A Complete Review of Jacques Audiard's work

Cast : Lucie Zhang, Makita Samba, Noémie Merlant, Jehnny Beth

What was it about?
Émilie meets Camille who is attracted to Nora, who crosses paths with Amber. Three girls and a boy - they're friends, sometimes lovers and often both.

My two cents:
The first thing I enjoyed with this movie was that it was so different then Audiard’s previous work and the fact that his work is so versatile is probably one of the main reasons why he has become one of the most interesting French directors that emerged during the last 20 years. Even the black-and-white photography which can be a fancy useless gimmick was pretty neat here. Indeed, it was quite beautiful and it gave the whole thing a classy look. On top of that, it did match my feeling about Paris which is, in spite of its romantic reputation, a rather grey place in my opinion. Concerning the content itself, well, even though it was also interesting, it never really reached the level of Audiard’s best work though. Eventually, I think the main issue was with the 3 main characters involved. Indeed, they were all intriguing enough but never really fascinating after all. Especially Émilie wong, she was such an annoying egocentric woman, a fact which was actually pointed out by her own sister. And, yet, I have to admit that there was something really genuine about this girl and she was a good reminder of all these frustrating years when I was living in France and I desperately tried to start a relationship which such neurotic girls. No wonder I left the country when I was 20 years old and never looked back again but that’s a different story. For the rest, the movie was a combination of good ideas and some really half-baked ones. For example, the ending during which 2 really random couples were formed didn’t really work. Anyway, even if it turned out to be a minor effort, it was still a decent watch.

My rating: 07/10

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Cast : John C. Reilly, Joaquin Phoenix, Jake Gyllenhaal, Riz Ahmed, Rutger Hauer

What was it about?
Eli and Charlie Sisters, an infamous duo of gunslinging assassins, chase a gold prospector and his unexpected ally in 1850s Oregon.

My two cents:
Well, I wonder how Audiard ended up making a Western as his first English-speaking feature but what was even more surprising was that it turned out to be one of the best Westerns I have seen in years. Apparently, even though this movie had been very well received, it was still a flop at the box-office but, as far as I was concerned, I really loved the damned thing. The first thing that impressed me was that Audiard had managed to create such a convincing time and place. Then, there was such a top cast involved and they all delivered some solid performances. About the plot, I don’t think it really mattered since the whole thing was mostly about the mood and the characters involved. Above all, I just loved the interactions involving Charlie and Eli. Indeed, these characters and their relationship were fairly complex and sometimes actually quite hilarious. Concerning the other couple John Morris / Hermann Kermit Warm, to be honest, even though they were also interesting, their relationship could have been more developed as they were not as fascinating as the Sisters brothers. Still, I really liked this Western a lot though.

My rating: 08/10

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Cast : a bunch of unknown actors

What was it about?
Dheepan is a Sri Lankan Tamil warrior who flees to France and ends up working as a caretaker outside Paris.

My two cents:
I remember that, at the time, it was a rather controversial win since many didn't expect this movie to get the Golden Palm at the Cannes film festival, especially since it was competing against the seemingly far superior 'Saul fia'. Well, even though it turned out to be a decent watch, it was still far from being Audiard's best directing effort. Indeed, in my opinion, even though half of it was really compelling and even quite fascinating to behold, the other half, on the other hand, barely worked, I'm afraid. First of all, even though the 3 actors involved delivered some strong performances, they must have been the best looking refugee family I have ever seen which made them maybe easier to watch but it felt also rather misguided and I always felt conscious that I was watching some actors. Furthermore, the fact that they seemed to get along fine right from the very beginning felt too good to be true. Then, you had this completely failed scene where Dheepan gets in touch with a colonel from Sri Lanka. Seriously, the guy orders him to gather some money to buy some weapons but how the hell is Dheepan going to achieve this goal with his job as a caretaker? But then, the colonel and his 'mission' were never mentioned again showing how completely pointless the scene was. They eventually had some bigger problems with some local gangsters but even though it was quite interesting, even this storyline was rather half-baked and towards the end, I had the feeling that I was suddenly watching 'Scarface' or some classic Honk-Kong action flick from the 80's directed by John Woo.

My rating: 06/10

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Cast : Marion Cotillard, Matthias Schoenaerts

What was it about?
Put in charge of his young son, Alain leaves Belgium for Antibes to live with his sister and her husband as a family. Alain's bond with Stephanie, a killer whale trainer, grows deeper after Stephanie suffers a horrible accident.

My two cents:
I really wonder how they came up with such a messed up but also intriguing story. At the center, you have two of the most spellbinding characters I have ever seen thanks to some flawless performances by Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts. Concerning the directing, Jacques Audiard once again pretty much blew me away and the guy is pretty much the best French director at work nowadays. Indeed, he manages to shot beautiful scenes without making them too much artsy and he gives enough room to develop some amazingly deep characters who were completely 3 dimensional. To be honest, I wasn't completely sold by the ending which didn't really work for me. Indeed, I just loved the deliberate slow pacing but, suddenly, during the 3rd act, everything was terribly rushed because they didn’t have any more time to make sure that Ali realized that his son and Stephanie were really important in his life and the whole thing felt like a massive short-cut. Still, it was a minor flaw and it is quite an amazing drama.

My rating: 08/10

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Cast : Tahar Rahim

What was it about?
A young Algerian man is sent to a French prison.

