L' Ennui

Starring:Charles Berling, Sophie Guillemin, Arielle Dombasle, Robert Kramer, Alice Grey (II), Maurice Antoni, Tom Ouedraogo, Patrick Arrachequesne, Mirtha Caputi Medeiros, Pierre Chevalier (III), Oury Milshtein, Anne-Sophie Morillon, Marc Chouppart, CÃ©cile Reigher, Antoine Beau, Serge Bozon, Nicole Pescheux, M'mah Maribe, Selijko Zivanovic, Nathalie BesanÃ§on
Director: CÃ©dric Kahn
Studio: Fox Lorber
Product Type: DVD

Description

A middle-aged philosophy teacher begins an affair with a young girl that drives him past the point of obsession when he realizes that he can not possess her.

Customer Reviews:

An increasingly restless film.......2006-01-10

I become irritated part way through this film. It's like you are forced to watch Berling's character become increasingly obsessed with Guillemin's, to the point where we are not only disturbed, but also completely perturbed by his inability to let go of Cecilia, who seems so wonderfully and completely uninterested and distant. I admit that while I watched the movie, I had to turn it off part way through; I, myself, became so anxious by and annoyed with Martin's obsessive ness. At first, I thought it was because the movie was totally unappealing, even unwatchable. However, once I watched the rest of the film I understood why. Let me explain why.

Berling's growing sexual obsession with Sophie Guilleman is believable because in real life I would imagine that more men, middle aged or otherwise, develop obsessions with ordinary girls/women than with the Pamela Anderson/Jordan in-your-face sex objects. This is not to say that Guilleman is chopped liver but she is an Average girl; average looks, average figure, average sexuality and again it is, I suspect, much easier to develop a sexual obsession about a girl who is much more likely to be available to the Average man, which is what Berling is both on and off screen. The idea of a young girl believed to have killed a man three times her age via sex clearly invests her with a certain cachet not least in the eyes of a philosophy teacher drifting aimlessly yet inexorably towards mid-life crisis and not even searching for a paddle. The concept of a young girl who actually enjoys sex for its own sake and is unwilling and/or incapable of adding love to the mix, a creature in effect prepared and eager to experience sexual fulfillment as often and with as many different partners as possible and remain loyal to none is not exactly new and each time this story is told the only possible interest lies in the man who is unable to share her and how long it takes to reach its inevitable tragic conclusion.

I realized that Kahn probably had every attention of making his subject so intense, so masochistic, and so repetitively annoying in his obsession, the utter irritation and anxiety that the movie provoked in me suggested that not only is the filmmaker very successful in representing pathological behavior, but also in implicating his audience in that representation.

L'ennui.......2005-10-19

It's not my type of a french movie as it supposed to be. It is too sexually!

"Boredom".......2005-10-01

After having seen this film my belief that french cinema of the last ten years is a s alive as ever has again been reassured. Many claims have been made, that french films aren`t what they used to be(which they of course aren`t, as time changes), even that the quality of french film production has fallen into mediocrity. But as Jonathan Rosenbaum pointed out already during the 90s in his essay on "Les Voleurs" (1996 / Andre Techine), a film I thoroughly recommend, is that most critics only consider what they get to see from french films, whixh is very little. If they were really interested and would dig a bit deeper into every years production on their own, they would find many rough diamonds along with some polished ones.
Cedric Kahn is a young director and according to this film a most promising one. We have the Story of a middle-aged philosophy teacher who falls for a 17 year old girl (sorry Trevor ), but this isn`t your usual older man falls for Lolita type of film. In fact I got so bored after about 15 minutes, because of the lurid but seemingly empty pace of the movie and the contrived dialogue, that I started switching channels on my TV, but when i returned to the same scene I had left a few seconds later, i knew I was finally onto something.
The film begins with a rapid pace showing a disturbed Charles Berling (who had one year earlier starred in Anne Fontaine's brilliant social study "Nettoyage a sec", but may be best known for the leading role in Patrice Leconte? "Ridicule") who has entered a cocktail party of his ex-wife Sophie, with the intention to speak to her (they seem to be separated for a short time only), but doesn't succeed as she seems to be more concerned with making the impression that she has her life under control, though we see that she's very far away from this goal. It is never explicitely mentioned in the film, but there are numerous great scenes that indicate that the marriage has left deep wounds in Sophie's heart and mind, and probably also in Berling's character, though he isn`t one for analizing situations, when it comes to himself. At the party he is "offered" a young student who admires him for the night, but she shows not a hint of interest. He even explains to Sophie, that he hasn't had sex for the last six months, and intends to go on this way, in order to write a new book. After having left, he wonders aimlessly through the night when he encounters a painter who gives him his adress after a rescue by Berling from a difficult situation. When he visits the painters house the next day, he discovers that he has died during sexual intercourse with his 17 year old student he was obsessed with. After meeting her, Berling steps in the same "trap". he starts a sexual relationship with her, that gets more and more dramatic until end of the film, and the final climax.
The theme of the film is obssession, and it reminded me at times of Zulawski's movie of the same name, though it isn`t as notorious or deliric. A case study of the protagonists neuroses getting the best of him, and his entanglement into an illusion of his own making. The fascinating object of desire is Cecilia (debut by Sophie Guillemin), who in no way corresponds with a young femme fatale. Quite on the contrary. She is a bit fat, small, is aware of her sexuality but doesn`t use it as a tool, she is rather introverted and makes no real attempt at seducing anybody. More than anything else she is like an object waiting to be used, though only if it pleases her (which it seems to do quite often though). And that becomes the crucial point. No active relationship develops between the two besides a sexual one, which is neither demanding nor boring. Just plain ordinary sex, which is shown several times, and is over fast. Cecilia seems to be oblivious to ambition, the need to small-talk with people, or communicate on any other level than sexually. She seems to have no real needs nor desires, living in the moment, and with a day to day time-table, that`s pretty schematic. The protagonist now starts to interpret this blank canvas, and instead of writing his book, he begins to wonder what`s going on in Cecilia`s mind, begins projecting his own fears on her. He thinks she is cheating, she`s lying, she doesn`t love him, etc. as he becomes more and more possessive. As his desparate attempts to possess her even sexually don`t find a satisfiying conclusion his paranoia takes on a clinical state. More and more he turns into a victim to his desire for love and closeness, which he can`t possibly find in Cecilia, but instead of letting it go, he degrades himself even more.
The strength of the film lies in its director`s ability to carry things to the extreme, to let its protagonist go not just to the borders, but clearly over everything socially acceptible. He shows the utter ridiculousness of the protagonists behaviour, without ridiculing him, and even in the most degrading and unbelievable scenes the direction never falters on what is a very small line between seriousness and absurdity, maintaining the films credibility, and most of all its sincerity, through which every character of the film is primarily his own, keeping its dignity. This exceptional accomplishment by Cédric Kahn is most promising for a young director more interested in the process of self-discovery and redemption of his characters, than in any bleak nihilism or apocalyptic vision of mankind and relationships.. The ending beautifully underscores his humanist standpoint.
Strongly recommended.

