From the Land of the Moon (2017)

People are voting emotionally.

A lot of fun.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Luckily, I didn't read the critics first, as I often do.The movie's rhythm is subtle and ultimately powerful. Big surprise is the performance of Alex Brendemühl as Jose, unforgettable. It is a story of love that can stay with you a long time. Bravo, Nicole Garcia.

'From the Land of the Moon' tells the tale of Gabrielle (Marion Cotillard) who develops an unfortunate - and unreciprocated - sexual obsession with her local teacher in 1950s rural France. Her mother hastily arranges for her to be married off to itinerant Spanish workman José (Alex Brendemühl), who can not even be bothered shaving for their wedding day. Gabrielle resigns herself to a loveless marriage - charging José 200 francs for sex - before she has to stay at a Swiss spa to be treated for 'stones sickness' (not, as you might think, an obsession with Mick Jagger et al, but kidney stones). At the spa she meets aristocratic soldier André (Louis Garrel), with whom she develops a deep (though, to her disappointment, platonic) relationship. But when André leaves and Gabrielle returns to José, how will her experiences have changed her?I spent much of the film trying to work out how old Gabrielle is supposed to be: when the film opens the story suggests she is the equivalent of a sixth form student, but Cotillard, in her forties, hardly looks the part. In other respects, though, she is perfect, conveying with the minimum of fuss Gabrielle's undercurrent of frustration with her lot in life - and the look she gives the man with whom she has ended up in the film's very last shot speaks volumes. Brendemühl and Garrel are pretty much Cotillard's supporting players (after all, neither of *them* has an Oscar!) but both make the most of their parts, again without resorting to over-acting.Subtlety is the watchword in setting the film's period, too: director Nicole Garcia choosing to express it with costumes, interior decorations and cars, rather than beating the viewer around the head with pop songs from the time as other directors might be tempted to do. There no big explosions, no screeching-wheeled car chases; this is simply a film about human emotions - and contains a twist I certainly did not see coming. Well worth a viewing.

Another fine effort from Nicole Garcia, reminiscent of another bitter-sweet movie I also enjoyed, Philip Lioret's Mademoiselle. Both films feature a married wife and mother spotting something that instantly transports them back to a time they encountered love. Nicole Garcia, consciously or not, includes a lovely in-joke; Tchaikovsky's June Barcarolle is a key element in the movie, played initially by Gabrielle's lover and again, years later, by her son. Sigmund Romberg composed several operettas in the 1920s and 30s and cheerfully admitted to 'borrowing' from the classics; his song Lover Come Back To Me, utilised thirteen notes of June Barcarolle in the Release, under the words 'I remember ev'ry little thing you used to do' and then, four notes later 'ev'ry road I walked along, I walked along with you', and Gabrielle writes dozens of unanswered letters to her lover begging him to come back to her. Although everyone turns in a fine performance the film is lifted a notch by the exceptional acting of Marion Cotillard and equally outstanding direction of Nicole Garcia. Not to be missed.

Amazing movie remember me of A Beautiful Mind this time in a love story.Amazing movie despite low rating, it is a must watch movie. I personally put it on my top list of preferred movies.Just watch it and ignore its low rating...many people may not understand it.