TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Cassandra Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Phillipa Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

jotix100 Louis and Mousse are junkies. At the start of this tale, they are visited by a supplier, who brings them six grams of heroine that proves fatal.The heroin is lethal and Louis overdoses. Mousse, oblivious of his death, is found in bed by his mother, a rich lady who is renting the apartment, not suspecting her son is dead. Mousse is taken to a hospital to be detoxed, and in addition to that problem, it is found she is pregnant.At the funeral, Mousee, who has been released by then, goes back to the house, where her presence is not wanted. Paul, a brother of the dead young man, is the only one that shows any compassion toward Mousse. The mother of Louis has a serious talk with the girl. She confronts her on the pregnancy, something that Mousse assures her it belongs to Louis. The mother feels it is better if she aborts because of the dangers of passing the addiction to the baby, something that Mousse disregards, having a different idea of how to handle her imminent future.Mousse goes into a hideaway in a secluded part near a beach. Paul, on his way to Spain, stops at the house to spend a few days with Mousse. Paul, who is gay, finds a nice young man, Serge, who works in the area. The house where Mousse is staying belongs to a man who was her lover when she was sixteen years old. Now she takes her time to meditate on her future while living with limited funds and dependent on the methadone she must take in order to stay off heroine.Paul sees in Mousse a kindred spirit. He tries to get her to go out, something she has not done, preferring to stay home, away from people. Paul finally convinces her to go to the beach with him. There she is not shy in showing her pregnancy to anyone who looks. Even though Mousse knows what Paul is like, she regards him as an extension of her dead lover. One day, at an outdoor cafe, Mousse meets a man who has an interesting proposal for her. How about letting him take her to his room overlooking the water and make love to her. The incident goes badly when Mousse decides to sit with the man while he caresses her, but no actual intercourse.Like some of his previous films, director Francois Ozon sets most of "Hideway" on a beach. This film is not quite as intense as "Under the Sand", "See the Sea", or even "Swimming Pool", but it has lovely reflective moments in which Mousse must deal with her present reality. Having decided to have the child, she feels that little baby will be part of what she had with Louis, whom she sadly misses. The hideaway of the title refers probably to the reflection Mousse is experiencing, away from her chaotic life with Louis in Paris. The serenity of the location, plus her rapport with Paul, contribute to her mental well being. The only thing that does not ring true is the fact that Mousse is released from the hospital in no time, when in reality she needed to stay if she was to be cured of her drug addiction.Isabelle Carre makes a wonderful Mousse. She was pregnant at the time the film was made. Ms. Carre is the best thing in the film. Louis-Ronan Choisy is quite effective as Paul. The actor was making his film debut in this film and he is also credited with the incidental music heard in the picture. Melville Poupaud is seen briefly as Louis. Marie Riviere shows up briefly.

bandw By the time this movie rose to the top of my queue I had totally forgotten how it ever got on my queue and had no idea what it was about. I think this turned out to be fortuitous, since from the very beginning you never know quite where the story is going. Not wanting to spoil the effect for those who come to this cold as I did, I will only say that the main character, name Mousse, is a woman of shifting moods and a woman who remains somewhat mysterious. There are men in her life, but the relationships are not predictable.The filming is interesting. A lot of the movie takes place in the night and I found myself turning up the brightness on my TV to make out some of the scenes. Also, a lot of the scenes are back-lit, or are taken from a darkened room with a doorway or window opening onto bright sunlight. On the other hand there are many scenes filmed outdoors in brilliant sunlight. I could never figure out if this was strictly a director's stylistic technique, or whether the contrasts in light and dark were to reflect Mousse's mood shifts.Some may find the pacing rather too measured, but I found this film to be a satisfying character study. I came away with a renewed appreciation for the near infinite variety of human experiences.

writers_reign For me there was only one reason to watch this film: Isabelle Carre. The esteem in which Francois Ozon is held has, alas, always been something of a mystery to me and I tend to see his films because he has a penchant for working with luminous actresses such as Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi (5x2, Time To Leave), six of the 8 Women, and now Isabelle Carre. Possibly because of her slight build, porcelain skin, blonde hair, etc Carre is often cast in 'fragile' roles but she did turn 40 last year and IS a bona fide actress so perhaps it is understandable that she wants to extend herself (Anna M, for example) which may explain why she spends the opening reel here as a haggard, wretched, drug abuser. Within weeks - easy to calculate because she learns she is pregnant early on) she is more or less clean and able to look radiant. A fine film but only because of Carre.

film_ophile While I don't agree w/ Chris Knipp's view that this boiled down to a vague glossy ad....I am thankful that he used words like lyrical and elegance , which caused me to see the movie tonight as part of the Boston MFA's annual French Film Festival. I am a big fan of Ozon. I don't know what it is about him, but I feel very simpatico with his sense of humor,and his gazings and subtle observations about humanity. There is this allowance for space in his serious films, space for the characters to feel and grow, and space for the audience to partake in this. I do not find that space flat or boring; rather, it has me fully engaged as a viewer. In this film I was surprised and very taken in by the mesmerizing spiritual nature of Louis-Ronan Choisy . I have not seen him before and he was quite wonderful to watch.He was so perfectly cast for this role. I have been quite taken in by Isabelle Carre before, but I think it was a shame that her character in this film was not able to play to the ethereal and quite 'saintly'persona she has exuded in other roles.I was hoping to get at least a glimpse of the (in-reality) pregnant Carre with that beatific presence that she can emanate.All in all, the relationship between the two of them, and the scene with her being verbally harangued by the guilt ridden woman on the beach, were enough to make me recommend this film. I found it not perfect;too many things unanswered character and plot wise, but still quite lovely, and it left me with a feeling, a mood, that I am still carrying.