Pola X

Starring:Guillaume Depardieu, Yekaterina Golubeva, Catherine Deneuve, Delphine Chuillot, Laurent Lucas, Patachou, Petruta Catana, Mihaella Silaghi, Sharunas Bartas, Samuel Dupuy, Mathias Mlekuz, Dine Souli, Miguel Yeco, Khireddine Medjoubi, Mark Zak, Anne Kanis, Myriam Defremont, Michel B. DupÃ©rial, Pascal Parmentier, Jean-Jacques Colin
Director: Leos Carax
Studio: Fox Lorber
Product Type: DVD

Description

Based on Herman Melville's 1852 novel Pierre: or the Ambiguities, filmmaker LeosCarax (Lovers On The Bridge, Mauvais Sang) presents an ambitious tale of one man's search for the truth in a vague world. A young, successful author (Depardieu) is haunted by a recurring dream of a woman obscured in darkness. After discovering the identity of this mysterious figure, he finds his life spiraling downward into a world of lies, ambiguities and masquerades.

Customer Reviews:

Interesting Concept.......2007-05-20

"Pola X"

Interesting Concept

Amos Lassen and Cinema Pride

Pierre is a young man born into the privileged class. His book, which he published anonymously, is a literary sensation and he is about to marry his cousin, Lucie (such it is with the French upper classes). Suddenly a dark haired vagrant girl tells him a secret story one night in the woods. She claims to be Isabelle, his sister, who was abandoned by his father. Pierre (a very handsome Guillaume Depardieu) breaks off his engagement with Lucie and leaves his doting mother (the always beautiful and exotic Catherine Deneuve) and heads for Paris with Isabelle (Yekaterina Golubeva) determined to explore the dark side of human nature. He begins writing a new novel and sends chapters under a nom de plume to his publisher and his relationship with Isabelle grows more intense. In the winter Lucie comes to live with them. As tensions begin to mount between the three, it appears that Pierre has not discovered truth at all, but despair.
Everything sounds like a wonderful film plot but the director, Leos Carax, evidently did not explain to his actors exactly what the true nature of this film was to be. He wanted to make an oblique and bizarre film but is lacking here is grace and style. What we get is a big complicated mess that should draw the viewer in but does the opposite. The film is not only erratic but it is choppy as well. Characters that have nothing to do with anything pop in and out, performances are milked for non-existent emotion and the lighting is so poor that sometimes I wondered if there was anything on the screen at all.
However, not all is bad. The musical score is beautiful and the photography of the French countryside is visually stunning. Catherine Deneuve rises above everything and she is still the wonderful actress that she has always been and her beauty is still radiant. I give the director for experimenting and I am sorry that his exercise does not work.

If you could hang people for being annoying..........2006-02-05

...the girl who plays Isabelle would be dead by now. She has the most annoying squeaky voice and the most annoying Slavic accent. There is a scene in the woods, where she goes on and on about her miserable childhood, and after 90 seconds you are ready to wrap that dark hair around her neck and strangle her. The girl who plays Lucie is much more palatable, because she stays quiet most of the time.

It's really hard to feel sorry for the characters in the movie, because none of them are really sympathetic. The only one I felt sorry for was the little gypsy girl who got killed by the passer-by.

Test your Stamina!.......2005-05-11

It is rumored that Herman Melville lost his mind while writing PIERRE OU LES AMGIGUITES. Generations of young readers who were crazy about his cult-book MOBY DICK could not warm to the pondering-pessimistic effusions in his late work. Director Leos Carax and his star Guillaume Depardieu must have hoped without doubt that the screen version of POLA, script nr. 10 would be an "event". Alas, the product of their efforts is just a little dog that crawls on all fours before its audience.

Depardieu, like captain Ahab, aspires to delve into the real meaning of things. It does not satisfy him to live in a chateau with sprinklers on his lawn and swans in his pond. He does not take an interest in the preparations for his wedding ceremony with a fiancee who is "not too bad" in bed because she is "like a child". His relation to Catherine Deneuve (who does an excellent tightrope act between allurement and unattainability) is - ambiguous: They call each other "brother" and "sister" and she does not mind that he sees her topless in the tub. Later he becomes tired of her admonitions, breaks a door and realizes that "Mama, there's nothing in there!". He is unwise enough to tell his fiancee that he is dreaming of another girl (his white whale), and then he is surprised that she is jealous instead of extolling his veracity. The girl of his dreams materializes (Katerina Gulobeva) and tells him: "I'm your sister". They agree upon telling everybody that she is his wife...

Whoever wrote the dialogue must be hailed as the most bombastic equivocator on earth. Gulobeva's monologues, in particular, are likely to send even the most exacting masochist into raptures: a seemingly endless monotonous elocution.

