Reviews

I've seen as many Diastéme movies as I possibly can; he's an integral part of why I love French auteurs. THE WORLD OF YESTERDAY poses many realistic scenarios in its abrupt 89 minutes runtime, as it delivers a swift kick about the darkness that hangs not only over France and Europe, but over the entire world..

THE WORLD OF YESTERDAY is as great as anything Diastéme has written (cowriters include his friend Christophe Honoré). Diastéme is great behind the camera as well and it's a pleasure to watch something that was formed under his capable auteurship.

Frightening enough, it hits without bruising. It is a movie which should be shown to everyone, regardless of race, gender, sexualityto illustrate many causes of the current bleakness that hangs over the world.

I saw THE ORIGIN OF EVIL at an AMC Theatre in Skokie, IL after the director Sebastien Marnier had noted that his film was released in over 200 theatres in the United States.

I had already watched Marnier's other two movies IRREPROCHABLE and SCHOOL'S OUT, and they are both remarkably self-assured and intelligent for a newer filmmaker; I was thrilled that his third movie is drawing attention.

THE ORIGIN OF EVIL is earmarked by the same wit that he had already displayed, but Marnier has honed his craft even more here. Casting seems to be a no-brainer, and everyone here especially Laura Calamy, who is something of a French it-girl, is a perfect fit.

American directors are simply less smart or do not care about the details in which Marnier swims. See this movie and clear your head of some of the Hollywood dreck.

The person who saw Sorry Angel with me initially mislabeled it as another gay-AIDS-relationship movie, missing the point: It ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it. Christophe Honore never lacks ideas, and--to his good fortune--he does what he pleases. He takes risks and successfully avoids cliches; Honore is one of the world's brightest, funniest, savvy auteurs...His movies are earmarked by nostalgic romanticism, but they never wallow in the past because he is able to pay tribute without imitation, a technique that evades so many of his contemporaries.

Sorry Angel is about relationships. You do not need to be gay to watch it, but you need to understand humanity and compassion. Honore gets to the meat without chewing on the fat while his poignant dialogue is relatable to everyone eventually. The context of the movie (the 90's AIDS epidemic) is a setting for the text (based on the director's university years and his gay idols, writers and directors who died from the disease) but it is the subtext, Honore's observations about relationships--discerning, unsentimental, realistic portrayals of humans both gay and straight--which elevates the movie to the forefront of cinematic reflections. Where Robin Campillo's recent BPM (another stunner) focuses on activism, Honore shows us sympathy and love during an era of uncertainty and chaos.

Jonathan Romney notes that Sorry Angel is a "novelistic film" because it presents itself like great literature. The plot might be purposefully transparent, but the devil is in the details.