L'ombre des femmes (2015) Reviews

• Fun finding out how clueless men are.

  jdesando2016-02-27

  In the Shadow of Women reacquaints us with the quaint realism of the nouvelle vague, that province of Godard, Truffaut, and other great French directors who strip down their mise en scene to just the essentials of two characters falling in and out of love, mostly through bright dialogue in ordinary settings without fancy camera work. Only a French director like Philippe Garrel can take a formulaic French infidelity involving a husband and wife and their lovers and make it fresh while supporting verities that will live forever: If both husband and wife are unfaithful, then even the French know something is amiss and bound to be righted with some accompanying pain. If the husband fails to recognize his sin while he rails against his wife's infidelity, then so be it in the comic stupidity of French men and men in general. Revealing his self-centered chauvinism, Pierre (Stanislas Merhar) tells his wife, Manon (Clotilde Courau), "I thought you were different." Manon and Pierre are struggling documentary makers who are also married with him being restless and her still much in love. But the young intern, Elisabeth (Lena Paugam), turns his head while the handsome colleague turns Manon's, and while they both admit their infidelities it's not certain the turn has come about because of lust or reaction to their spouse's indifference. If this story sounds trite, it is, but it remains one of the best romances in recent memory just because it is authentic and displayed by superior acting and directing. It is, after all, a European film, and as such it will be slower and chattier than most American romances. It has the old New Wave energy that offers youthful glamour and foolishness. It's magical old-fashioned romance showing exactly why men are in women's shadow.

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• Life as it happens

  Horst_In_Translation2016-02-07

  Certainly nobody's perfect in the newest film by director Philippe Garrel. He also wrote the script together with 3 other people including Academy award winner Jean-Claude Carrière. For that collection of writers, it is a fairly short film, does not even reach the 75-minute mark. Needless to say it is French language from start to finish, so you may need subtitles, and it is also entirely shot in black-and-white. To me personally, this is an appealing feature. I like new films in black-and-white à la "The Artist". And with the French dialogs, the film certainly gets a touch of François Truffaut, for example his "Antoine et Colette". The narration helps a lot too. This part comes from actor Louis Garrel, son of the director. I must say this film was definitely an interesting watch. There is nothing big happening at any point, but it's a realistic depiction of life, love and interactions between the characters. Who stays together, who breaks up? Occasionally, I was even tempted to give this film a ****/*****, not much was missing for such a rating. And even if I did not give it in the end, I still very much enjoyed the film. The writing and performances from the characters are all really really good and totally make sense. The female lead reminded me of a mix between Julie Delpy and Joely Richardson. Courau and Merhar prove why they have been very reliable for decades in the business and Paugam (stunning Rebecca Hall lookalike) shows that she will hopefully have a bright future ahead. Like I said earlier, this film is a great watch for everybody who loves French black-and-white films like Truffaut's for example. But it is certainly also worth seeing for everybody who just likes good character studies or French films in general. As usual, I can only give the recommendation to watch this in the French original with subtitles perhaps and no dubbed version. The language adds a whole lot to the atmosphere of the films. I had a really good time watching this and if any of the above descriptions fits you, I am positive that you will also find this an enriching experience. Very much recommended and it made me curious about digging deeper into Garrel's impressive body of work. And finally a few words on the resistance fighter. My guess is that the director wanted to show us how we, the audience, are just as naive as the male protagonist when he says his wife would never cheat on him. We see the resistance fighter as some kind of saint the way he is depicted early on until we find out the ugly truth at the end. Trust nobody.

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• Simple, yet very effective

  Red_Identity2016-06-04

  There's something so inherently simple about this film, something that may even come across as detrimental if one was to explain the entire plot summary to someone who was interested. They might think that it sounds really contrived and kind of like a ridiculous soap opera, but the key in making a film is always in its execution. In that respect, this film succeeds admirably. The screenplay is simple, but very nuanced and realistic, and the performances and the quiet, delicate direction only help add to that realism. Before you know it, you realize you've become really enthralled in these characters' lives. Very well done in all respects, and definitely recommended for fans of realism cinema.

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• In the shadow of Clotilde Courau

  ayoreinf2017-07-20

  There's one reason to see this film - an amazing performance of Clotilde Courau. The rest of the film is paled in comparison. The story itself has nothing special to offer. Philippe Garrel's direction is very professional but offers very little character. His special requirement of single take for every scene seems to have inspired the extraordinary performance of Clotilde Courau, so he does deserve credit for it, but nothing else stands out here. And I did find his use of narration, point less and annoying. All other aspects of the film are professional too but falling out flat. On the other hand, it's worth seeing if only for the superlative performance of Clotilde Courau, which I already mentioned. One last point, has to do with the name of the movie. In French it's called L'ombre des Femmes, which translates simply as The Shadow of Women. It's a very small difference from In the Shadow of Women, but it's an unnacessary difference that shouldn't have been there.

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• Another (mucus) film that lauds itself for male bashing

  Sheldonshells2016-09-06

  Effusing from the bottom of a toilet reeks another braindead simplistic dichotomy of woman=good/man=bad gender feminist nonsense, which at this point is fast getting stale. The male and female characters are simply poured into a pre-made mold and are scraped out without any trimming along the edges (though this movie and its lame characters have no edge whatsoever). The male protagonist is, of course, depicted as an insensitive and egotistical boar, while the female characters are, of course, (almost) flawless and infallible little angels, keeping with the now 30-some year long tradition in movies of presenting this mindnumbingly dumb, and destructive, false dichotomy. Apparently though, this dichotomy flies over the empty heads of the director, writers, and probably most of the (gracefully) few viewers of this movie. If the people who watched this actually knew better, they'd be insulted by this assault on their intelligence and dignity, especially male viewers but any female viewer too who dislikes mindlessly simplistic reductions of who she is as a woman, or maybe just maybe might have an ounce of respect for the men and boys in her life and what the culture is telling them (to hate themselves and regard women as better). Ironic that a movie thinking it's fighting sexism and doing a good thing to, yet again, prioritize women over men and show the poor little ladies as both the victims and victors of the of big bad men, utterly and miserably fails to see its own sexism in presenting this peabrained sexist duelism of man=bad/woman=good. It also fails utterly and miserably in its own total lack of creative bravery, intelligence, and invention. Truly great movies of the present and in the future will end this misandric outlook, and movies will not have to be either anti-woman or anti-man.

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