Change Your Image
P-McDonald
Reviews
Romance (1999)
You MUST watch the cut version of this film!
'Romance'. Another infamous French film of recent years. I just saw this in the UK on what I would be led to believe is a largely uncut release of the film. It ran at 95mins. While I am an absolute defender of the principle that films should be released uncut on whatever media, I have to go back on that stance and say not in this case. I wish I'd seen the cut version, not because of any moral concerns but merely because the film would have been shorter. At 95mins its not a long film anyway but it is just completely awful, truly awful. I really thought French cinema had shaken off all that portentous, overly written cine-philosophy. Clearly I was wrong. Do we really need another run down the road of the unknowability of woman, the contradictory impulses of desire, the dark continent of the body? - sorry, I sound like I'm writing the sequel here! Unintentionally parodic of the worst characteristics of French cinema, this film can only be saved by drastic cutting. How come 95 mins can say so much less than Tex Avery could in 10mins or fewer?
Intimacy (2001)
Avoid This Film
This film received a tremendous amount of attention when it was released in the UK. All this was due to the sex scenes. Four years later and seeing the film for the first time, I do think there is cause for alarm at the film but not for the reasons given by the original moral critics. The film is simply dreadful. For a tale so concerned with the appearances given by people, all three leads (Rylance, Fox and Spall) frequently give appalling performances. Then there is the general unevenness of the film. It sways uncontrollably from the quiet 'intimate' scenes, which are probably the best bits of the two hours, to the moments of dramatic confrontation that lack focus, sense or drama. The director simply cannot handle straightforward dramatic duologues. There is a character called Victor, and every time he turns up there is a huge question-mark hanging over the film saying - where is this going? Avoid this film. Last Tango in Paris was bad enough. This is considerably worse.