Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
not the best thriller....not the worst, May 22, 2005
Perhaps if the ending had been different I would have rated this film much higher. The acting was superb and the plot (3/4 of it anyway) was fascinating and kept me glued to the screen. However, I agree with other reviewers who found the script too deliberately confusing for it's own good. It did not need to be so ambigious ALL of the time to keep the mysterious secret of the identical twins. The immediate romance made sense (sidetracking the pursuit of the "secret", the pursuit of experiencing "real life" as the Priest invites the one twin to do, as well as furthering the view of redemption through love) but it seems to unravel once all of the main characters arrive at one place at the same time. The twins ending up wearing the same clothes just to keep the audience confused as to their real identities was way too unrealistic and somewhat ruined it for me not to mention that the climax scene made no sense at all AND this is despite my knowing which twin was which (since one twin greets the other when they reunite and gives away the name of each twin at the hand holding scene). Why would Sarah be mad at Gaelle?? The reason she states is unrealstic and unexplainable especially when you discover the truth! Highly recommend the film only if you can overlook some major flaws and concentrate instead on the flawless acting and intresting themes of religion, redemption and the different meanings of love.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Mystery solved. Next!, November 29, 2004
A sullen girl is imprisoned in France. A young nun in Brazil is tormented by mysterious abdominal pain. Father Joachim (Gerard Depardieu), the priest-surgeon assigned to the nun's case, is mystified by her ailment and fascinated when its cause cannot be determined. Perhaps he sees in the young woman's secretiveness a reflection of his own violent past? What is the connection between these cases and the mysterious words "screel deen" that the nun screams in her agonies?
The filmmaker strings us along for the better part of an hour, as we tease out the mysterious connections. We are treated to mysterious voodoo rituals on the beach, a nosy journalist wannabe, an improbably love story and a mother with secrets of her own. There is so much deliberate confusion and unclear switched identities that by the end, I wasn't sure what happened and I cared even less.
BTW: This film is rated R only for 1 shot of a nun binding her breasts during the opening credits.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Twins, Priests,Nuns,Murder,Cover-Up,Lies and Truth, March 27, 2008
THE PACT OF SILENCE is a much ado about nothing film. Starring Gerard Depardieu as Father Joachim and Elodie Bouchez in a dual role as twin sisters Sarah and Gaelle, Graham Guit's directed "thriller" is really a slow moving build up and unraveling of clues that, once you get to the conclusion, you just say "What's the big deal?" and move on. Two of my favorite actors in one pretty dull film that tries to be sophisticated and unique, but ultimately is neither and seems intentionally confusing to no point. No recommendation. No DVD special features. Unenlightening commentary.
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