The Young Lovers

Or A french mix-up between LOVE STORY, BOOBY DEERFIELD or SUMMER OF 42. I mean the tragic love story between a man and an older woman, much older, not only a couple of years. And also a tragic love story where one of them is about to die, condemned in advance because of a disease. It is obviously made to make audiences weep. Of course it is gripping, poignant, French are excellent in this element, and acting is over the top; though Fanny Ardant may annoy many audiences whom I belong to. But it is an personal opinion, and here she is purely awesome, better than usual. She is actually annoying in interviews with journalists, on TV sets, not his her films. But if you can forget this, and it is possible to, that's a great French melodrama. You won't be deceived. This poignant movie seems also to be a tribute to Annie Girardot, because Fanny Ardant's role looks very like Girardot's performances when she was at her peak. They show in this film a very short sequence of UN HOMME QUI ME PLAIT, from director Claude Lelouch. The sequence I prefer here is the one when Melvil Poupaud's wife - Cecile De France - comes to visit her husband's lover - Ardant - and tells her: "My husband needs you". And not in a cynical nor offensive or agressive way, but only gripping. I nearly wept. It is so rare, so beautiful. SO RARE.....