Customer Reviews

Balzac: A Life of Passion

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

GREAT STORY/GREAT FILM/HORRIBLE edtion. GET THE PREVIOUS VERSION/THIS ONE HAS A REALLY REALLY REALLY BAD ENGLISH VOICE-OVER DUB...So bad it hurts!!! I rented this version of Balzac from the video store tonight originally thinking it was the only version. I, like the other reviewers here, was horrified to find Gerard Depardieu's voice being dubbed over by someone who sounded like "Daddy Seaver" on the horribly cheesy 80's sitcom Growing Pains. It had the same screachingly criminal effect as, say dubbing over Laurence Olivier in "Wuthering Heights" with the 'hey dude' voices/tones found in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. I immediately called the video store back to find out if there was another version of the same film (preferrably one IN FRENCH with English subtitles) WHICH THERE WAS. They exchanged it with no hassle. Now I can sit down and enjoy what looks to be a great film of one of the most exemplary literary figures in French history. Don't waste your time with this newly released in Lion's Gate 2006/2007 version. Get the older 1999/2000 Fox Lorber/Bravo version!

Amazon's product description reads: Language: English, French - which is false and misleading because there is no French to be found anywhere on this DVD.

Listening to the masterful delivery of Gerard Depardieu (one of the finest voices in in current cinema) being smothered by voiceovers less expert than a low budget kung-fu film was painful to experience. Amazon would be doing future misguided purchasers of this DVD a favor if they removed this dubbed version from the site.

However, if you're having trouble with the badly dubbed english your other option, the only one, is to enable the english subtitles and turn the sound off altogehter. What genius was up all night thinking of that one?

The distributors must have anticipated the limits of viewers' endurance but did not have the budget or energy left to give us the option of the original french audio version. Obviously it's stressful packaging foreign productions like this for american audiences and we trust the inclusion of subtitles didn't cause too much lack of sleep.

The main lesson learned is read reviews when purchasing foreign films. It is not beyond a distributors capacity to ruin fine productions such as this one.

If there must be dubbing for brilliant foreign actors I propose a new rule: only brilliant English actors can be used. I guarantee you Balzac did not sound like a bad actor flubbing a soap-opera audition.

There is no French soundtrack on this DVD to go with the legendary French actors. There is just an English subtitle with HORRIBLE english overdubbing. The voices are woefully miscast, even worse if you are familiar with the famous French actors true voices. And the Foley work is just amateurish. It was a total distraction throughout the whole 3 hours. Absolutely a waste, with little entertainment value. Stay clear and try to find a version with original dialogue (and English subtitles if necessary).

Can a three hour miniseries do justice to one of the most prolific French authors ever? No, but this one does sweep through Balzac's life and hits the high points enough to make one want to read or know more.If there is one central theme to this entire series it is this:the little boy in Balzac NEVER got over the simple fact that his Mother never loved him.Everything he did,touched,wrote was colored by his cold abandonment of his Mother.With that in mind,watch this sweeping biopic masterfully executed by the likes of Gerard Depardieu,Jeanne Moreau and Fanny Ardent and be transported into a very accurate portrayal of the times that the likes of Balzac,Hugo,Sand and Sue lived and wrote.EXCELLENT COMPANION FILMS would be COLONEL CHABERT and COUSIN BETTE (both adapted from Balzac) and LES MISERABLES (by Victor Hugo) and IMPROMPTU (about Georges Sand and Chopin) to help fill in the spaces in that period of history.
DO NOT PURCHASE THE ENGLISH DUBBED VERSION!!!! Stick to the original.It is VERY accessible and readable on VHS or DVD.

When I first saw the movie I was hooked on the spot.The cast and the acting was good along with the sets and camerawork.Jeanne Moreau and Gerard Depardieu are a perfect match as mother and son in the film.But I wanted to see more of Jeanne Moreau in the film and want to see more highs and lows in the mother-son relationship.The scene which nearly made me cry was Moreau's character at the door asking for her son's forgiveness.Give Jeanne Moreau a good script and she will give you your money's work.

WARNING! Allow me to join the group of other naysayers about this insult of an edition from Lionsgate. The English dubbing sounds like a bunch of wacky and untalented college kids snuck into the film studio and, as a joke, recorded their own soundtrack to this telemovie. And nobody at Lionsgate caught the mistake before releasing it to unsuspecting patrons like myself. Some joke. I couldn't make it past twenty minutes. Imagine the great Jeanne Moreau talking like Selma Diamond and you'll have some idea to how excruciating this version is. Depardieu is closer to Howie Mandel for all you Mandel fans (include me out, please.) In a single word: Irresponsible.

I unfortunately got this substitute for the real thing. I did not have the imagination to even think that you would make Jeanne Moreay, Depardieu og Fanny Ardant speak english and ruin the whole film in the process.

Whoever made that stupid decision should be kicked in the bud for a week, because not only have this person undone most of the nerve in the film, the fact that you can get this version, has made the original version almost impossible to get.

If one cannot bear listening to French, and the saw dusted tounge of Jeanne Moreau, which is so much the very essence of Balzac's mother - One should not attemt to even see Balzac.

Let us have the choise of the real thing and burn this copy in Hell.

I did not realize that this version was English only. It is the worst voice over I have ever heard. I will be buying the French version of this ASAP. BEWARE this is terrible I only made it through five minutes.

It's dubbed - and not very skillfully either. Yuck. I couldn't watch it, so I can't complain otherwise.

I bought this movie only because I thought it was in French. The site doesn't say it is in English.