Customer Reviews

The Town Is Quiet

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

 

 

AN expansive, ambitious film portraying the interconnected lives of a diverse cast of characters in the French port city of Marseille.
Visually beautiful and thematically rich, La Ville est Tranquille (The Town is Quiet) delves into issues of family life, politics, drug addiction, race relations in multicultural France and the social impacts of aggressive, corporate-driven economic reform.
Director Robert Guédiguian works with more or less the same ensemble cast in each of his films, led by wife Ariane Arascude, who plays this film's principal protagonist.
Though his work appears mournful at the ailing state of the French revolutionary tenets of Liberty, Equality and Brotherhood in his home city, the director displays passion for his subject matter. Although the lives of the film's central characters are full of sadness, as a viewer I was left with some sense of hope at its conclusion.
La Ville est Tranquille will provoke thought and debate among viewers and is an outstanding cinematic achievement.

Leonard Maltin gives this film 2.5 stars and says inter alia "......those who like gritty human drama will probably find this a satisfactory way to spend a couple of hours".
This to me is such a misrepresentation of the quality of this film as to beggar belief. However, I must confess to the opinion that GWTW is one of the most bloated, overrated works of sentimental tosh to infect our screens - needless to say Mr Maltin gives that work the maximum rating and calls it "one of a kind" as if it is some kind of miracle. Additionally, I might say that THE TOWN IS QUIET has been compared to Altman's SHORT CUTS but I believe Mr Altman is one step removed from his characters, perhaps viewing them more as part of the human comedy, perhaps a little more cynical than Mr Robert Guediguian whose compassion SHINES through.
If Mr Hitchcock is correct, film is first of all an art about connecting to the viewer's emotions. THE TOWN IS QUIET does this superbly by introducing us to a number of characters who are, each in their way, struggling to find their way in the world set in Marseille. We CARE about these people, the central one being a woman whose daughter is a drug addict and husband unemployed and angry at the world. Her actions are driven by LOVE, a mother's love, a grandparent's love. Her journey is the central focus of the film but there are other characters of equal interest also with stories - some of these interact with her story. The film traverses many deeply important themes - a parent's responsibility for children; immigration; art; racism - but it is the way in which we the viewers become engrossed into the lives of the characters in this film which makes it very special. Needless to say
, the craft shown by the director, the quality of acting, the use of music, the maintenance of tone, make this a rewarding rivetting cinematic experience. Not to be missed. Moving. Outstanding work of art.

"The Town is Quiet" is one of the most powerfull dramas I've ever seen. Even though it's been about half a year since I've seen it I'm still thinking and talking about it.
It is a movie that seems unbearable at the beggining. It seems too sad but as the story builds itself you realize how full of life this movie actually is.
The music is great: Janice Joplin songs are played at just the right time.
"The Town is Quiet" is a great achievement.

Another overwrought French film which suggests to the viewer that life stinks, especially for the working class, for whom, apparently, there is no joy or beauty. So you might as well kill yourself or kill the perceived source of your anguish. I really learned nothing about the complicated social fabric that is Marseilles or how the troubles that afflict these French might be addressed. I think this movie appeals to people who enjoy being manipulatd and are happy to leave the theater saying "Mon Dieu! That was wrenching!"

You won't leave a viewing of this film dancing in the streets and praising French Socialism. Robert Guediguian is brutally frank about the French. These people despise Americans. Are you kidding?

We follow French citizens; maybe seven characters from different walks of life go through a week or so of deprivations. The Moslem bartender who abhors violence and racism beds down the teacher married to the womanizing Socialist politician, the do-gooder. You know how that one is going to turn out. Ariane Ascardide with the short hair-do sells her body to get heroin for her prostitute daughter. Now that's motherly love. Ariane's husband is a drunk dabbling in Fascist politics. The taxi cab driver falls for Ariane, but he's so socially retarded, he can only have a relationship with her if he pays for sex. The taxi cab driver's parents think he's in love with a nice girl. A mafia hit man is a friend from the old days with... oh; I can't get into anymore of this plot. It is complicated, but it did hold my interest. You knew something bad was going to happen. France is a mess and the director is skilled and truthful.