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