Review of the film "This Mad Love" - a tragedy about the reverse side of escapism
A grotesque drama about life out of touch with reality and its terrible consequences.
In our difficult times, when domestic rental is actually in a coma, any European novelty is worth its weight in gold. "This Mad Love" attracts the viewer with an attractive non-trivial title, promising a romantic love story or, at worst, a comedy about relationships. Alas, already in the fifth minute of viewing it becomes obvious that the tone and atmosphere of the picture are infinitely far from the average rom-com, and the title has nothing to do with the content.
Camille (Virginie Efira) and Georges (Romain Duris) are a highly eccentric couple with a blurred past. He pretends to be a descendant of a Romanian family, and she is an intelligent socialite. The sudden marriage of the main characters unexpectedly turns into luck: days turn into years, and these two still lose their heads at the sight of each other. Alas, one day the luxurious life comes to an end, and with it the fragile family happiness of lovers. Camille literally goes crazy, and Georges struggles to save his beloved from a mental illness.
In the modern world, the problem of Russian-language localization of films seems to have faded into the background - discussions on the topic of this or that incorrect translation seem to have lost their relevance, and the distributors themselves have begun to approach the issue more prudently, trying to preserve the main message of the original. However, even now there are cases when the distributor, not understanding how to sell his own film, tries to standardize it to the needs of the bulk of the audience, which inevitably leads to the substitution of concepts and deceived expectations. This is exactly the story that happened to the picture of the French director Régis Ruansard "This crazy love." What at first glance seemed like a pleasant and light soap, in fact turned into a rather heavy European drama.
The film is based on the work of Olivier Bourdeau "Waiting for Bojangles", the title of which refers to the song of the same name by American singer Nina Simone. The plot of the book, which later became a graphic novel, is more reminiscent of a touching story of growing up - the main story is told on behalf of the son of Camille and Georges, who silently watches how his parents "live one day", neglecting the arguments of reason, common sense and their own financial condition.
In the film, the boy is relegated to the background, and the main action is concentrated on the relationship of the couple. Whether this is the right decision or not is hard to say. However, in the coming-of-age format, "This Mad Love" would definitely have a better chance of finding its audience. The main problem with the film adaptation of Ruansard is that it simply does not look penetrating enough for the level of drama for which the plot is imprisoned: Camille goes crazy, and Georges suffers inconsolably, but all the feelings and emotions of the characters seem to have been lost somewhere between the cuts. In the bottom line, we are waiting for only theatrical attacks with throwing dirty panties on the banquet table and staged flamenco dances.
In the current realities, the drama about a man who ignored the world around him for too long, and then literally broke down under the sudden onslaught of real problems, seems frighteningly relevant. In the happy tenths, escapism was perceived as the only possible salvation from the sick crazy world, which, in general, still did not threaten anything. In the anxious twenties, escapism is almost a stigma, a red flag that speaks of a person's apparent inability to integrate into what is happening "here and now." Alas, as practice has shown, such indifference can carry quite serious consequences, in which a broken psyche will seem the least of the evils.
Kommentare