My two cents:
Well, I wasn't disappointed, that's for sure. Indeed, it was pretty much a masterpiece and easily one of the best French movies I have seen during the last 10 years. I was already impressed by Audiard's previous directing effort, 'De battre mon coeur s'est arrêté', but this movie was even better. Basically, it was one of the grimmest, dreariest jail dramas I have ever seen and, compared to this movie, 'The Shawshank Redemption' was a pretty much a Disney flick. Indeed, the jail was so dirty, so depressing, they tell you about reintegration but how could you become a better person after spending time in such a vile and hostile environment?!? The main character was a fine example as he started out as a scary lamb but slowly became a wolf, even though he was still traumatized by the first murder he committed there. To this purpose, they added some paranormal, dreamlike sequences but they did fit perfectly with the grim reality of this picture. Even though you eventually spend more than two hours with this guy, you are never sure about his thoughts or his feelings and it made the whole thing even more spellbinding to watch.

My rating: 09/10

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Cast : Romain Duris, Emmanuelle Devos, Mélanie Laurent

What was it about?
Will Thomas still lead a life of crime and cruelty, just like his thuggish father, or will he pursue his dream of becoming a pianist?

My two cents:
First of all, I discovered afterwards the fact that it was actually a remake which was really surprising. Indeed, most of the time, French movies are remade in some (very average) American versions. This time, we have a French movie which is actually a remake of a rather unknown American movie ('Fingers' by James Tobak with Harvey Keitel). It was really quite surprising. Even more surprising was that that this ‘remake’ turned out to be a great movie! Indeed, the directing was great, the acting was awesome and the story was, in my opinion, just fascinating. Indeed, it is a rather odd mix between the life of a piano virtuoso and the life of a small time thug and though it shouldn’t work, it really does, especially thanks to a strong performance by Romain Duris, one of the best French actors around nowadays. By now, Jacques Audiard has also turned out to be one of the most interesting French directors at work nowadays and his following movies were also some huge critical success.

My rating: 08/10

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Cast : Vincent Cassel, Emmanuelle Devos

What was it about?
She is almost deaf and he lip-reads. He is an ex-convict. She wants to help him. He thinks no one can help except himself.

My two cents:
At the beginning of his career, Jacques Audiard made some other movies which didn't really reach an international audience but which were pretty good nonetheless. If I recall it correctly, I actually saw this flick in the movie theater when it was released and it managed to get some pretty good reviews at the time (in fact all the movies directed by Audiard have been well received which is something quite exceptional). Eventually, I did like it but it was missing something to become really remarkable. I mean, once again, Audiard managed to create some rather fascinating characters and Vincent Cassel and Emmanuelle Devos both gave also some really strong performances. However, even though the story was intriguing, it was a little bit too gimmicky and Jacques Audiard will manage to give some more compelling tales later on during his career. Anyway, even though it wasn’t really a masterpiece, it was still a pretty good drama/thriller.

My rating: 07/10

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Cast : Mathieu Kassovitz, Anouk Grinberg, Sandrine Kiberlain, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Albert Dupontel

What was it about?
Set in France at the end of World War II Albert Dehousse finds out his father wasn't a war hero and his mother is a collaborator. He leaves his wife and goes to Paris. Gradually he inveigles himself with the resistance movement. They trust him and he helps them trace collaborators.

My two cents:
Just like 'Regarde les hommes tomber', it was again starring Mathieu Kassovitz, another famous French director (actually the guy doesn't direct anymore but that's another story). Eventually, I thought it was a decent drama with some really solid directing but, somehow, it didn't really blow me away and I think it mostly had to do with the main character. I won't blame Mathieu Kassovitz as he gave her a solid performance and it was a bold move to focus the story on a rather unlikeable character. However, in contrary to some major con-artists like Tom Ripley or Frank Abagnale who managed to do what they did because they had some impressive skills, on the other hand, Albert Dehousse was a passive pathetic loser with seemingly no talent whatsoever. However, after some practice, he became an expert liar succeeding in pretty much everything he attempted to do and I think the stretch between who he actually was and who he actually became was just too big. The fact that his intentions were murky at best probably didn’t help as well. Still, I have to admit that I have always been fascinated by such con-artists and Albert Dehousse was definitely an intriguing character. It was also interesting to dive into this time period, just at the end of WWII, and you could see how messy and confusing it was for pretty much everyone in France.

My rating: 07/10

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Cast : Mathieu Kassovitz, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Jean Yanne

What was it about?
Simon is a sales representative about fifty. When Mickey, his cop friend, is being shot, he leaves everything to find the murderers. Two years before, Marx, an old gambler, met Frederic, a young man that does not look very smart and started to follow him everywhere. Of course, Simon's story is related with Marx and Johnny's story somehow.

My two cents:
I think I wanted to watch this movie for more than 15 years. In the mean time, I saw most of the other movies directed by Jacques Audiard who has become easily one of the best French directors nowadays so I became even more eager to watch his directorial debut. Well, eventually, even though it turned out to be definitely a solid watch, it was far from being his best movie though. Basically, it was pretty obvious that it was his first movie and, instead of going for a straightforward approach which would have been a safer choice, he went for something really convoluted, obviously, to show what he could but I'm afraid the whole plan rather backfired. I mean, the first 15 minutes were just a mess, to be honest, and it took me most of the duration to finally understand what the hell was going on. Basically, you follow two storylines, a very strong one involving an amazing Jean-Louis Trintignant and Matthieu Kassovitz who made one of the strangest couples I have ever seen, and another storyline with Jean Yanne which barely made any sense whatsoever. It is basically one of these movies that need to be watched at least twice because the first time was such a struggle to put all the pieces together but, in this case, it wasn't a compliment. Anyway, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent directorial debut though.

My rating: 07/10

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