Recently I finished the reading of the biography "Albert Camus, une vie" of Oliver Todd (Gallimard 1996 Paris: 1054 pages in pocket size) and this this film has been based on this biography.
Albert Camus (1913-1960) was philosopher,writer, novelist, dramatist and also journalist (he won the Nobel Prize of literature in 1957) and died in a tragic car accident at the age of 47 years.
The film tells the ten last years of his life.Albert Camus was a very touching and controversial man as Olivier Todd wrote in his biography.
The performance of Stéphane Freiss is very good.
5 Reviews
Anouk Grinberg is outstanding as Madame Camus
thomasaschmidt22 November 2020
The story of Camus is told from the point of view of the women who are most important to him: his mother, his wife and various lovers, especially actors and at the end of his life (he was 46) a young Danish student. I hope to rehabilitate him by reading another, more objective biography - or even better - many of his wonderful works. Myth of Sisyphos, La Peste, and many more.
He was portrayed as a volatile genius, but not as a man who took responsibility for his nervous wife and children. And especially not as a philosopher.
Outstanding anouk grinberg as Madame Camus.
In his case, it ended with a bang
dierregi12 November 2023
Warning: Spoilers
The movie has the contemporary, annoying, non-chronological structure, apart from the opening scene, with the child Albert on an Algerian beach meeting the teacher who will change his life, but then it jumps almost to the end of his life, during the 1959 New Years holiday.
Camus and family are in their country home, his marriage with Francine is almost over and his friends arrive to visit in their luxury car, hoping Albert told Francine he's going to leave her. Obviously not. And there it goes, the usual bourgeois story of the married man and his lover(s), only in this case the man is a Nobel prize winner and a philosopher.
This makes you wonder what's the point of philosophising when - according to this storytelling - for Camus the meaning of life was to have sex with a pretty young stranger. Nothing wrong with that, but not much of a philosophical lesson, either. Trust the French to turn everything into an "histoire de c*l"...
Anyway, the movie jumps back and forward to Camus' problems because of his political stance (or lack thereof) about Algeria and with his unstable wife Francine, who tried to kill herself a couple of times, because of his long-lasting affair with an actress. In 1957, after having received the Nobel prize while going through an inspirational dry spell, Camus meets a very young Danish groupie, has a serious health crisis, gets depressed and then decides "What the hell! Might as well enjoy a Danish!" and jumps back to life, only to be lead to his demise in the luxury car.
Camus' life and death are well documented, so there is no spoiler here (even if I put "spoiler") as it is a well-know fact that he died in a car crash on his way back to Paris, while he had a train ticket in his pocket for the same journey. That's the only "absurd" part, because his life seems pretty much mundane, by French standards... middle-aged man falls for a young lover, after having played the field for decades. What's special about that?
Even if that was Camus life, I expected a different approach to the story. After all the man is an eminent author and philosopher... but maybe that's why we should never meet our idols, because in real life they're mediocre.
Camus and family are in their country home, his marriage with Francine is almost over and his friends arrive to visit in their luxury car, hoping Albert told Francine he's going to leave her. Obviously not. And there it goes, the usual bourgeois story of the married man and his lover(s), only in this case the man is a Nobel prize winner and a philosopher.
This makes you wonder what's the point of philosophising when - according to this storytelling - for Camus the meaning of life was to have sex with a pretty young stranger. Nothing wrong with that, but not much of a philosophical lesson, either. Trust the French to turn everything into an "histoire de c*l"...
Anyway, the movie jumps back and forward to Camus' problems because of his political stance (or lack thereof) about Algeria and with his unstable wife Francine, who tried to kill herself a couple of times, because of his long-lasting affair with an actress. In 1957, after having received the Nobel prize while going through an inspirational dry spell, Camus meets a very young Danish groupie, has a serious health crisis, gets depressed and then decides "What the hell! Might as well enjoy a Danish!" and jumps back to life, only to be lead to his demise in the luxury car.
Camus' life and death are well documented, so there is no spoiler here (even if I put "spoiler") as it is a well-know fact that he died in a car crash on his way back to Paris, while he had a train ticket in his pocket for the same journey. That's the only "absurd" part, because his life seems pretty much mundane, by French standards... middle-aged man falls for a young lover, after having played the field for decades. What's special about that?
Even if that was Camus life, I expected a different approach to the story. After all the man is an eminent author and philosopher... but maybe that's why we should never meet our idols, because in real life they're mediocre.
Meaingful silences
webstephencam13 February 2021
This film grew on me; the acting is excellent throughout, and the most telling moments are when nothing is said, when the character recognizes the significance of the situation itself. AC's conflicts between the dual modes of Love, the one thru the love of a soul-mate, of one who touches her inner person; the other the sexual, natural one. And Ac's many conflicts over his relationships to the Native and the French Algierians, and to the Common and Educated (Bourgeois?) man, and how to reconcile them. A good introduction to the character.
One negative - the subtitles still leave a lot to be desired, cutting awkwardly and not aligning with the English phrases. I had to pause and rewind many times.
Excellent job of the leading role!
bethjazotte4 October 2020
Filme incrível para mim, que amo esse complexo escritor e ser humano... é claro que o filme não é uma biografia séria mas tem muitos dados acurados. Vale a pena! Incredible film for me, who love this complex writer and human being ... of course the film is not a serious biography but has a lot of accurate data. Worth it!#movieslover #amazonprimevideo #albertcamus
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