You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet - Film Review

Post

Subscribe

You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet is a French film due to grace our cinemas in mid June 2013. Loosely based on two French plays (Eurydice and Cher Antoine ou l'Amour raté ) this film was shown at the Cannes Film Festival last year.

The story begins with each character being informed of the death of their friend Antoine d'Anthac, a highly successful, eccentric playwright. His request is that each friend come in person to the reading of the will at one of his homes. When they arrive, they are seated to view a film of the 1942 play, Eurydice, in which each of the friends have played a part in the theatre. As they watch the play they reminisce and reconnect with their characters.



It's an interesting concept, with actors playing themselves, and an all star cast including Mathieu Amalric, Pierre Arditi, Sabine Azema, Jean-Noel Broute, Anne Consigny, Anny Duperey, Hippolyte Girardot, Gerard Lartigau, and Michel Piccoli.

Perhaps if I was more familiar with the actors or the plays, I might have found this film more interesting. It was slow moving, tedious and repetitive. Right from the opening sequence when each of the thirteen actors are called and informed of the death of Antoine, I found myself wondering why there was the need to repeat the call so many times. I was ready to move on. That was the general feeling I had throughout the whole film.

I found Eurydice, the main character (played by three different actors in the film) irrational and annoying. What was interesting though, was how each character had their own style and body language that was not the same, despite delivering the same dialogue. Each interpretation was slightly different.

Directed by Alain Resnais and Bruno Podalydes, the film warrants some deeper analysis of memory, the identification of the characters with their past and the dynamics of the actors together in one setting. How would the situation be different had they not been brought together following the death of their friend? Who are these characters when they are not playing themselves in this role? Was Eurydice the most significant achievement of their careers, their lives?

I couldn't answer these questions. In my mind, the main question was...is it over yet? I ain't seen nothin' great. Perhaps you will see things differently! I welcome your thoughts after you have seen the film, leave a comment.



#movie_reviews
#film_reviews
#cinema
%wneverywhere