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Les Amants Du Pont-Neuf [1992]


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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

Les Amants du Pont Neuf is a film that once more shows us Paris as a city of romance, but from a very different viewpoint than we might expect. The young lovers this time around are Alex and Michelle, two of the many homeless people sleeping rough on the streets of the capital. Their particular abode is the bridge of the title, the oldest such structure in the city, which they share with the older, wiser Hans. Gradually drawn together, they look for and find love in what is a particularly loveless and harsh environment. Director Leos Carax created a film that combined great beauty with an almost nightmarish reality, particularly in a gruesome opening image of a homeless hostel which seems to have a documentary feel to it. Juliette Binoche and Dennis Lavant are superb as the lovers, drawing us in to their world of joy, despair and anger. Ultimately, Les Amants du Pont Neuf manages to pull off that rare feat of being both visually stunning and emotionally engaging.

On the DVD: Paris may have been filmed countless times before and since, but rarely has its beauty been so captured as here. With the action taking place mainly at night or twilight, the colours are rich and vivid or ghostly pale; both extremes are beautifully captured on this format. Resplendent with many stunning set pieces (noteably the fireworks that light up the city), this is one of the most visually sumptuous films of recent years. Carax, too, makes great use of silence, allowing the sounds of the city to reflect the mood of his characters. Extras are sadly virtually non-existent beyond the usual scene selection and biographies, but the film's style demands that it be seen on the only format to do it justice. --Phil Udell


Self-indulgent tripe
Review date: 2008-06-14 Rating: 2 out of 10

I saw the first five minutes of this film and thought it wasn't for me. Indeed as it move forward at the pace of comatose French snail, I cringed more and marvelled at the parody of avant-garde cinema. Binoche is my favourite actress. She does some nice little bits of acting, but she can't save this diabolically dull homage to epic pretentiousness.

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Reviews


arrowfilms! DON"T BUY IT!!
Review date: 2008-04-09 Rating: 2 out of 10

Les Amants du Pont Neuf is one of the best film ever made but the DVD of the film edited is terrible! It's got massive pixels and completetly ruins the cinematography and the pleasure of watching the film!

Nobody loves you when you're down and out
Review date: 2008-02-27 Rating: 6 out of 10

I found this early work of Juliet Binoche to be both intriguing, very credible but a bit over the top. This is a reluctant love story to say the least but the selection of three odd bods as characters to highlight the problems of homelessness in modern urban societies is a very real device indeed.

Viewers may wish to watch this in conjunction with Subway, to gain a little different perspective. I think that the thematic element of art which ties all three together acts to expose the commonly held view of what constitutes art to the test. These disparate group of artists suffer much for their artbut because there is not the popular acclaim they are consigned to the dustbin of history.

What I find particularly interesting is the development of the character of the fireater who performs to free public acclaim but who drowns his personal problems in alcohol and downers. As the film progresses he slowly begins to change into a more "normal" type of a person who can express his emotions through interacting with a self-pitying selfish woman who is becoming blind.

There is more than a touch of the surreal throughout the movie and much pathos but within an urban context where there is little consideration for the down and outs such that drivers never even notice them as they drive over them on the street. Is this what modern life has become?

My main reservation is about the happy ending which just seems to be out of place given the storyline. Definitely more substantial than the usual entertainment films but one where the consumer is left wanting more.

Raw and beautiful
Review date: 2007-02-02 Rating: 10 out of 10

A visually beautiful, if sometimes disturbing, film with an excellent cast delivering first rate performances. I often think French actors are extremely underrated by international movie audiences and critics who can't be bothered with anything other than English. Denis Lavant, a French theatre actor, is a glaring example of one such under-appreciated Thespian. If he were American or from an English speaking country surely he would be a household name. His performance as Alex in Les Amants du Pont Neuf is a colossally impressive piece of work - as are his performances in his subsequent films.

Off the wall Parisian romance
Review date: 2006-01-27 Rating: 8 out of 10

"Les Amants de Pont Neuf" is an unlikely love story featuring two derelicts Alex and Michele who sleep rough on the "Pont Neuf", a bridge in Paris which is closed to the public while it is being restored. Alex is a hardened down and out , a drug taker and alcoholic, who survives by stealing and performing various circus tricks in the streets. Michele is a runaway bourgeois artist , gradually losing her sight and in deep trauma over that prospect. They make for an unlikely couple given their different social backgrounds and at times they are unlikeable but they are drawn together by their shared despair, their spontaneity and their sensuality. The film is visually impressive with memorable scenes such as the dancing under the fireworks and the waterskiing ,while the acting and characterisation is also excellent , especially Binoche.However I didn't like the way the film , perhaps unintentionally , glamourised theft and violence and that prevented me from fully empathising with the couple.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Klaus-Michael Grüber
Juliette Binoche
Denis Lavant
Georges Aperghis
Edith Scob

Creators:
Juliette Binoche (Primary Contributor)
Denis Lavant (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Arrow Films
Manufacturer: Arrow Films
EAN: 5027035002026
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL, Widescreen,
Release date: 2001-07-30
Number of discs: 1
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 120 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1999-07-02
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: French (Original Language)

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