Who payed the critics

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Despite a family friend praising his work for years,I for some reason have never got round to seeing a title from auteur film maker François Ozon.Getting the honour to be "president" for a festival being held on IMDb's Film Festival board,I noticed that one of the movies up for consideration was by Ozon.Deciding to take a roll of the dice and see if any Ozon flicks were on Netflix UK,I was delighted to spot the title from the Festival board on the site!,which led to me getting ready to meet Ozon's new girlfriend.The plot:Since crossing paths in childhood Claire & Laura have been close friends,with both of them being supportive of each other as Laura gets married to Gilles and Claire ties the knot with David. Becoming pregnant,Laura gives Claire the title of God Mother for her child. Appearing to have life all set,Claire is left heartbroken,when Laura dies from a sudden illness. Promising Laura that she would always take care of her daughter,Claire goes to help David with the baby and is taken aback,when she finds David dressed as Laura.View on the film:Undressing David's life with the death of Laura,auteur writer/director François Ozon & cinematographer Pascal Marti give Melodrama chic a quirky twist,with Ozon and Marti closely working with art director Pascal Leguellec to give David some old-school Hollywood glamour,beaming from the walls being sprayed with primary colours,to elegant circling shots swaying with David's womanly curves. Bringing David and Claire together over the loss of Laura,Ozon gives their scenes a sensuality which avoids titillation by Ozon dimming the lights and focusing on the faces of David and Claire.Taken from one of Ruth Rendell's lesser-known non-murder mystery books,the screenplay by Ozon gives the title a comedic zest, shining from the delightfully funny attempts Claire makes for David to not stand out at a women's fashion house,to David getting more than popcorn and a Coke at the cinema. Delicately building the relationship with their comedic playfulness, Ozon paints an incredibly touching melodrama,with Claire fully embracing Virginia (David) and Virginia finding a new love,whilst keeping the memory of Laura at heart.Pulling up a role originally offered to Matthias Schoenaerts, Romain Duris gives an incredible performance as Virginia/David thanks to Duris finding a common ground whilst emphasising the most unique elements of their personalities,from David's quiet reserved attitude being wiped away by the flamboyance of Virginia. Supporting Virginia at every stage,the pretty Anaïs Demoustier gives a great performance as Claire,who carries her friendship with Laura for the whole film,which Demoustier threads into Claire welcoming a new person in her life,as Claire meets the new girlfriend.

After going over the film list for TIFF 2014 this movie seemed to stand out to me. Based on what I was reading it was actually different from what I expected. I suppose my imagination is just not very creative lol.I did see this movie with a female friend and she really enjoyed it as well. What I do remember if that within a few minutes of starting the whole theatre was in tears. And then a few minutes later we were all laughing so hard we were crying. That is all I will so so as not to spoil it. We did enjoy the acting, the lighting, the costumes etc. The ending was also very suspenseful and the way tings finished were very interesting. I guess you have to see it for yourself and make your own judgement.I strongly urge you to watch it and come back with your comments, recommendations, suggestions.

Ozon's latest picture is a queer and lurid modern tale on human's sexuality, a consistent motif of his canon, and this time, he goes even further, transmutes the recently-departed Ruth Rendell's 1985 short story THE NEW GIRLFRIEND into a glossy drama-comedy, exploring the avant-garde conception of two people's realisation of their own sexual individuality, which leaps beyond the usual straight/gay/bisexual boundary. The link between David (Duris) and Claire (Demoustier) is Laura (Le Besco), she is David's wife and Claire's bestie since childhood, after giving birth to a baby girl Lucie, Laura passes away, which leaves both devastating, the film starts with Laura's funeral, she is buried in her wedding dress, then within five minutes, the narrative flips bracingly through Laura and Claire's growth trajectory until the present, when Claire speaks in her best friend's funeral ceremony and declares that she will adhere to her vow, to take care Lucie and David. By an incident, Laura surprisingly discovers that David is a cross-dresser, after the initial shock, Claire seems to find a new way to deal with Laura's death when David's female identity Virginia, sports Laura's dress and perfume, becomes a new replacement and wakes up her latent lesbianism which will damage her marriage with the unwitting Gilles (Personnaz). Ostensibly the film is developing according to a familiar pattern, as we witness David experience a full-blooming of his transvestite identity alongside Claire's assistance, which peaks in the heartfelt rendition of UNE FEMME AVEC TOI by a trans-singer in a night club. Duris delivers a brilliant turn in this gender confusion role, the incompatibility of his bony figure and very masculine face as a woman creates a ludicrous laughing point, it is always an award-worthy platform for actors acting-in-drag, Duris might not look as ravishing as Melvil Poupaud in LAURENCE ALWAYS (2012), but he defty galvanises warmth and fondness in David/Virginia. In fact, the film's mainstay is always on Claire, whose affection towards Laura can be spotted from earlier with yearning gaze, when she realises Laura is attracted to me, she represses her feelings and chooses a conventional marriage following Laura's steps. Only when she and Virginia take a getaway in Laura's childhood house, the long-dormant impulsion is resuscitated, here Ozon cunningly deploys a trickery in Claire's dream sequence to show viewers that Laura is the one she desires, not David, no matter how Virginia is appealing to her, in the end, David's male sex organ is the real deal-breaker. Demoustier plays Claire's gradual awakening inconspicuously, like her character, Claire is not a prima donna, an attention-grabber, she is pretty but more inward-looking. Demoustier's effort cannot be overlooked even though Duris' role is far meatier.Now to the downside, during the latter half, it seems that Ozon becomes slack when the shopworn car-accident is wantonly introduced to literally provide David a second chance to wake up in her new identity when all the lies and fronts are debunked, more cringe-worthy is she can only wake up after Claire dresses her up as Virginia and sings her UNE FEMME AVEC MOI. Also, Ozon's morbid emphasis on dressing dead body is too over under the context, there is no need to go that far. Finally the open ending, it is frustrating to leave the agreeable Gilles out of the picture without any indication since he is the most innocent one among them, he deserves a better treatment after all.

This movie had two strikes on it in my case; I don't much care for Francois Ozon and I positively dislike Romain Duris. What luck then that if boasts a standout performance from Anais Demoustier and a tasty supporting role from Aurore Clemente. Opening with Demoustier's Claire speaking at the funeral of her best friend Laura, an opening reel then limns in their lifelong attachment from their initial meeting aged seven in nursery school to Laura's untimely death six months after giving birth to Lucie. From the pulpit Claire vows that she will honour her deathbed promise to Laura to watch over Lucie, to whom she is godmother, and David. Though we are never privy to the circumstances both Laura and Claire appear to have landed on their feet spouse-wise and when Claire makes an initial call on David and Lucie she finds them in a house with what appears to have six or seven bedrooms, completely detached and with its own driveway. Despite this there is apparently no domestic help - odd with a six-month old baby in residence - and when no one answers the door Claire walks in and finds David in drag feeding the baby. After this the film has nowhere to go and turns into a one-trick pony. Initially repulsed Claire grows to accept David's transvestism, meeting him for clandestine shopping trips and 'girls nights out', deceiving her own husband Gilles. Duris fails to convince as either male or female but Demoustier is incandescent and single-handedly saves the film.