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Alice Et Martin
1998
In this meditation on family, romance, and the search for contentedness from French director Andre Techine (THE WILD REEDS, MY FAVORITE SEASON), a troubled young man named Martin (Alexis Loret), rethinks his past. At age 20, Martin finds himself living with his bohemian brother Benjamin (Matthieu Amalric) in Paris, after .. Read more
| Starring | Juliette Binoche, Alexis Loret, Mathieu Amalric, Carmen Maura |
|---|---|
| Director | Andre Techine |
| Genres | Drama, Romance, World Cinema |
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Alice Et Martin
In this meditation on family, romance, and the search for contentedness from French director Andre Techine (THE WILD REEDS, MY FAVORITE SEASON), a troubled young man named Martin (Alexis Loret), rethinks his past. At age 20, Martin finds himself living with his bohemian brother Benjamin (Matthieu Amalric) in Paris, after fleeing from their father's house for an unexplainable reason. Benjamin's violinist roommate, Alice (Juliette Binoche) responds to Martin, who falls obsessively in love with her. Alice quickly becomes pregnant. Though Martin has a profitable modeling job, and is very close with Alice--who will do anything to help him--he cannot stop worrying about his past, and is tortured by it in his dreams at night.
| Starring | Juliette Binoche, Alexis Loret, Mathieu Amalric, Carmen Maura, Marthe Villalonga, Roschdy Zem, Pierre Maguelon |
|---|---|
| Director | Andre Techine |
| Studio | Optimum |
| Run time | DVD: 2 hrs 1 min |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama, Romance, World Cinema |
| Language | DVD: French |
| Subtitles | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 27 Dec 2000 Production year: 1998 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (4)
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Fourteen years after Rendez-vous, Juliette Binoche and André Téchiné reunite for this coolly assured but coldly uninvolving film, which is further undermined by improbable characterisation and contrived plotting. At the mercy of her emotions, Binoche is never less than persuasive as the violinist who sacrifices everything for Alexis Loret, an undeserving narcissus whose path from patricide to depression, via instant fame as a supermodel, makes him as infeasible as he's resistible. Aided by Caroline Champetier's crisp photography and a lovely score by Philippe Sarde, Téchiné deftly captures the fragility of the relationship, but refuses to allow us to delve too deeply.
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An Oedipal drama of frustration and redemption, insightful on the dynamic of family relationships, but not helped by the difficulty in understanding why Binoche's down-to-earth musician should be attracted to the beautiful, wimpish blank portrayed by Alex
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Most helpful member's review
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6 out of 6 people found this review helpful
Tedious and uninvolving melodrama
'Alice et Martin' starts as it means to go on with inexplicable behaviour, jarring cuts and an irritatingly pretentious tone in evidence from the opening scene. We are introduced to Martin as a 10 year-old who is suddenly sent to live with his absent father(Pierre Maguelon). But Victor is a hard and abusive father and the next time we see Martin he's a 20 year-old(Alexis Loret) fleeing home after his father's death.
He heads to Paris to live with his brother Benjamin(Mathieu Amalric) and his attractive flatmate Alice(Juliette Binoche). He's instantly taken with Alice but the feeling's not mutual. Until, that is, Martin is spotted at a cafe and becomes a succesful model(as you do), suddenly Alice falls in love with him. Life is pretty tough in Paris isn't it?
It takes us a long time to get to this point in the picture and it's hard to feel anything for these self-obsessed characters. When Alice and Martin get together and she finds herself pregnant, Martin's repressed memories of what really happened to his father resurface. We are then launched back in time for a drawn-out and dull flashback depicting Victor's death.
Andre Techine's film is so wilfully oblique and impenetrable that the viewer's patience is sorely tested. The characters are barely fleshed out, despite the best efforts of the ever-excellent Binoche. The film is also fatally hamstrung by the casting of the inexperienced Alexis Loret as Martin. The guy simply can't act, especially not a character who's supposed to be mentally disturbed. He simply stands there looking constipated throughout, delivering his lines in the same dull monotone.
Despite 'Alice et Martin' being well shot by Caroline Champetier and benefitting from a well-judged score by Philippe Sarde, the clumsy structure, banal dialogue and lack of emotional involvement make it an instantly forgettable drama. It's a long-winded slog for little reward. -
Most recent members' review
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3 out of 3 people found this review helpful
Pretty vacant
Forgot i had this on video, and was in 2 times whether to watch it or bin it.
Should probably have binned it and saved myself a couple of hours of life.
It's not that it's bad, or even awful - merely dull, in that dull dramatic drama way where too much 'story' is being told; felt i was watching something delivered in a box marked 'cinematic contrivance'.
I'm not a big fan of Juliette Binoche either.
About 20 minutes in the hook is: has Martin pushed his old dad down the stairs? I answered that question immediately.
And for the next one and a half hours the poor lad is slowly unravelling: running away, starving; traumatised, comatised, having nightmares, breaking down;ending up in nut-house; then on to his guilt-releasing confession, and the final judgement.
While throughout Alice is there; to be fallen in love with, to fight for him, to save him, to stay by him, to have his kid.
'If i hadn't met you I wouldn't exist' he says. Yes, might have ended up under the wheeels of a truck (he runs away everywhere, not looking where he's going)
Coming to Paris to crash at his brother Benjamins (Mathieu Almaric yet again) he turns from hobo to poster boy to cute kid. She resists him at first, but eventually capitulates: 'If you want me, I'm yours'.
Their 'love' affair isn't convincing. I didn't believe in it at all. The psychological motivation for their attraction is opaque to the point of seeming too obviously schematically contrived (so as to push all the story on) Martin comes across as a cute - but moody, immature, vapid, boy. And Juliet Binoche is as cute as she always is - replete with her own brand of pretty vapidity.
Peculiar how some films don't manage to get off the screen and into your head or heart. -
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In this meditation on family, romance, and the search for contentedness from French director Andre Techine (THE WILD REEDS, MY FAVORITE SEASON), a troubled young man named Martin (Alexis Loret), ... -