I am velvety-smoothReview is BELOWI am veltely smooth, too
_______
DVD: Vie à t'attendre, Une / I’ve Been Waiting So Long (2004)
 
Film:  Good    
DVD Transfer:  Very Good  
...back to Index
V to Z
DVD Extras:  
n/a
         
Label/Studio:
Mongrel Media (Canada)
 
Catalog #:
 
...or start from scratch
A
Region:
1 (NTSC)
         
Released:

November 4, 2008

 

 

 
Genre: Drama / Romance  
Synopsis:
The life of a restauranteur begins to unravel when an old flame returns.  

 

 

Directed by:

Thierry Klifa
Screenplay by: Thierry Klifa, Christopher Thompson
Music by: David Moreau
Produced by: Francois Kraus
Cast:

Nathalie Baye, Patrick Bruel, Geraldine Pailhas, Anouk Grinberg, Danielle Darrieux, and Michael Cohen.

Film Length: 105 mins.
Process/Ratio: 1.85:1
Colour
Anamorphic DVD: Yes
Languages:  French Dolby Surround
Subtitles:  English
 
Special Features :  

(none)

 
 
Comments :

Director Thierry Klifa has constructed a compact examination of one man’s ignoble decision to engage in a long-forgotten romance during a prolonged state of engagement with his longtime bride-to-be, and while the brisk editing and slightly impressionistic scenes manage to keep the films far away from whiny melodrama, Une vie à t'attendre is also a cold movie, with one of those interminable unresolved finales that doesn’t satisfy anyone.

The underplayed performances are double-edged swords, because while the emphasis is on nuances and subtle gestures, it also makes the characters a bit chilly. Alex (Patrick Bruel) is the most compelling, largely because he has the most to lose: longtime girlfriend Claire (Géraldine Pailhas), set on marriage and starting a family; the friends with whom he works at the family restaurant he now manages; and younger brother Julien (Ils’ Michaël Cohen) over whom he’s excessively protective.

Julien is mostly a peripheral character, and he largely functions as the elder brother’s whipping boy whenever Alex becomes overstressed from playing father figure to a family screw-up. When Alex’ bullying reaches a breaking point, Julien’s desperate attempt at freedom is handled quite abruptly; a brother-to-brother scene resolves nothing, and Julien is subsequently dropped from the film.

Claire does remain a potent character largely because she’s shown as the link through which Alex can settle down and into a formally paternal life – something he’s been fighting since he took control of a family business that curtailed a short-lived aspiration to become an artist – and it’s intriguing to watch her attempts to maintain dignity when Alex starts to court past love Jeanne (Nathalie Baye), intent on returning to France with her young son.

Baye struggles to give Jeanne as much warmth as she can – the more successful efforts are in scenes with mom Emilie (Danielle Darrieux) – but even a outdoor cantina scene, where Jeanne serenades Alex with a local band, barely elevates her character beyond the Other Woman archetype; she’s a self-gratifying home wrecker, although Alex is equally complicit in the slow destruction of his life.

Director/co-writer Klifa and co-writer Christopher Thompson (Décalage horaire / Jet Lag) keep the focus on that destruction, and overall Jeanne is never depicted as mean-spirited; her curiosity to rekindle an old romance evolves (quickly) into something selfish, and one senses Alex was already hovering in a state of boredom and unhappiness already, quite primed for a distraction that might rescue him from a paternal and business life he never wanted.

Because the scriptwriters never aspire to capture raw intimacy – all of Alex and Jeanne’s sexual rendezvous are clipped with fadeouts – the muted finale is perfectly in tune with the overall dramatic dullness of most scenes. We never believe Alex will get on the plane with Jeanne because Alex’ persona has been shaped into a paternal figure: there’s simply no way he’d abandon his brother, friends, the business, and his pregnant girlfriend. It’s his character’s makeup, and that lack of (mis)adventure means the film itself is equally dull.

 

© 2009 Mark R. Hasan

Bzzz-bzz-bazzz-brzzoom!
_IMDB Entry________Script Online _________Fan/Official Film site________Cast/Crew Link
_IMDB Detailed Entry_______Scripts available online ________Fan/Official Film Site__________Additional Related Sites
____Amazon.com __________Amazon.ca _________Bay Street Video_______Comparisons_
__Amazon.com info____Amazon.com info____Basy Street Video info______Compare Different Region releases_
_Soundtrack CD__________CD Review__________LP Review__________Composer Filmog.
_________Soundtrack Review_______Yes, VINYL_________Composer Filmography/Discography at Soundtrack Collector.com
Brrr-boooshi-bzz-bazzah!
 
 
Vrrfpt-Voot-Voot-Voot!
 

Site designed for 1024 x 768 resolution, using 16M colours, and optimized for MS Explorer 6.0. KQEK Logo and All Original KQEK Art, Interviews, Profiles, and Reviews Copyright © 2001-Present by Mark R. Hasan. All Rights Reserved. Additional Review Content by Contributors 2001-Present used by Permission of Authors. Additional Art Copyrighted by Respective Owners. Reproduction of any Original KQEK Content Requires Written Permission from Copyright Holder and/or Author. Links to non-KQEK sites have been included for your convenience; KQEK is not responsible for their content nor their possible use of any pop-ups, cookies, or information gathering.

 
__