Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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99 of 105 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A French version of Lolita., August 23, 2001
A two-bit bar pianist (Patrick Dewaere's role as Remy) is married to a woman with a 14 year old daughter. (Hence "beau pere," the french word for stepfather, but also meaning "handsome father.") The woman is killed in a car accident, and he must raise his stepdaughter alone. She falls in love with him, and they have a secret affair. (Nobody can do "pubescent love affair" movies quite like the French. They are the unchallenged masters of this particular genre.)If you can ignore the "eww factor" of a 35 year old man having an affair with a 14 year old girl (or perhaps more accurately "the Woody Allen factor"), this is really a wonderful movie. One of the best I've ever seen, and one of my all time favorites. It is beautifully shot, wonderfully edited, has great timing, and one of the best piano sound tracks ever written. The soundtrack, composed exclusively for the movie by Philippe Sarde, is available from ... on CD. (I'm listening to it right now, in fact. One of the compositions, "Une Vraie Virtuose," is a masterpiece which could rival anything ever written for the piano!) The movie is basically a touching, top-notch romantic comedy with overtones of tradgedy in it. The biggest tradgedy, which runs throughout the movie, is that their love affair is something to be ashamed of. Marion (Ariel Besse) is remarkably mature for a 14 year old, and Remy is somewhat immature for his age. So the two are well ballanced, and probably have the same mental and emotional age. Nevertheless, it is still the story of a 35 year old man having a romantic affair with his 14 year old stepdaughter, and such an affair cannot have a happy ending. It can only exhist for the moment, but not for the future. But then again, that is the attraction of affairs, isn't it? They are only for the present, with no worries about, or aspirations for the future. There is one wonderful scene in the movie where Remy goes to visit Charlotte (Nathalie Baye), a piano virtuoso, and the woman of his dreams. This scene is one of the most wonderfully choreographed and timed things I've ever seen on the big screen. Again, if you can ignore your natural reservations about the premise of the movie, and just enjoy it as a brilliant romantic comedy, I highly recommend it.
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70 of 73 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good film, but poor DVD subtitling, October 1, 2002
THE FILM: It's a shame that a lot of people won't get to see this french movie. For some it will be the ignorance of watching a foreign language film, but for others there's also the highly taboo subject matter; this alone will stop many viewers from going anywhere near it on account of their principals. As I said, it's a shame as it's a very good film and the subject matter is delicately handled throughout. The biggest difference to this particular lolita-type film is that it's the young girl that seduces the older man, and not vice versa. Patrick Dewaere is good as the older man, but it's the scintillating performance of Ariel Besse as the beautiful young girl that stands out. Showing a maturity way beyond her years, you start to empathize with Patrick's character and the moral dilemmas he has to contend with.THE DVD; Unfortunately, Beau Pere has been given a somewhat poor DVD release. Don't expect any extras; the picture quality is ok, but not great; and you can't even get a time display up to see where you are in the movie!; However, it's the poor subtitling that disappoints the most. As many have already pointed-out, the subtitles go out of synch for about 20 minutes or so during the movie, which makes matters a little confusing. Not only that, but occasionally subtitles will flash-up on the screen very briefly, not even giving you time to read them!. Several times I had to "rewind" the picture, and then pause the DVD so I could read it!. Whilst I don't regret buying the DVD of Beau Pere, this poor subtitling will put me off watching this movie as many times as I would of done otherwise. Very good film, but fans of Beau Pere demand a new DVD release now!!!.
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27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
No one beats the French, November 5, 1999
By A Customer
My hat is off to all the French movie producers...They are all so good. This movie is not the exception. Listening to Marion, a 14 yr old girl convince her step father that she was truly in love with him, made my heart jump out to the little girl. It is amazing how she matures so much during the course of their relationship. At the end, she was making all the mature decisions, while Remy, the step dad, didn't know what to do. The ending is Fantastic. It is left up to interpretation, but the feeling I get is Deja-vu. The only regret I have about this movie is that I will never be able to see it again for the first time. Wish I could give it more that 5 stars. Without a doubt, a must see!
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