Claire Denis’ loopy, tongue-in-cheek romantic comedy “Let the Sunshine In” stars Juliette Binoche as Isabelle, a contemporary French artist who becomes nearly obsessed with her search for love. Or lust. Whichever is within reach.
Isabelle jumps from one lover’s arms to another’s like there’s hot lava on the floor, and they are her safehaven of dry land. And dry so many of them are. The first is Vincent (actor-filmmaker Xavier Beauvois), a married banker with a jealous streak who negs Isabelle like he took a weekend course from The Pickup Artist. In one scene at a bar, he fills her up with backhanded compliments about how great it is that she feels comfortable doing such frivolous things like making art, while he tasks the bartender with completing arbitrary requests, like setting down a bottle of Perrier in exactly the right way.
Luckily, Isabelle ditches this guy, but she’s not single for long. Another lover — also married — quickly gets under her skin when what begins as an artists’ work meeting turns very personal very quickly. The guy (Nicolas Duvauchelle, Denis’ “White Material”) is an actor and is consistently referred to as simply “L’acteur.” Over the course of a single beer, he delivers an unprompted and seemingly endless monologue about all of his violent fugue states and “bad-boy” tendencies as Isabelle just waits for her turn to talk.
Also Read: Majority of Cannes Critics' Week Competition Films Were Directed by Women
This multi-scene courtship is painful to watch, because both characters neurotically dance around their attraction to one another in a manner that manifests itself into hostility and anger, and so both won’t shut up, even though they’re not really saying anything at all, until they finally ravage one another, and Isabelle says what I was feeling myself: “God, I thought the talking would never end.”
But L’acteur is no good, either. Isabelle longs for something real but continually seeks out the fiction, the relationship that’s bound to blow up in her face. She’s got a perfectly good choice of a man in Francois (Laurent Grévill, Denis’ “Bastards”), with whom she has a child, but this is a woman whose enemy is perfection; she’s addicted to the beginning of a relationship but instinctively runs at the first sign of trouble, even if the trouble is something she’s manufactured herself. Isabelle is the friend you must convince that every happy couple endures hard times.
Also Read: Netflix Bails on Cannes Over Theatrical Release Mandate
The cracks begin to show in Isabelle’s pleasant façade when she accepts an invitation for a trip into the country. In one pivotal moment, she loses it on an hours-long property tour, screaming and howling for the inane conversation to stop, but nobody seems to care, as they all have a great time later at the bar. She’s mercurial, and this film is as much a statement about the temperament of artists as it is about love. An artist can fly off the handle in rage, and yet her friends think nothing of this emotion, which is sure to be as fleeting as her romances.
The only cardinal sin an artist can commit, according to Isabelle’s artist friends, is being with someone who is not also an artist, who would never understand this impetuous lifestyle. When Isabelle sleeps with a man who sweeps her off her feet at a bar and then has him move in with her, the artist community is in a panic: Has this guy even painted anything before?
See Photos: 17 Highest-Grossing Movies Directed by Women, From 'Mamma Mia!' to 'Wonder Woman'
And though Gérard Dépardieu only shows up for the finale of the film, as a psychic truth-teller, he’s the perfect tag to this story, this personal quest of Isabelle’s that shows absolutely no signs of ending anytime soon. Of course she goes to the psychic. Of course she wants him to give her an easy answer (one she will inevitably ignore or contradict after a while anyway), a way to predict the future and cut out the hard parts of learning and growing.
Binoche being in her 50s also brings more meaning to this film, which showcases the fact that the manic search for connection one feels in their 20s doesn’t just disappear with age. There’s no magical time when a person suddenly feels satisfied and does not wonder if possibly there is more to life and love than the day-in, day-out doldrums.
When films are made about straight men in this predicament, they’re often considered explorations of a “midlife crisis,” but Denis’ film poses the questions: What if crises aren’t limited to a certain age, and what if love itself is the crisis?
Read original story ‘Let the Sunshine In’ Film Review: Juliette Binoche Looks for Love With All the Wrong Men At TheWrap...
Isabelle jumps from one lover’s arms to another’s like there’s hot lava on the floor, and they are her safehaven of dry land. And dry so many of them are. The first is Vincent (actor-filmmaker Xavier Beauvois), a married banker with a jealous streak who negs Isabelle like he took a weekend course from The Pickup Artist. In one scene at a bar, he fills her up with backhanded compliments about how great it is that she feels comfortable doing such frivolous things like making art, while he tasks the bartender with completing arbitrary requests, like setting down a bottle of Perrier in exactly the right way.