Worth a viewing.......2005-09-30

Okay, admittedly a hot teenage girl regularly getting naked and getting her swerve on does not put me of, but there are some genuine points of value to this film that save it from being physical and emotional pornography.

I've never been that fond of French cinema. The movies that have come highly reccomended ("Hate" and "Breathless" among them) have always struck me as too whimsical and disjointed. I realize people could say the same of the work of my favorite director, Jim Jarmusch, but it just doesn't come off the same.

This movie is different. While it suspends realism at times, it's often a hyper-realistic, genuinely nasty film. Nobody is particularly sympathetic, and no character's feelings or observations seem more important than anyone else's. Martin is technically the main character and much of the film focuses on his reactions to events, but you get the notion that he's really not there sometimes. Cecilia is quiet and remote but somehow seems simultaneously aware of anything.

The film's main problem is; if you're going to have unsympathetic characters (the cruelly dismissive Cecilia, the posessive Martin, etc) have a compelling story. And the basic ideas are good but never fleshed out to full potential. Sometimes it felt like watching half a movie.

As an aside, an earlier review called Cecilia dumpy and dull. I can't agree. Sophie Guillemin, the actress who portrays her, oozes 'girl next door' sensuality, in this film no less than any other.

There are better movies, but if you'e in mood for something without special effects or formulaic hollywood moralizing, I would pick thsi up.

Guillemin's the whole show.......2005-07-03

This is a classic case of great performance, shame about the movie. Sophie Guillemin is quite a revelation - in every sense - without ever appearing to do much or indeed anything. Here she reminded me a lot of Isabelle Huppert in The Lacemaker (only with much more nudity), with much of Huppert's brand of everyday sexuality.

Guillemin's a blank slate of a schoolgirl/model that men in crisis project their fantasies on to. She gives them her body but nothing else, and seems constantly detached and immune to surprise or emotional or intellectual involvement, much to the distress of her latest part-time conquest, recently divorced teacher/author Charles Berling. The downward spiral of obsession that will destroy his life is a given, and that's the problem. The film constantly tries to raise the stakes to surprise us by how much further it will go, but by the last third he's become so intensely irritating in yet another variation of the previous scene - only louder and more desperate - that you lose interest. Had it ended half an hour earlier it might have been more successful, but this seriously outstays its welcome.

Poor movie, but definitely worth a watch for Guillemin.

Average customer rating:

An increasingly restless film
L'ennui
"Boredom"
Worth a viewing
Guillemin's the whole show

L' Ennui [Region 2]
Starring: Charles Berling , Sophie Guillemin , Arielle Dombasle , Robert Kramer , and Alice Grey (II)
Director: Cédric Kahn
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( L ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B00005B5XI

Customer Reviews:

An increasingly restless film.......2006-01-10

L'ennui.......2005-10-19

It's not my type of a french movie as it supposed to be. It is too sexually!

"Boredom".......2005-10-01

Worth a viewing.......2005-09-30

Guillemin's the whole show.......2005-07-03

Average customer rating:

An increasingly restless film
L'ennui
"Boredom"
Worth a viewing
Guillemin's the whole show

L' Ennui [Region 2]
Starring: Charles Berling , Sophie Guillemin , Arielle Dombasle , Robert Kramer , and Alice Grey (II)
Director: Cédric Kahn
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( L ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

The Dreamers (Original Uncut NC-17 Version)
Intimacy (Unrated, Widescreen Edition)
Romance
9 songs - Unrated Full Uncut Version
Devil in the Flesh

ASIN: B00004VY7A

Customer Reviews:

An increasingly restless film.......2006-01-10

L'ennui.......2005-10-19

It's not my type of a french movie as it supposed to be. It is too sexually!

"Boredom".......2005-10-01

Worth a viewing.......2005-09-30

Guillemin's the whole show.......2005-07-03

Average customer rating:

An increasingly restless film
L'ennui
"Boredom"
Worth a viewing
Guillemin's the whole show

L' Ennui [Region 2]
Starring: Charles Berling , Sophie Guillemin , Arielle Dombasle , Robert Kramer , and Alice Grey (II)
Director: Cédric Kahn
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( L ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items: