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August 32nd on Earth

August 32nd on Earth (1999)

February. 11,1999
|
6.5
| Drama Comedy Romance

After escaping unscathed from a car accident, photo model Simone decides that having a baby is the only way to give her vacant life some meaning. She asks her best friend Philippe to get her pregnant, and he reluctantly agrees, on the condition that they conceive somewhere in a desert, so they leave Montréal on a 24-hour round-trip to Salt Lake City to find a suitable spot.

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Kattiera Nana
1999/02/11

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

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Hellen
1999/02/12

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

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Loui Blair
1999/02/13

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

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Mandeep Tyson
1999/02/14

The acting in this movie is really good.

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dbdumonteil
1999/02/15

Simone (Pascale Bussières) is a young Canadian fashion model who is on the brink of a brilliant career. But this bright future could be thwarted due to a serious car accident of which she miraculously survives. In the aftermath, she decides to put an end to her professional life and becomes obsessed with the idea to have a baby. So, she persuades her best friend, Philippe (Alexis Martin) to act with and for her and the latter accepts provided they do it in the desert. A few days later, they are in this silent, eerie place..."Un 32 Août Sur Terre" is a curious work that will puzzle a good proportion of viewers. It reminded me a lot of "Twentynine Palms" (2003) by Bruno Dumont although this film is posterior to Denis Villeneuve's film. This was also a film set in an ominous, desert place and in which evolved two tortured characters. They had (wild) sex there and they were surrounded by an unforgiving humanity. In a way, humanity isn't also very gentle to Simone and Philippe in this film: the taxi driver jettisons them in the desert, Alexis is bludgeoned by a gang of ruffians.Simone's demeanor leaves the ground open for many interpretations: is it because she came close to death that she wants to have a baby? Does she want to discover a new way of life? And if so, where does it lead her? Apart from other many questions that will rise in the viewer's mind, Villeneuve deftly uses the desert landscapes to create majestic, entrancing images. It's even a sort of "in camera" that the director manages to create. A sensation that will come again later when the two friends are in the cramped hotel room. The sense of fantastic is palpable throughout the film: from this car accident to these extra days in August that don't exist to this irrational sequence during which the gang beat Philippe to death. In the end, Villeneuve shrouds his film with a philosophical dimension revolving around life and death.In Philippe's house, there's a cover depicting Jean Seberg who saw her career taking off thanks to Jean-Luc "God Ard"'s "A Bout De Soufflé" (1959). Godard's detractors blame him for his intellectual pretensions which clutter his works. Many viewers will also deem this work as highbrow and elusive for understandable reasons. Keep it for a day during which you are prone to reflection and thought as it's not a work for the mainstream. And for French viewers, beware! As Quebec people speak with a very pronounced accent, it's sometimes difficult to decipher their words

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Jugu Abraham
1999/02/16

This film was one of three movies at the Hyderabad Film Festival in January 1999 that caught my eye.For a first feature film by a director, this effort is commendable. No doubt this Canadian was helped with the choice of a stunning actress, a good editor, and above average cinematography. The weakest point was the script.I look forward to seeing more films by this director and the lead actress Pascale Bussières. Denis Villeneuve has talent, it only needs to be developed further through experience.

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Eric-1226
1999/02/17

I watched this movie wondering if I wasn't watching a sort of Seinfeldian version of movie-making - that is, "a show about nothing."It dawned on me after watching this movie that this is basically what I saw - a big bunch of nothingness. And yet the story was beautiful and disturbing and depressing and inspiring, and ultimately poetic... I guess that's what they mean by "atmospheric" as used in describing a film.The cinematography was superb - the part where the two lead characters ended up in the Utah salt desert was just so awesome. The acting was seamless, though I was handicapped by seeing it with English subtitles: since I don't know French, I fear that a good bit of the emotive force of the story, as told through the dialogue, was lost on me.Anyway, I am so glad I taped this off of late night Canadian television, I definitely plan to watch it again. It's a movie you not so much "look" at, but "feel". Watch it, feel it... you'll see.

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a-fool
1999/02/18

I'm here just to say it's qualified to be among the best ones, deserves watching more than once,and the director is very promising, for it's his debut.The reality is so ridiculous and unreasonable, we have to accept it as it is.Fortunately, we still have love to warm us and protect us from the coldness and cruelty.which needs to be added,the leading actress Pascale is nearly perfect,I also got a glimpse of her in Five Senses.I hope I can see her in When Night is Falling someday.

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