Luckily, Isabelle ditches this guy, but she’s not single for long. Another lover — also married — quickly gets under her skin when what begins as an artists’ work meeting turns very personal very quickly. The guy (Nicolas Duvauchelle, Denis’ “White Material”) is an actor and is consistently referred to as simply “L’acteur.” Over the course of a single beer, he delivers an unprompted and seemingly endless monologue about all of his violent fugue states and “bad-boy” tendencies as Isabelle just waits for her turn to talk.
Also Read: Majority of Cannes Critics' Week Competition Films Were Directed by Women
This multi-scene courtship is painful to watch, because both characters neurotically dance around their attraction to one another in a manner that manifests itself into hostility and anger, and so both won’t shut up, even though they’re not really saying anything at all, until they finally ravage one another, and Isabelle says what I was feeling myself: “God, I thought the talking would never end.”
But L’acteur is no good, either. Isabelle longs for something real but continually seeks out the fiction, the relationship that’s bound to blow up in her face. She’s got a perfectly good choice of a man in Francois (Laurent Grévill, Denis’ “Bastards”), with whom she has a child, but this is a woman whose enemy is perfection; she’s addicted to the beginning of a relationship but instinctively runs at the first sign of trouble, even if the trouble is something she’s manufactured herself. Isabelle is the friend you must convince that every happy couple endures hard times.
Also Read: Netflix Bails on Cannes Over Theatrical Release Mandate
The cracks begin to show in Isabelle’s pleasant façade when she accepts an invitation for a trip into the country. In one pivotal moment, she loses it on an hours-long property tour, screaming and howling for the inane conversation to stop, but nobody seems to care, as they all have a great time later at the bar. She’s mercurial, and this film is as much a statement about the temperament of artists as it is about love. An artist can fly off the handle in rage, and yet her friends think nothing of this emotion, which is sure to be as fleeting as her romances.
The only cardinal sin an artist can commit, according to Isabelle’s artist friends, is being with someone who is not also an artist, who would never understand this impetuous lifestyle. When Isabelle sleeps with a man who sweeps her off her feet at a bar and then has him move in with her, the artist community is in a panic: Has this guy even painted anything before?
See Photos: 17 Highest-Grossing Movies Directed by Women, From 'Mamma Mia!' to 'Wonder Woman'
And though Gérard Dépardieu only shows up for the finale of the film, as a psychic truth-teller, he’s the perfect tag to this story, this personal quest of Isabelle’s that shows absolutely no signs of ending anytime soon. Of course she goes to the psychic. Of course she wants him to give her an easy answer (one she will inevitably ignore or contradict after a while anyway), a way to predict the future and cut out the hard parts of learning and growing.
Binoche being in her 50s also brings more meaning to this film, which showcases the fact that the manic search for connection one feels in their 20s doesn’t just disappear with age. There’s no magical time when a person suddenly feels satisfied and does not wonder if possibly there is more to life and love than the day-in, day-out doldrums.
When films are made about straight men in this predicament, they’re often considered explorations of a “midlife crisis,” but Denis’ film poses the questions: What if crises aren’t limited to a certain age, and what if love itself is the crisis?
Read original story ‘Let the Sunshine In’ Film Review: Juliette Binoche Looks for Love With All the Wrong Men At TheWrap...
- 4/27/2018
- by April Wolfe
- The Wrap
James Toback just sounded off on the women accusing him of sexual misconduct in a bizarre, expletive-filled rant.
The Oscar-nominated screenwriter and director, who has been accused of acting inappropriately – including masturbating in front of women, touching them and propositioning them during business meetings – by over 300 women, according to the Los Angeles Times, vehemently defended himself against the allegations in an interview with Rolling Stone on Friday.
Many of the women, including Rachel McAdams and Selma Blair, claim Toback — known for writing films like 1991’s Bugsy, 1987’s The Pickup Artist and 2014’s The Gambler — approached them about a possible movie...
The Oscar-nominated screenwriter and director, who has been accused of acting inappropriately – including masturbating in front of women, touching them and propositioning them during business meetings – by over 300 women, according to the Los Angeles Times, vehemently defended himself against the allegations in an interview with Rolling Stone on Friday.
Many of the women, including Rachel McAdams and Selma Blair, claim Toback — known for writing films like 1991’s Bugsy, 1987’s The Pickup Artist and 2014’s The Gambler — approached them about a possible movie...
- 10/27/2017
- by Mike Miller
- PEOPLE.com
Luc Besson’s Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets opens, sans surprise, with David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” launching our senses into orbit. A perfect musical selection, correct? Yes, until the song reveals a double meaning. As “Ground control to Major Tom” plays atop interstellar diplomacy, we realize that “perfect” can be swapped with “obvious.” James Gunn’s Guardians Of The Galaxy mixtapes display deep, connected curation, while Besson’s first track has been used and reused throughout sci-fi history. This sets a constant tone as motivations, dialogue, and casting all elicit audible sighs. Something so beautiful should never be this hollow, yet Besson’s shooting star burns premature and fizzles out with a put-put sputter.
Dane DeHaan stars as the titular Major Valerian, whose romantic interest in partner Sergeant Laureline (Cara Delevingne) remains his biggest challenge. Heists? Alien thugs? Snarling creatures? All a piece of mooncake for Valerian.
Dane DeHaan stars as the titular Major Valerian, whose romantic interest in partner Sergeant Laureline (Cara Delevingne) remains his biggest challenge. Heists? Alien thugs? Snarling creatures? All a piece of mooncake for Valerian.
- 7/21/2017
- by Matt Donato
- We Got This Covered
Too much quality TV got you down? All that art and introspection making you pine for the long-gone age of junk? Here’s a companion to our list of the 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time – a few of our picks for the worst. Remember: For every bad show that claws its way to the airwaves, there are hundreds of even worse ones that never made it that far. Respect!
Duck Dynasty
2012-present
Congratulations, Robertson family – you are officially the worst anything ever! A dipshit sitcom passed off as a reality show,...
Duck Dynasty
2012-present
Congratulations, Robertson family – you are officially the worst anything ever! A dipshit sitcom passed off as a reality show,...
- 9/26/2016
- Rollingstone.com
She's beautiful, desired and enjoys a social mobility in the improving Italian economy... but she's also a pawn of cruel materialist values. Stefania Sandrelli personifies a liberated spirit who lives for the moment, but who can't form the relationships we call 'living.' Antonio Pietrangeli and Ettore Scola slip an insightful drama into the young Sandrelli's lineup of comedy roles. I Knew Her Well Blu-ray The Criterion Collection 801 1965 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 115 min. / Io la conoscevo bene / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date February 23, 2016 / 39.95 Starring Stefania Sandrelli, Mario Adorf, Jean-Claude Brialy, Joachim Fuchsberger, Nino Manfredi, Enrico Maria Salerno, Ugo Tognazzi, Karin Dor, Franco Nero. Cinematography Armando Nannuzzi Production design Maurizio Chiari Film Editor Franco Fraticelli Original Music Piero Picconi Written by Antonio Pietrangeli, Ruggero Maccari, Etore Scola Produced by Turi Vasile Directed by Antonio Pietrangeli
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Did a new kind of woman emerge in the 1960s?...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Did a new kind of woman emerge in the 1960s?...
- 3/15/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
James Toback Talks HBO Cannes Doc 'Seduced and Abandoned,' Entertaining Double Act with Alec Baldwin
In May 2012, James Toback descended on Cannes with cohort Alec Baldwin to shoot in ten days the documentary "Seduced and Abandoned" (HBO, October 28). This May, writer-director Toback ("Tyson," "The Pickup Artist") returned to Cannes to screen the film and discuss it with interested parties. Of which I am most definitely one, having thoroughly relished his supremely entertaining and frequently illuminating portrait of the sorry state of the film business today. If "Seduced and Abandoned" meanders and strays off course throughout, it matters not a jot because Toback and Baldwin form a magnificent double act, and the talent they’ve rounded up to spout off includes Bertolucci, Scorsese, Polanski, Coppola, Chastain and Gosling. They all prove willing accomplices for Baldwin and Toback’s canny probing, yielding endlessly fascinating nuggets about the industry and their own careers. The nuts and bolts of the doc, though, are Baldwin and Toback’s efforts to raise the.
- 10/20/2013
- by Matt Mueller
- Thompson on Hollywood
"The Book of Mormon" star Josh Gad will be trading in his magic underwear for shiny bikini briefs and some hair gel when he hits the big-screen adaptation of creeper seduction manual "The Game."
