Customer Reviews

The Red Dwarf

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

 

 

Red Dwarf is a fine cinematic experience about Lucien, a withdrawn man short in stature and longing for affection, who writes letters for parties in divorce cases for his law firm. This is a tragic position for Lucien, since he deems himself plagued in regards to affectionate relationships. One day he meets the acrobatic orphan Isis, who lives in a circus while also befriending Paola Bendoni, an important client for his law firm. Lucien initiates a love affair with Paola, but he is rejected as Paola is only interested in a lustful adventure. This is something new to Lucien and he finds himself lost in the swirl of emotions trailing the rejection. After having regained some self-esteem, he quits his job and pursues his fatherly care for the young acrobat. Red Dwarf is a tragedy that captivates the mind as the sorrow of Lucien is depicted on the silver screen, and it provides several lesson for the viewers to think about. Le Moine has also mixed a number of controversial issues into the film that will keep the viewers feeling a flow to the film and provide an opportunity for self scrutiny of beliefs.

I rented this movie purely on the basis that it looked strange and interesting. I was right it was strange and interesting. The film is about a dwarf who works for some sort of law firm. He befriends a little girl who works at a circus and starts having an affair with one of the firm's clients. Many strange things happen and the film becomes very dark and depressing. Despite this the movie is very good and the friendship between the dwarf and the little girl is very touching. The film is sort of like a David Lynch film, but more sentimental. The actor who plays the dwarf also does a very good job, and I liked the ending very much.

dont believe what some of the other reviewers are saying this is truly one of the best films to deal with the hardships of being in a world that isnt suited for you. it is one of the bleakest yet poignantly executed studies of a man who is on the "edge" that i have ever seen. contrary to what some viewers are saying there is resolve in the end you just have to find it. at times it will make you laugh with its subtle humor and at others you will feel empathy and sadness. it is a perfect blend of comedy and tragedy with an ending that is very sublime but ends the film on a happy note. in short i would recommend this film to anyone who can deal with a film that isnt loaded with special effects and just relys on its ambience and characters to deliver a unique and enthralling cinematic experience. viva la liberati.

Echoing the previous reviewers annoyance,i too was delighted at the prospect of a Red Dwarf DVD,but alas,i was deceived!I somehow doubt this French film has characters such as Rimmer,The Cat,or Lister!Again,this film is called THE RED DWARF,and not Red Dwarf!!Smeg!

Red Dwarf Complete Collection (18DVD)
I thought I was buying the sci fi ...
Somewhat twisted
this film takes on an edge in the way it presents life
and people. The relatively happy ending was a surprise
for this type of black humor.
It is well done but definitely for adults only
( most of them will miss the point?).

I rented this movie not knowing what to expect, and ended up being blown away. Not wanting to spoil the film, the basic premise is a "little person" - or dwarf - wanting to be treated as a man and the lengths he will go to that end.In black and white, the film is beautifully photographed, sometimes reminding me of Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire. While viewing the film, I loved and hated the characters at different points, not unlike my reaction to Jane Campion's The Piano. In the end, Red Dwarf captivated me from start to finish, which is rare. Highly recommended for the art house crowd and people not turned off by subtitles.

I can't say I liked _The Red Dwarf_. That's not to say I strongly disliked it, either. I simply can't go so far as to say I actually enjoyed the film. To me, there was no plot and no real storytelling. As such, the film is mostly just... well, benign.

I can usually only engage with a film when it is telling me an interesting (usually complex) story. _The Red Dwarf_, a novelty concept piece at best, is really only a parable constructed from a single, rather obvious, theme repeated over and over again.

Parables generally show less interest in the storytelling and more in the analogy they draw between a particular instance of human behavior and human behaviour at large. The simple narrative surface of this film gives it a mysterious film noir tone, but in the end it's all just mood and does very little to paint a clear picture of the main character, Lucien L'Hotte.

_The Red Dwarf_ seems much more intent on teaching spiritual values than telling a good story. By the end of the film I knew of only one aspect of Lucien's personality -- Monsieur L'Hotte was a big man trapped in a little man's body. I would have liked to have known more.

In the case of _The Red Dwarf_, the analogy most obviously drawn upon for the progression of the screenplay is the notion explored in _I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings_. That "caged bird" theme resounds throughout _The Red Dwarf_.

With L'Hotte, it seems obvious that he feels isolated from freely enjoying the world around him because at work and in love he is made to feel inferior to "normal" people who constantly foist their prejudices upon him.

I first saw the "caged bird" motif being played out with L'Hotte at the home of a fat, aging countess (played by the fat, aging Anita Ekberg). L'Hotte meets the countess for the first time outside her home by the pool. The little "bird," excuses himself to go to the bathroom. While inside the countess' home, he takes a frenzied "bird bath" in her huge tub, dries off while gazing at the "prison" of his own encroaching body in the mirror and then goes back out to stand naked before Ekberg. Lovemaking ensues between the two with the countess' cat watching the "little bird" flitting all over her massive petowner.

Next, there is a scene where L'Hotte is in a cab and begins whistling a bird song to himself. The driver, a black man, looks into the rearview mirror and the two of them begin chuckling in a shared complicity or understanding of what it is to be "caged" -- L'Hotte in his body, the black man in his.

L'Hotte befriends Isis, a young girl who travels with and performs in her "father's" circus. Her mother died years before in a trapeze accident, so her father forbids her to perform on the trapeze even though her dream, after meeting little Mr. L'Hotte, is to do a trapeze act that incorporates his clowning. Images of Isis on the trapeze -- her "perch" -- serve to depict her in her own "cage," unable to fly through the air because of her father's strict edict.

And, if you had any questions about that "caged bird" theme, there's another scene toward the end of the film when L'Hotte takes the matter of his little friend, Isis, and his own future into his own hands by laying down the law to Isis' "father." As he finishes threatening the man, he proceeds to release a bunch of the circus' birds from their cages, symbolically freeing himself and the little girl who has shared his experience of being "caged."

And so on and so on.

Sadly, _The Red Dwarf_ is one-trick pony. And that pony ride gets old fast.

Smeg on a stick!

When on earth am I going to search for Red Dwarf on DVD and not come up with this twisted smeging flick. My fellow Dwarfers, when will we ever get Red Dwarf on DVD? I would love to buy it. But no the BBC won't release them in the states. Smeging gits. I look forward when I type in "Red Dwarf" into the search bar and I don't have to see this silly smeging flick. If perchance Grant or Naylor reads this for the sake of all your fans on this side of the world please release our favorite show on DVD for all American fans to watch. Thank you.

Yvan le Moin's work is like Jean Vigo's of seventy years ago: every composition a strange, troubling, beautiful stirring of turmoils and loves and twisted desires that are never fully explained, because they can't be, but which finally come to peace among themselves at the end. All the faces distinctly right. The leads, a dwarf and a little girl, exquisitely tuned to every move. Etched in black and white, the film begins with murder and ends in a circus tent overflowing with joyous children. Haunting and absolutely marvelous.

I had the chance to meet the director in a filmfestival in Egypt.
This film made my heart very warm and I think it is a great piece of beautiful art.
Yvan is a very nice man too. Everyone should see this film and contemplate.
Ami in Sweden