Children of the Century
Picture: B- Sound: B- Extras: C Film: B+
Children Of The Century is a romantic, tragic film. Beautifully portrayed, well acted, well
directed, but tragic all the same. The
historically centered subject matter leaves it no choice. Director Diane Kurys succeeds in bringing the
love relatedness of George Sand and Alfred de Musset to life in a captivating
way. This film is completely in period
French, with English subtitles, and the translations (for the most part) are
not only accurate, but period responses to the story and rarely depart from the
intended style. This is important
because many films are poorly translated, often with modern idioms or
vernaculars that can pull a viewer right out of the story; this one does
not. It keeps you enveloped in its
beauty: which is stunning, and its laments, which are unfortunate, but not
unanticipated.
Juliette
Binoche, a powerful Academy Award winning actress (and probably best known
outside France for her portrayal as a single
mother in a small French countryside town in 1960 opposite Johnny Depp in Chocolat) plays George Sand
embodied. She is dynamic, shocking,
sensual, rebellious, and passionate to the last. Her George thinks she has love when all she
has is misplaced lust and obsession.
Benoit Magimel is the tortured Alfred, whose entire life is filled with
debauchery, deceit, and addiction. His
talent is constantly overshadowed by the people around him enabling his worse
traits, from his controlling mother, to his weak brother, a cast of treacherous
friends and rescuers, and George herself.
The film
is shot on location both in France and in Venice, and impossible tight shots in
small streets, up stairwells, and around corners give a very authentic feel of
time and space to the production. No
expense was spared on the costuming, and it is magnificent. Every button is period, and even smoking
materials and opiates are well demonstrated, which leads to the fact that this
is an adult film of history, beauty, sensual erotic pleasures, and tragic
consequences.
The only
major disappointment with this film is in what it decides to cover
historically. The film is about the
relationship between George and Alfred, which is all it really covers. It would have been wonderful to give today’s
generations, particularly outside of France who may not be as schooled in the
poet Romantics of the nineteenth century an opportunity to hear their poetry
out of the characters mouths. That only
happens a couple of times, and in spurts, so those unfamiliar would never
really get a sense of their greatness and contributions to the age. Alfred in particular is underplayed; you only
understand why he is wretched; you don’t really get a sense of why anyone would
like him. His talent as a poet and
playwright is for all intended purposes, not included. There is an assumed familiarity with these
talented figures; it is unfortunate that for most of the world now, a
compressed history lesson about their greatness as artists is sorely needed.
The anamorphically
enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is not bad, but has limits, which includes some detail
issues. The visuals of the actual film
would be an A in how well it is shot, but it is going to take a digital HD
transfer to do justice to the film in any event, so complaints here are
nominal. The Dolby Digital 4.0 Stereo
mix is not the three-channel left-center-right stereo with monophonic
surrounds, which is more typical.
Instead, we get split surrounds and no center channel, which is choice
that is both odd and interesting, but it is thought out well enough. The extras are mostly promotional items and a
trailer. Again, here was an opportunity
to include so much more that would have been relevant and increased the
enjoyment to the home viewer. This is a
film that should be seen, if for nothing else, as a warning about romance,
passion, love, and obsession. It is also
a nice tribute to a relationship that history did not forget, and Diane Kurys
should be commended for bringing so beautifully and accurately to the screen.
- Stephanie Simmons
Be sure to check out our
Ralph Bakshi interview by Stephanie & Areya Simmons at:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review.php?id=1031
Stephanie Simmons is the author of “Regional Cooking From
Middle-earth: Recipes of The Third Age under the name Emerald Took. It is available at: Emerald Took’s Hobbit
Hole www.stores.ebay.com/emeraldtookshobbithole
