Western (1997)
Catalonian Paco is a traveling rep for a shoe manufacturer. When he stops to pick up Russian emigree hitchhiker Nino, Paco soon finds himself on the side of the road with everything stolen out from under him. Local gift shop owner Marinette gives the Spaniard a lift. Their mutual attraction manifests itself quickly, and Paco, who was fired over the stolen-car episode, hangs around. When he happens to spot Nino in the same town, he beats up the scrawny Russian, who lands in the hospital. Oddly enough, this marks the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Paco and Nino soon take the trip down the road together
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Surprisingly incoherent and boring
People are voting emotionally.
The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.
It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.
This is probably one of the worst French movies I have seen so far, among more than 100 french movies I have ever seen. Terrible screenplay and very medioacre/unprofessional acting causes the directing powerless. with all that it doesn't matter how nice western french scene and fancy music can add to the story.One of the key weakness of this movie is that these two characters do NOT attract people, as an audience I don't care what happens to them. It amazed me how this movie won jury prize in cannes, man, I love almost all the awarded movies in cannes, but not this one. A major disappointment for me.
Anyone who's seem this film will agree its charm is uniqe. It's a very simple story, involving two men who meet in bizarre circumstances and who end up travelling together. For some reason, the film is SO organic and human that it drags you in right away. There's something in all characters that reminds us about the simple pleasures in life.
Poirier's film is as good a study of loneliness as anything you're likely to see. (PT Anderson's Magnolia is on the same level.) Nino's search for love is heartbreaking and, the film uses all its various scenes to underline how loneliness affects everything the characters do. The men wander, but the film doesn't.Western is gentle, delicate, and touching--and manages to avoid any sentimentality. In other words, a rare gem.
With such a great concept as two guys hitching around France seducing women and getting into various scrapes, you'd wonder how you could go wrong, but despite its moments, this comes across as a rather half-baked affair, of interest mainly due to some impressive acting and the way they've made use of an obviously miniscule budget. The main problem is in its arbitrary plotting, which consists of a number of lengthy sequences, the majority of which seem to have no evident role within any larger narrative arc, and at times seeming like they are just there to make up time. Some of these scenes are impressive in their own right (the double-date dinner party, and the game of 'Bonjour a la France'), but it soon becomes apparent that the film is going absolutely nowhere. That's not to say that the scenery along the way isn't impressive, and the repartee between our two protagonists is generally amusing.