From the Land of the Moon (2017)

Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

Don't Believe the Hype

an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

In life many times the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence . Both stars in this film are excellent and perfectly cast . Is the glass half empty or half full ? Sometimes it takes a shock to see that your glass is full and has been all the time . This is a beautiful movie and a" must see" for Marion Cotillard fans . It also could double for a marriage counceling film !!!!!!! True love is hard to find and sometimes harder to see .

So many negative reviews, esp the Metacritic reviews! What movie were they watching? Guess it is a love/hate kind of movie.Tour de force acting by all. This could have easily turned melodramatic in other hands, esp with Gabrielle's state of mind, but Marion Cotillard's acting skills worked a wonder, as did Nicole Garcia's directing. A beautiful, if melancholic, love story. Gorgeous locations and photography, in the Alps and by the sea. The sound was spectacular and nominated for a Cesar award. It seemed like the ambiance was recorded while filming, instead of the usual Foley artists coming in to re-create the sound later. I think they did Foley some things, like footsteps, but the important scenes were recorded live. That is so rare; I felt like I was there, as I was when younger. If I am wrong, then outstanding Foley work! The music was perfect for the mood. Wow, I didn't even realize it was so long. It never felt like it. Sparse dialog and much of the film is done via feelings. When that is done so well it is truly a treat not many can pull off. Be sure and catch all the dialog, though, or you may not get it. I tried to guess what 'twist' could possibly happen, as I had read some reviews and knew there was one, but I was wrong (although mine was a good one!). It is rare to be fooled by a film these days! I feel strangely uplifted just now after watching this film, for some odd reason. Perhaps it is that I feel like I have just had a trip to Europe, or I was so immersed it was truly an escape and a journey. Enjoy!

Marion Cotillard is arresting as a selfish, neurotic young woman who carries her self-imposed burdens into adulthood before an epiphany years later awakes her to the realities of love and life. Cotillard's "Gabrielle" when younger, reveals a selfish, emotionally disturbed young lady believing she has an entitlement to a passionate erotic love life with partners out of her reach. Such leads to her parents' drastic counter-productive remedy of an arranged marriage. I've not read the novel and am unsure if Gabby's physical malady which send her to a sanatorium suggests a cause of her problems or is simply a plot devise. Regardless, the dialog, acting, pacing and photography in this film are first rate! If I had to find fault I'd suggest adding some "clues" and/or nuance to the "mystery" that leads us to the solution But don't miss this fine French film!

French actress/director Nicole Garcia (Going Away, Little Lilli, Place Vendôme, A View of Love) has transformed Sardinian author Milena Agus' novel 'Mal di pietre' ('disease of kidney stones'), with the assistance of Natalie Carter and Jacques Fieschi, into a staggeringly creative and hauntingly beautiful film that deals with passion and deep seated imagination. It is another showcase for the brilliant actress Marion Cotillard.Gabrielle (Marion Cotillard) comes from a small village in the South of France, at a time when her dream of true love is considered scandalous, and even a sign of insanity. Her parents marry her to José (Alex Brendemühl), an honest and loving Spanish farm worker who they think will make a respectable woman of her. Despite José's devotion to her, Gabrielle vows that she will never love José and lives like a prisoner bound by the constraints of conventional post-World War II society until the day she is sent away to a cure in Switzerland to heal her kidney stones. There she meets André Sauvage (Louis Garrel), a dashing injured veteran of the Indochinese War, who rekindles the passion buried inside her. She promises they will run away together, and André seems to share her desire. Gabrielle is released from the spa, pregnant and convinced André is the father, and the child Marc develops into a fine concert pianist. But even the most beautiful of love affairs can be altered by a mind in need of guidance and the story ends with surprising changes that make us realize we have been a part of Gabrielle's insanity. Beautifully filmed and rich in fine acting, this is a quiet film that seeps into our psyche as we feel the vagaries of a tenuously intact mind. A brilliant film. Grady Harp, July 17