There is something about French rom-coms…this unique sense of sprightliness, humour and beauty all rolled into one.
I don’t know how to describe it, but they just seem to have it.
I suppose the aural sensation of the French language might have a large part to play in it.
But ultimately, the French know how to do rom-com films like no one else.
Not that I watch that many French films, to be honest.
Anyway, this little film “Beautiful Lies” was playing at a cinema so I decided to check it out.
Whatsmore, I’ve always wanted to see Audrey Tautou, so I figured this was my chance.
In essence, “Beautiful Lies” promised much, but didn’t exactly manage to hit it out of the ballpark.
Audrey Tautou was as advertised – one of the most beautiful and enigmatic actresses I’ve seen in quite awhile.
She has the most mesmerising eyes I’ve ever seen.
I loved the whole set-up of the plot.
It’s kinda complicated to describe, and I shan’t spend five paragraphs doing so, but let’s just say it’s about writing anonymous love letters and how it all slowly turns into an intricate web of “beautiful lies”.
It was a perfect set-up, and one could immediately see the myriad of possibilities as to how the entire story could develop.
But sadly, while there was some clever bit of writing in the screenplay, overall the plot became a bit too drawn out, and it felt like it definitely could have used a bit of tightening up.
It felt like there were one too many twists and turns in the plot.
And while there were a few beautiful moments in the film, none of them really hit the sweet spot in a way that made you want to always remember it.
Fairly enjoyable film, but personally, not the best I’ve seen.
While walking out of the cinema, you have that niggling feeling in you that the film just lacked that special something.
One of my favourite French films of all time was a French-Canadian production called “Seducing Dr Lewis” which I saw recently, which is about as obscure as they come, but I thoroughly loved it.
More on that next time.
Yup, French films have that appeal. A bit different from what we get from Hollywood, with a touch of elegance. When you watch a French film (or something produced by a French), you’ll know it’s French.
You should go catch “Beautiful Lies” soon. It’s showing at Vivo (Cinema Europa). I think you might find the plot quite appealing. It’s about writing anonymous love letters. =)