', dealing this time in choosing between truth and lies and living a deceptive life, is another fascinating and very well done film of his, though it will never be one of my favourites. 'Time Out' handles its quite disturbing story, and it gets increasingly so, in a way that is mostly quite powerful. It sounds very unsympathetic and difficult to get behind, as dishonesty and deception are not worthwhile traits, but Cantet's storytelling is surprisingly (or at least to me it was) the opposite.
Visually, 'Time Out' did not look cheap and actually gave the film a realism. Some of the shots are quite beautiful surprisingly. Cantet directs with remarkable skill and efficiency, clearly engaging with the material and balancing it surprisingly well. The script is thought-provoking, remarkably nuanced if sparse. The characters do compel and feel real rather than being caricatures. Aurelien Recoing's lead performance is quite astonishing, as is expressive Karin Viard giving depth to a role that could have been thankless or plot-device-like (neither the case).
Really admired much of the storytelling here, which succeeds in not making the tension heavy-handed and making the family drama realistic and easy to relate to. There is tension which increases, but it is of the subtle kind rather than overt. More telling is the emotional impact, enhanced by the most hauntingly beautiful music score of any of Cantet's films perhaps, which made for some very poignant moments. The pace is deliberate and meditative, but it didn't seem dull to me.
Personally would have liked more development and insight into the motivations, with it not always being clear why things happen. 'Time Out' does go on for a little too long, with some of the slight stretches feeling on the dull side.
'Time Out's' ending felt rather abrupt and tacked on.
On the whole though, it is a fascinating and well executed film. 7.5/10 Bethany Cox