An average movie

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was directed by Patrice Chéreau and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, as usual with Chéreau, it turned out to be another intriguing directorial effort, that’s for sure. Indeed, even though he might not be one of the most famous French directors, I have always been impressed by his versatility. In this case, I was wondering if it was based on a play since it was mostly taking place on one location with mostly 2 characters involved. Well, in fact, it turned out to be adapted from a short story written by Joseph Conrad which made the whole thing even more interesting. On top of that, Pascal Greggory and Isabelle Huppert both gave some really solid performances. Still, eventually, the whole thing did feel a little bit dry. Furthermore, even though both characters seemed to have a rather high opinion of themselves, you might wonder which one of them was the most arrogant and I’m not sure if I really care for any of them. Still, with this voice-over telling you how perfect his life was, how well he (thought he) knew his wife and how happy they were together even if they not had been intimate for years (which should have been a red flag for the poor fellow) and, yet, it was rather priceless to find out that she couldn’t stand his guts after all. Seriously, how can you spend a decade with someone and have seriously no clue about what they really think or feel? That was also the issue with this kind of lifestyle. Sure, they had a half-dozen servants doing everything for them but how can you be together and develop a relationship when they are so many people around you? Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it turned out to be a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Patrice Chéreau’s work.