1. jean-do

   10

   Beautiful film. Long, silent shots set a perfect tone and built the tension for the more shocking and passionate scenes. Best of 2005 and one of the best of the decade.… Expand

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2. MichaelL.

   5

   I think the value of this film is that it encapsulates all that is intriguing and infuriating about French intellectual thought of the past thirty years. There is a deep intellectual pomposity - and, worse, - dishonesty, that permeates all of Deconstruction (starting with the fact that we're supposed to call it "Deconstruction" instead of "Deconstructionist".) If you are "hip" or "with it" you know that reality is a series of "narratives" that have no objective basis; all knowledge is fragmentary; and that anything vaguely American - like linear thought - is Very Bad. And yes, the French treated the Algerians badly and are closet racists, but that is really window dressing here. In fact, maybe some of the recent racial friction is caused by the lack of directness embodied by this film! The French want to pretend they believe in relative values and a subjective view of reality, but then why do they so emphatically defend the French language, culture, wine and cheese from foreign influence? I want to make it clear that I love slow, poetic films if their intent is to be dreamlike - Mulholland Drive is an excellent example of the genre. But this was simply a whodunit with the answers left out.… Expand

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3. MazD.

   3

   I can appreciate the techniques used and the director's message is evident but films have to be entertaining and engaging which this film failed to do on both fronts. The classic example is when Georges is waiting for his wife to come to the bedroom after asking the guests to leave. Pure indulgence and a waste of film.… Expand

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