Customer Reviews

La Bonne Annee (Happy New Year)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My wife Clare and I have been watching La Bonne Annee every New Year's Eve since the early 90's. What a thrill for us to be able to retire the VHS copy this year. The DVD transfer is much cleaner.It is true that the English sub-titles are not always an accurate translation of the French, but we find that true with all French Films. FYI when you hear the French for "comfortable" in the film, you should know that it has a much more intimate sense than our English version.

La Bonne Annee really stands up to repeated viewings. It has many pleasures, It's wonderfully directed, filmed and edited. The acting is seamless (the lingering close-ups of Lino Ventura's face linger in the mind too) . It has wit, romance, friendship, is poignant, and has suspense too. You will never look at any price that ends with .99 the same way again.

We own very few DVD's. This one is a treasure.

Claude Lelouch made this movie in 1973. He had made "a Man and a Woman "in 1965 and the haunting melody will be forever in our ears. He loved his work so ,that he could even joke about it "you have to love windshield wipers" He did a sequel in 1985"A Man and a Woman,2O years later" which was surprisingly good."La bonne année"starts with a scene from this masterpiece and I love both movies . Although one could object to the ending-crime is not supposed to pay-Françoise Fabian is so beautiful and Lino Ventura so believable,that the ending seems well deserved. I am glad it is finally available on DVD and I only wish for French subtitles, the English ones only approximate the dialogue.

When this movie first came out in the 70s, I went to see it repeatedly. Then, when the VHS version came out, I was able to watch it every Christmas. It's the quintessential French existential movie; Ventura's character, Simon, says it all when he asserts to Francoise as she visits him in jail, "But I am a nice guy!" . (In French, "un type bien" means more than "a nice guy", but that'll do). What is perceived as criminal behavior (breaking into a jewelry store) is not a matter of "crime" so much as what a person chooses to do. He might as well have been an ice cream vendor. What counts is a man's honor and integrity. Again, Simon says it all: "There are only two types of people in my world: those that I like, and those that I don't." Legality and morality are not at stake here, but a man's honesty with himself. Again, Simon says it all: "A woman is a man who cries a little; a man is someone who goes all the way." What defines a man is his character.

I have watched this movie over and over on VHS and was delighted to see it released on DVD. The only complaint I have is that there is no dubbed version included on the DVD. I have always preferred movies in the original language with English subtitles, but I became so accustomed to the voices used in the dubbed version that I found that I really missed them. Francoise Fabian's dubbed voice seems much sexier than her actual French voice. I think that when I have watched the DVD as many times as I've watched the VHS I will love it as much as I always have. Highly recommended, but 1 star subtracted for dubbed option missing.

This is not a classical predictable movie. It entertains all along and leaves suspense at the same time.