Comment by sadi

Wed, 17 Nov 2004 14:13:15 EST

you are right; it does focus a great deal on emotional resonance and her very real and palpable loss and how this changes her. what's more, the things she finds out about her life; but isn't that always the way. when you think you know someone and they die, you often find out all sorts of things that would have been better if never found, alas, as i know from personal experience. More reasons to live your life openly and honestly. The scene that really gets to me in the film is when she gets the cat to eat the newborn mice; the screaming of them. how she can no longer be a "mother" or deal with any kind of mothering in any animal. it's hard. yet she is so good to the mistress and gives her the house, perhaps because she has nothing left to lose. After all, wasn't she "mistress" of the house in every other way? Binoche, "Julie", knows this. When she fucks her dead husband's partner it is purely an exercise to see if she can feel anything - and i don't know that she does. it's so brutal and sad and i like that about this film - i respect it's raw honesty, and while i know many disagree with me, i'll still defend it because i can identify with so much of what Julie goes through, and i can tell you, the director got the real deal out of this - it almost seems NOT acted, but like it is deeply felt, as if Binoche herself has or had been through a similar devastation (though haven't we all, perhaps). Your comments are intersting though,but i'm afraid this time, i think we are not in agreement. I hated RED, and WHITE. Thought both were stupid. But Blue always stuck with me for some reason because the hurt is so real and hurt, as we know, is not easy to capture in writing or on film. It takes real talent on the part of all involved and this time, i think they succeed without being the least bit sappy. I applaud that, and should have said more about that in my review (god, i'm thick sometimes). But alas, i've said it now. But as ever, your thoughts are most welcome and thought-provoking. Cheers, and my best to you - sade

Comment by Robert Nagle

Wed, 17 Nov 2004 13:49:49 EST

Although I'm generally a fan of Binoche and even wanted to like Bleu, in fact I couldn't get into it. The story was perhaps too painful and dwells too much on emotional resonances than on plot or character development. A far more interesting performance for Binoche was Rendez-Vous, which focused not only on the question of suffering but universal questions of art as well. It's too bad Ingmar Bergman never had a chance to use her in his movies. By the way, you should visit my imaginary movie list for doomed romance film festival

Blogcritics: Comments on on being bleu: a review of the film, bleu

Comment by sadi

Comment by Robert Nagle