7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Even though this is an Aja flick, don't expect a gorefest, May 30, 2008
This is Alexandre("High Tension" & "Hills Have Eyes") Aja's first flick,
which I was very disappointed with (to say the least)
considering the lack of gore and the surplus of really slow character development.
I guess what I'm trying to say is this one was dreadfully boring.
The actors were excellent (and gorgeous might I add),
the music was top-notch,
the settings were bleak & dismal,
and yet I couldn't care less about what was happening onscreen.
When I buy an Aja flick, I expect blood, and gallons of it.
Maybe if I had known what this was that I was getting into, I would've been in a different frame of mind, and might have actually liked it.
But there were almost no visuals, no eye candy to speak of.
(My experience was basically the equivalent to popping in a Fulci flick and finding out it's a love story??)
This flick takes place in a post nuclear France,
where everyone wears scarves for whatever reason,
and the government represses civil liberties in an effort to maintain peace.
One of which is grafiti-art.
(I dont believe defacing public property is a civil liberty, but whatever)
One artist does this in an effort to what?....protest??.....or just to draw? I dont know.
When his new girlfriend is taken away by the army for chalking up a wall,
he reaizes just how serious his situation is.
There's no action, no gore, just 2 sex scenes, a beetle-race & ALOt of character development.
MORAL OF THE STORY:
Art gives people hope,
hope gives people dreams,
dreams give people ideas,
ideas give people reason,
reason gives people the will to live & fight.
OR
When visiting post-nuclear France, remember to pack a scarf.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must for Cotillard fans, April 8, 2008
This lesser-known Marion Cotillard film, though gritty and tough to take, is an absolute must for new fans of the French Oscar winner. Those who came to admire Cotillard's work in LA VIE EN ROSE, but who have only seen BIG FISH, A GOOD YEAR, or the French TAXI 1,2 and 3, may have wondered how the romantic comedy star developed her intensity as Edith Piaf. FURIA shows that this actress has had courage and intensity all along. The film takes place in a country destroyed by wars and authoritarian government. Artists who draw on building walls are arrested and brutally treated; it's assumed they are part of a resistance force. As one of these artists, Elia Costamar (Cotillard) is finally chased and captured. Her interrogation scenes are more than convincing; she looks truly terrified, and I for one believed every minute. Stripped, beaten, violated, Elia is subjected to the worst dehumanizing I've ever seen in a film. The actress not only proves how deeply she will go into herself to portray a character, she makes a case against any country, including the USA, which attempts to justify torture of human beings. NOTE: The film includes two nude love scenes, which are not unusual in European films, but are rare in American movies. I came away from this film filled with admiration, once again, for Cotillard's total dedication to her art. This woman is a major artist of our time.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Matter of taste?, January 12, 2012
This review is from: Furia (DVD)
I loved the film as it started out. The setting was exotic and worked well, the actors were convincing. The political dimension of repression of street art was going to work as an allegory or metaphor for where our times seem sometimes to be headed, though not of course literally. The love story was sweet.
Frankly I felt that the director sort of chickened out towards the end or ran out of inspiration. It is as though the protagonist switched from a rational rage about the political oppression to a fanatical dedication to a girl he did not really know. It sort of turned into a typical "save the chick" at all costs young male fantasy. Then it became just "okay" and in my mind lost its potential for sophistication. Some of the incidents at the end were not very coherent and this seemed to get covered over too easily by the teen age relentless passion angle.
We could save it a bit for me if we assumed that his rage at the political situation became embodied in his love for the girl, but for me we would have to assume it because I did not feel that this was made clear in the film itself. He really came across as a hyper cliche of the impetuous young lover.
In any even it was entertaining and some viewers may not be troubled by such things.
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