Indie Wire reports that Gad will play the book's author, Neil Strauss, who poses as an unlucky-in-love average Joe who looks to Mystery for help doing a 180 on his dating life.
James Franco signed onto the project last month as tourniquet pant-wearing ladies' man Mystery, whose method of picking up ladies has been the subject of Strauss' book, VH1 show "The Pickup Artist," and much derision from women who don't fancy a man in a boa.
The script is being written and directed by Brian Koppelman and David Levein, two guys who know a thing or two about film seduction — the pair are the brains behind eye candy-fest "Ocean's Thirteen" and porn star Sasha Grey's major debut in clothing,...
Indie Wire reports that Gad will play the book's author, Neil Strauss, who poses as an unlucky-in-love average Joe who looks to Mystery for help doing a 180 on his dating life.
James Franco signed onto the project last month as tourniquet pant-wearing ladies' man Mystery, whose method of picking up ladies has been the subject of Strauss' book, VH1 show "The Pickup Artist," and much derision from women who don't fancy a man in a boa.
The script is being written and directed by Brian Koppelman and David Levein, two guys who know a thing or two about film seduction — the pair are the brains behind eye candy-fest "Ocean's Thirteen" and porn star Sasha Grey's major debut in clothing,...
- 2/6/2012
- by Sarah Crow
- NextMovie
Robert Downey, Jr.'s first notable role came as a 20-year old during the 1985 season of "Saturday Night Live," which, as far as first roles go, is a sort of the worst possible thing with which to be associated. But his talent plentiful, he rebounded after that calamitous season -- that same year, featured in a number of Brat Pack films, including the lead in "The Pickup Artist" with Molly Ringwald -- and then a few years later came his true breakout part in "Less Than Zero."
A half decade later, he was up for his first Oscar, for "Chaplin," and the rest is history, with nearly two decades of top roles interrupted by a few years of drug problems.
What often goes unmentioned, however, is what came before the rehab, the glory and even the Live from New York. As the son of an avant garde filmmaker, Downey actually...
A half decade later, he was up for his first Oscar, for "Chaplin," and the rest is history, with nearly two decades of top roles interrupted by a few years of drug problems.
What often goes unmentioned, however, is what came before the rehab, the glory and even the Live from New York. As the son of an avant garde filmmaker, Downey actually...
- 10/10/2011
- by Jordan Zakarin
- Huffington Post
I'm sure at some point while flipping through the cable stations you came across VH1's The Pickup Artist, which ran for two seasons (so far) and starred the self-proclaimed greatest pick-up artist ever, Mystery. His real name is Erik von Markovik, but in the world of pick-up artists, he goes by Mystery -- an author of several popular books, host of his own VH1 show and the guy who supposedly knows the tricks to picking up any woman at any time in any place.
Prior to the VH1 show, Mystery was also featured in a book called The Game: Penetrating The Secret Society of Pickup Artists, written by a journalist named Neil Strauss who penetrated the ultra-secretive world of pick-up artists, was mentored by an extremely dysfunctional Mystery (we're talking depression, crying fits, the whole nine yards), and went on to become what the pick-up artist community refers to...
Prior to the VH1 show, Mystery was also featured in a book called The Game: Penetrating The Secret Society of Pickup Artists, written by a journalist named Neil Strauss who penetrated the ultra-secretive world of pick-up artists, was mentored by an extremely dysfunctional Mystery (we're talking depression, crying fits, the whole nine yards), and went on to become what the pick-up artist community refers to...
- 5/27/2010
- by Erik Davis
- Cinematical
Vh1's The Pick-Up Artist, the show that takes a group of nerdy, inexperienced boys and turns them into walking eyebrow rings with clown names competing for rune medallions, is back for some reason. This being the show's second season, a few changes to the formula have been made: Matador, a grown man who wears red mesh long-sleeved shirts, has longer hair (the better to ensnare young women from the thick of the club like some creepy male Rapunzel); Mystery looks even more like the personification of Magic: The Gathering (it's possible); and the show now takes place in the steaming hotbed of sexual tension known as Phoenix, Arizona. The biggest change to the show, however, is the addition of a "wingwoman" (that's pickup artist for "douchette") named Tara who gets to sit in the surveillance bus with Mystery and Matador outside the fake club that VH1 hastily assembled...
- 10/20/2008
- avclub.com
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