After 80 minutes lechers will be rewarded for their patience: Depardieu jr. and Gulobeva's body double (an Australian swimmer) present a candid bed-scene. It could not have been easy to surpass papa Depardieu's antics in LA DERNIERE FEMME (1976) but the honor of the family was at stake...

Public-spirited viewers will welcome the film's socio-critical commitment. A taxi-driver who refuses to transport Gulobeva and her friends is attacked with pepper-spray and beaten up by the police. But Depardieu, who knows no prejudices, takes the refugees to the zoo. Later a little gypsy-girl is killed by a passer-by.

A McGuffin of sorts crystallizes after an hour or so. Depardieu (Melville's alter ego) wants to uncover the hidden for his book and therefore has to lead a hidden life. But his publisher bursts his soap-bubble: "One cannot be angry at his time without being punished. You want to shock the world and accept its admiration. But you don't believe in it anyway". He moves into a run-down factory building inhabited by dogs, poultry and rock musicians from the former East Block and mimics the poor poet in his attic.

There's a long way to go before the long-desired ending comes; Sticking this film out may prove a sitzkrieg between you and the screen, but this moment of heartfelt relief when you realize that the film is really really over makes your exertion worthwhile...

A beautiful what?.......2005-01-08

Some nice use of Scott Walker,mis-en-scen,star power,industrial pastiche music,long takes,short takes,and of course a non-faux love making scene between a good looking dude and well lets just an actress that is not.. Oh yeah and the Catherine Deneuve motor cycle crash was bad-*ss. Oh and I think I'm almost obliged by international law to describe all of this as a beautiful mess.

"SPECTACULAR & VISUALLY STUNNING - A MUST SEE".......2004-08-12

Leos Carax's POLA X is truly one of the most engaging films that have come out in the past decade. Throughout the movie Carax (Lovers on the Bridge, Boy Meets Girl) creates a visual poetry which is both innovative & contemporary. The film may create a sombre mood throughout but it engages you to a limit that you start looking at things the way Carax wanted you to.

I am inclined to write the review of this movie because of the various negative publicity & misleading reviews it has received over the years. True, this is not your usual run-on-the mill type even in the art house genre, but it is definitely worth a watch. POLA X( based on Herman Melville's "Pierre, or the Ambiguities") is actually an acronym of the French title of the movie "Pierre, Ou Les Ambiguities"[P-O-L-A]. The 'X' in POLA X derives from the shooting script being Carax's tenth draft of his screenplay. The protagonist Pierre(Guillaume Depardieu),a young novelist coming from a rich family & a prolific background, is writing his new novel but is falling short of new ideas. His otherwise mundane lifestyle turns upside down when he meets a disheveled dark haired girl, Isabelle (Golubeva), who resembles the girl he has been dreaming about for some time. She turns out to be his illegitimate sister, a secret he was kept in dark about for all these years. Pierre finds in her the inspiration for newer ideas & an opportunity to break out of his routine lifestyle. He breaks his engagement to his sweetheart Lucie (Delphine Chuillot) & embarks on a journey with Isabelle - to provide her with all the love, support & protection that the world has denied her & also to stimulate his own creative instincts.

It is definitely disappointing to see that even after so many years of its release, a few minutes sex scene between Pierre & Isabelle seems to get all the attention. It's true that it is graphic but it is sensual - innovatively shot with the use of tricky camera shots, colour & use of light & shadow. Carax didn't want to make it look like one of those "Guide to Sex" videos. I find the pace of the movie quite appropriate that does justice to the unfolding of the story. The scene at the forest where Isabelle talks about her past seems tedious for a first viewing but it settles with you with successive viewings. Isabelle's anxiety, insecurity & pain, which she could not share with anyone for so long, could be shown in that manner only. Also who can forget the background score of Scott Walker which supports the sombre mood & haunts you throughout the movie? Superb Cinematography & clever use of light & shadow techniques makes it a visual treat - completely in sync with the script. In fact this is a film which tries to tell its story visually rather than using long dialogues. I see this film reaching a cult status, may be 25 years down the line, when those Criterion Collection guys will come out with its special edition. But for the time being I will strongly recommend it to those who want a unique cinematic experience & a BREAK from the usual hundred million budgeted HOLLYWOOD Blockbuster crap.

Average customer rating:

Interesting Concept
If you could hang people for being annoying...
Test your Stamina!
A beautiful what?
"SPECTACULAR & VISUALLY STUNNING - A MUST SEE"

Pola X [Region 2]
Starring: Guillaume Depardieu , Yekaterina Golubeva , Catherine Deneuve , Delphine Chuillot , and Laurent Lucas
Director: Leos Carax
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( P ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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Customer Reviews:

Interesting Concept.......2007-05-20

If you could hang people for being annoying..........2006-02-05

Test your Stamina!.......2005-05-11

A beautiful what?.......2005-01-08

"SPECTACULAR & VISUALLY STUNNING - A MUST SEE".......2004-08-12

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