VividSimon Simply Perfect

ChicRawIdol A brilliant film that helped define a genre

BallWubba Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

Senteur As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

Pageharrison This movie examines obsession of the heart and body. Isabelle is brilliant. She is very personal. She expresses her need to be adored in a very vulnerable way, as in the arcade scene, when the boy refuses to leave. She walks away, the camera tracks with her, revealing her ambivalence and confusion. She then returns, tries to play his games, but is unsuccessful. It's a wonderful scene and she's fabulous. Love to meet and work with this incredible actor. Her expressions are so telling. This movie had subtitles here in American and I really didn't need them most of the time to understand what was happening on the screen. I could identify with needing someone so much that you are addicted to them. Again, terrific movie. No car chases, just people chases.

raymond-15 This film is near the top of my list for best films out of France. It is a superb production. The scenes between Dominique (Isabelle Huppert) and Quentin (Vincent Martinez) are completely convincing with natural conversation and sensitive mood changes. While the disparity of ages between lovers is not a new theme, it has never been handled more expertly than here where the older woman wants to "possess" the young call-boy but he is determined to remain a free spirit. What is so arresting in this story is that we know so little about the characters and their past. But information is gleaned bit by bit from their conversations, and never very much, so we hunger for more as the story unfolds. The dewy-eyed Isabelle Huppert in the final scenes reveals her talent as a fine actress. A wonderful piece of cinema that holds you to the end...and what an ending when the two characters realize that their dream has ended and they now face the harsh realities of life.

buff-29 Isabelle Huppert is as beautiful as ever, but it is hard to see why her character does the things she does in this confused tale of cross-generational lovers. As a middle-aged businesswoman, Huppert takes a much younger bisexual bartender/hustler into her home, pays his debts, buys him clothes. He never seems to treat her well enough to justify her generosity, and he never seems interesting or lovable enough to justify her affection. It all comes unravelled eventually, after enough nude love scenes to keep most of the audience awake most of the time.

Jim-249 "Middle-aged divorcee picks up barman in gay bar" isn't a promising plot-line; the title's soft-porn suggestion is also off-putting. But in fact it's a delicate and attractive handling of what could have been sordid relationships. The key word, I suppose, is "tender"; we are frequently led to expect violence (the barman Quentin is a kick-boxer - we watch him attacking a punchbag during the title sequence) but are instead surprised by reasonableness and gentleness. The few nude scenes manage to be erotic without ever being vulgar. Relationships are weird, the film (and Mishima's novel) seems to say, but there can still be tenderness in life. Isabelle Huppert exudes French charm . . .