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I think I have already written in one of my reviews that even
if you manage to fill your movie with great, famous actors, who never fail
in their performances, you still can’t be 100% sure that your movie is going
to be a smashing hit. In the case of
Persecution, the new film from the director of
Intimacy (2001) and
Queen Margot (1994), Patrice
Chereau, this thesis is once again confirmed.
Neither brilliant Romain Duris, nor amazing Charlotte Gainsbourg managed to
save Chereau’s new movie. However, they are the reason why I won’t call
Persecution a complete flop.
Even though their dialogues are totally pretentious and, most of the time,
don’t make much sense, their performances deserve applause and they are good
as always. Or maybe they’re even better than usual since I believe it must
be hard to be convincing and show true emotions when you have to say some
high-flown, pardon me, bullshit, don’t you think?
Ok, there’s another bright point to this movie. Jean-Hugues Anglade. He’s so
likeable and pathetic as a gay guy who feels madly and desperately in love
with Daniel (R.Durais). His character brings at least some humor to the
movie and makes it bearable. Also, I think his character is the only real
one in Persecution. The rest
are so fake it hurts.
It hurts when you realize their so-called life problems aren’t problematic
at all. It hurts when you’re listening to their dramatic, never-ending
conversations that are completely pointless and inadequate to their age and
position. It hurts when you’re watching them cry for completely no reason.
It hurts when you understand how melodramatic they’re trying to be (as
there’s no drama at all!). And it hurts even more if, like me, you thought
you were going to see a good movie.
No, not this time. Save your time and energy as the only feeling
Persecution is able to
provoke is frustration. It’s not worth it. There are still movies with
either Duris (Paris, 2008) or
Gaisbourg (The Antichrist,
2009) where you don’t have to witness their struggle to make the movie at
least a bit better than it really is and where they don’t have to fake
anything.
Seriously, there were people sleeping or yawning around me.
Avoid this movie!
12:09:2009
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