Reviews

I have only viewed half of the movie, and I think it would have been pretty good, at least watchable if 1. I could see it properly and 2. I could hear the dialogue properly. I really cannot understand why some movies are filmed in such dark conditions. I get that here it creates the 19th Century atmosphere where electric light was not yet used in households and everyone worked by candlelight. But do the indoor scenes, especially, have to be so dim? And the men have long moustaches that make lipreading difficult. It also could have done with subtitles. One watches a movie partly for a visual feast. This was not that.

This movie has stayed with me since I saw it. It is great story-telling, masterfully constructed. The story reveals itself gradually - and conceals itself too. Also, it is superbly filmed and acted. It really is a masterclass in how to tell a story, how to put all the elements together in an intelligent and engrossing way. And not to just tell, but to avoid telling. It uses sleight of hand - or sleight of brain - like a magic trick. It makes the whole to be more than the sum of its parts. Saying all that, it is not a movie that is hard to follow. I also love the sound and diction of the French language.