Happily Ever After From:Anouk Aimée , Keith Allen (VII) , Claude Berri , Jérôme Bertin , Alain Chabat , Kino International ,
| 
See larger picture. | | Amazon Sales Rank:# 57275 User Rating: Customer Reviews List Price:$29.95 Amazon.com's Price:$26.99 Prices subject to change. You Save:$2.96 (9.88%) Availability:Usually ships in 24 hours |
|
|
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0738329042127
Format: Closed-captioned
Format: Color
Format: DVD-Video
Format: Subtitled
Format: Widescreen
Format: NTSC
Label: Kino International
Audio Format: Dolby Digital 2.0
Manufacturer: Kino International
Number Of Items: 1
Packaged Height: 58 hundredths-inches
Packaged Length: 710 hundredths-inches
Packaged Weight: 18 hundredths-pounds
Packaged Width: 542 hundredths-inches
Publisher: Kino International
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2005-10-11
Running Time: 105 minutes
Studio: Kino International
Theatrical Release Date: 2004
Product Description:
Call it The Mind of the Married French Man. In his second film with Charlotte Gainsbourg (21 Grams), Yvan Attal (Bon Voyage) looks at monogamy through the prism of three middle-aged Parisians who work at the same luxury auto dealership. Georges (Alain Chabat) is unhappily married to the combative Nathalie (Emmanuelle Seigner), the single Fred (Alain Cohen) is seeing several different lovelies, and Vincent (writer/director Attal) has a seemingly idyllic relationship with realtor Gabrielle (Gainsbourg, Attal's companion)--complete with precocious urchin. In reality, they're in a rut. So while Fred swears his is a lonely life, his frustrated friends aren't convinced. One day in a record store, Gabrielle locks eyes with an attractive stranger (Johnny Depp in a mostly wordless, if effective cameo) while listening to Radiohead's "Creep," with its somber "I don't belong here" refrain. Things go no further, although Gainsbourg's expressive face clearly registers a longing for more. Vincent, on the other hand, surrenders to temptation. As in his feature debut, My Wife is an Actress, in which Attal imagined Gainsbourg having an affair with suave co-star Terence Stamp, his Vincent is the weaker of the two, although Gabrielle is a less unwitting victim this time. Happily Ever After, their fifth film as co-stars, treads a fine line between comedy and pathos before giving way to a fantasy concerning Depp. Or was it all in Gabrielle's head? Attal leaves it up to the viewer to decide. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Customer Reviews:
3 of 3 customers found the following review helpful:
There are no Happily Ever Afters in this Sophisticated French Comedy., 2008-11-06
This is a brave, tres Francaise date movie that should leave couples talking afterwards about the provocative issues it raises involving love, marriage, and monogamy. The point of this film is that there are never any guarantees of happiness when it comes to life, love and marriage. Written and directed by Yvan Attal (My Wife Is an Actress), Happily Ever After (Ils se marièrent et eurent beaucoup d'enfants, which translates as "And They Got Married and Had Many Children") is a sexy, 2004 French romantic serio-comedy starring Charlotte Gainsbourg and her real-life husband, Attal, with a long cameo appearance by Johnny Depp (who proves his fluency in French). Married with with a young son (Ben Attal, the son of Attal and Gainsbourg), Vincent (Attal) is cheating on his wife, Gabrielle (Gainsbourg), who is contemplating infidelity herself with Johnny Depp, whom she meets at a Virgin megastore while listening to Radiohead's "Creep." Despite their infidelities, real or imagined, the couple still experiences playful moments in their marriage, along with lots of really hot sex. Meanwhile, hotel manager Georges (Alain Chabat) dreams of escapinging his miserable marriage, and French womanizer Fred (Alain Cohen) longs for a monogomous relationship. "You know nothing about married women," he knowningly tells his friends when they complain about their wives. This is a captivating film, despite its message, which seems to be that there are no "Happily Ever Afters" in the real world.
There is much to love about this film, and there are at least five good reasons to experience it.
1. Gainsbourg's performance as Gabrielle carries the film. Knowing her husband is cheating on her, she weeps in Parisian cafes over the state of her her marriage, and then sadly watches as her 5-year-old son would rather flirt with a girl on the bus than spend time with his mother. "You can't love several people at once," she poignantly lectures her son, despite the film's compelling argument to the contrary.
2. There is one scene in the film where Vincent talks on the phone with his mistress (Angie David) who, unbeknownst to her, happens to be sitting at the very next table to Gabrielle in a crowded bistro.
3. There are two memorable elevator scenes in the film, the first in which Vincent and Gabrielle find themselves in a moment of uncontrolled passion, and the other in which Gabrielle fantasizes that she is kissing Depp as the elevator continues to rise into the clouds without ever stopping.
4. There is also a messy food fight scene between Vincent and Gabrielle which culminates in tender sex between the two.
5. Radiohead, the Velvet Underground, and Elvis Presley are prominantly featured in the killer soundtrack.
G. Merritt
|
|
|
