Review: "Let the Sunshine In"

One of the pivotal steps I took as a maturing film lover was the recognition that you don't have to like a movie character to find them compelling. Villains are the obvious example, with any number of sneering cinematic icons captivating our attention.

But what is even more challenging is to take someone who is weak, or self-deluded, or otherwise flawed in such a way that we feel pity or even revulsion toward them, and build an entire film around them.

This is what "Let the Sunshine In" tries to do, with only partial success. The sublime Juliette Binoche plays Isabelle, a renowned painter whose love life is a perpetual shambles. Over the course of the movie we watch her become involved in romantic or other emotional entanglements with a half-dozen or so men.

We feel for her, but we also feel like throwing up our collective hands at her seeming inability to do what the title says. Isabelle is a woman perennially searching for joy, but always repelling happiness when the potential for it presents itself.

Directed by Claire Denis, who co-wrote the screenplay with Christine Angot from a book by Roland Barthes, "Sunshine" also gives us a less than flattering portrait of mature French manhood. Virtually every fellow Isabelle encounters is trying to manipulate or denigrate her in some way. We loathe them for treating her so poorly, and her for letting herself be treated this way repeatedly.

Vincent (Xavier Beauvois), a wealthy banker, is at the top of this vile list. He simply wants to use Isabelle for sex and adventure, and makes no pretense of taking her feelings into account. In one exchange he tells her outright that while he finds her charming, his wife is "extraordinary" and he'd never leave her. Nonetheless, he soon turns up at her doorstep bearing flowers and making presumptions on her body.

Other artists or gallery owners in her social circle make lecherous come-ons in the guise of friendship. One smarmy fellow criticizes her dalliance with a lower-class man who happens to be a fine dancer (Paul Blain), saying she should date within her "milieu" -- meaning him, no doubt.

There's also the kindly but reticent chauffer (Bruno Podaalydes), her ex-husband, Francois (Laurent Grevill) and a famous stage actor (Nicolas Duvauchelle) with whom she's supposed to collaborate on a project, but instead they fall into bed together.

She even has an encounter with Denis, a clairvoyant played by French cinema legend Gerard Depardieu, who gives her his predictions about her romantic life... but again, with that hint of self-interest. Be "open," he repeatedly assures her -- perhaps with an over-the-hill self-appointed mystic?

It's a little unclear how old Isabelle is supposed to be -- certainly not a kid, as she is divorced with a 10-year-old daughter. But she also is often childlike in her emotions, experiencing giddy joy one moment and then self-critical despair, sometimes within the space of a single sentence of dialogue.

The film is most interesting to watch the fleeting emotions that play across the face of Binoche. We may not admire Isabelle, but we always believe in her. We feel that the things she's experiencing are authentic and deeply affecting to her. We might wish, even crave, that she would make better choices. But we always have faith that they are her own.

I cannot say that I understood this character, but that I always had hope for her.

Video review: "Of Gods and Men"

"Of Gods and Men" is a loving tribute to Trappist monks living in isolation in the largely Muslim nation of Algeria in the 1990s. It's based on a true story, and is a tale of tragedy and bravery, of men who put their faith and devotion to their fellow humans ahead of their own well-being -- even their very lives.

It is also, truth be told, exceedingly dull at times.

Director Xavier Beauvois, who also co-wrote the film that won the Grand Prix at Cannes Film Festival, patiently follows these holy men on the quotidian tasks of their daily lives -- praying, singing, tending gardens, cleaning kitchen pots, etc.

I'm guessing his idea was to immerse the audience in the existence of the monks, both their deep spiritual thoughts as well as their petty conflicts and drab chores, so as to better identify with them. Perhaps I'm shallow, but mostly it convinced me that the life of a Trappist monk is dreadfully boring.

When the film focuses on the fateful choice the monks have to make after Islamic extremists threaten Westerners in the area, "Of Gods and Men" hits a powerful chord. It's a shame they didn't make a shorter, more intense movie that focused on their dilemma rather than their daily life.

An interesting note on this video release: As near as I can determine, "Of Gods and Men" is only being issued as a Blu-ray or a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack -- no standalone DVD version available. I believe that's the first major film release with which I've seen that.

The combo pack comes with only two extras. The first is "The Sacrificed Tibéhirine: Further Investigation," an 18-minute documentary looking at the real case of the murdered priests, and revisiting the actual monastery where they lived. The other is "Merrimack College Augustine Dialogue IX with author John W. Kiser," a 41-minute religious-themed chat with the author of a book about the Tibéhirine monks.

Movie: 2 stars out of four
Extras: 2.5 stars

Review: "Of Gods and Men"

It's one thing for a film to explore why men would choose to become monks, embracing a bleak existence of quiet contemplation. It's quite another to replicate that experience for the audience.

"Of Gods and Men," won the Grand Prix at last year's Cannes Film Festival for its portrayal of eight French Christian monks living in largely Muslim Algeria in the mid-1990s. It's based on a true story, but since it's not generally well-known I won't reveal their ultimate fate. Suffice it to say the film is not about what happens to these holy men, but the choice they make.

As the story opens, the country is under increasing attack by Islamist extremists who are targeting Westerners. The monks, some of whom have lived there for decades, must choose whether to abandon their mission or stay and risk death.

Director and co-writer Xavier Beauvois takes us into the monks' inner lives, showing in loving detail their prayers, hymns and private conversations. We feel their anguish, and learn that while these men ranging from middle-aged to ancient are ordained in the church, they are by no means saints. They have their failings, doubts and petty clashes.

But the sad, harsh truth is that two hours spent inside a Trappist monastery turns out to be achingly dull. Watching this film, we feel like fidgety children at Mass, kicking the pews and sending our mind out to wander in a failing attempt to make time pass faster.

I spent plenty of my youth in services, and this movie mostly succeeded at dredging up a lot of suppressed memories of aching boredom.

When Beauvois and co-screenwriter Etienne Comar focus on the plight of the monks and their fateful choice -- not unlike that of their Savior -- "Of Gods and Men" takes on a vibrant energy, as we plunge into this crisis of life and death, faith versus reason.

But during the times the film follows the monks on their quotidian tasks -- planting and harvesting, dispensing medical care to the villagers, cooking and eating, praying and singing -- it feels like a verite-style documentary of that which is just not terribly interesting.

The performances by the ensemble cast are uniformly good, though a few stand out. Lambert Wilson plays Christian, the troubled head of the order who unwittingly places his own feelings before his fellows. Jacques Herlin plays Amédée, the oldest and perhaps most centered of the monks. Olivier Rabourdinis portrays one of the youngest and most impetuous.

I especially enjoyed the great French actor Michael Lonsdale as Luc, the obstinate old monk who's also a doctor. Lonsdale, perhaps best known in the U.S. for his role as the relentless inspector in "The Day of the Jackal," radiates intelligence like few actors can do -- Sidney Poitier comes to mind. You can practically hear Luc thinking.

2 stars out of four