I like many French films, so my distaste for this has nothing to do with that. No, I dislike it because it's just a bad film and it's sick to boot.
First let's start with the acting. The main character is sort of like a caveman, in that he says little, broods a lot and shows almost no emotional range. He just kind of exists. Maybe it's just the way the part was written--who knows, he just seemed to be kind of sleeping through the whole thing. Apart from him, the other actors appear more as decoration and I didn't care one bit for them.
Now the directing and editing. Perhaps it was considered artsy at the time, but I was really annoyed that the movie bounced around from the past to the present to the past again and again--almost like they mixed up the reels.
And, finally, the (YECCCCH) plot. It was very choppy but sick. I really couldn't understand the people BUT I do know that watching fraternal twins make love to each other is just nasty. Anyone who reads this review who disagrees, then I can recommend a few films for you (starting with Lousi Malle's Soufflé au Coeur--another artsy French film about incest). Later, when the sister is accidentally electrocuted, the brother either sleeps naked next to her nude corpse or he's having sex with her lifeless corpse. I wasn't sure WHICH message the writer and director were getting at in this scene and I really DON'T need to know. MANY things are best left unsaid!
First let's start with the acting. The main character is sort of like a caveman, in that he says little, broods a lot and shows almost no emotional range. He just kind of exists. Maybe it's just the way the part was written--who knows, he just seemed to be kind of sleeping through the whole thing. Apart from him, the other actors appear more as decoration and I didn't care one bit for them.
Now the directing and editing. Perhaps it was considered artsy at the time, but I was really annoyed that the movie bounced around from the past to the present to the past again and again--almost like they mixed up the reels.
And, finally, the (YECCCCH) plot. It was very choppy but sick. I really couldn't understand the people BUT I do know that watching fraternal twins make love to each other is just nasty. Anyone who reads this review who disagrees, then I can recommend a few films for you (starting with Lousi Malle's Soufflé au Coeur--another artsy French film about incest). Later, when the sister is accidentally electrocuted, the brother either sleeps naked next to her nude corpse or he's having sex with her lifeless corpse. I wasn't sure WHICH message the writer and director were getting at in this scene and I really DON'T need to know. MANY things are best left unsaid!