Blue is the Warmest Color (2013, French) Rating Genre: 3/5 Overall 2.5/5

It is quite a known and agreed idea that all sorts of art including movies from France have a special place when it’s regarding love and passion. However right at the start of reviewing this already controversial movie I must say that France has overdone it this time.  I believe that Blue is the Warmest Color (from this point onwards I’d call as BWC) does have potential to be a masterpiece in one hand but due to some very evident and painful negativities it has lost its rightful place.

The lead character Adèle (Adèle Exarchopoulos ) is a young and beautiful literature student who seems to be living the normal French life. But after a brief relationship with a fellow student who actually cared for her truly she realizes that men are not capable of igniting her passion. Searching for her desire Adèle meets Emma (Léa Seydoux) at a gay bar and they become extremely close. Adèle discovers love and passion from Emma and she completely melt in front of her.

It is important to understand that this is not the first movie made based on gay love and this will not be the last. The world will be seeing more and more of the kind in time to come and my worry is that does them have to be this detailed to prove a point. The last of this kind which I can recall which was pretty decent and beautiful was Kids are All Right (2010) from Hollywood. And another good example was A Single Man (2009) starring Collin Firth which was very powerful. But BWC crosses the fine line between art and porn not only once but several times proving that the movie is not actually made for art lovers but men who like seeing naked woman. In my opinion a movie is a movie until it keeps its secrets and once everything is revealed it turns in to something else. Not only sex but some other things like dancing, eating spaghetti, taking a shower (naked) is presented with lengthy scenes and detail which directly takes a toll at the duration of the movie which is exactly 3 hours.

Why I like this movie is for two reasons. One is the incredible and passionate chemistry between the lead roles (which I believe that could have being achieved even without the detailed sex scenes). But the true magnet of an attraction is Adèle Exarchopoulos (yes her screen name and real name is both the same) who does a fine job at acting. The director’s relationship towards her through the camera frame is very evident and her emotions pour out of her pretty eyes and lips nonstop. While the director tries to spice it up a bit more by showing her rear side a couple of times (with and without cloths) it’s her face that makes the painfully slow three hours worthwhile. There is nothing extraordinary to mention about cinematography other than the lighting used in bedroom scenes that was quite certain to give the viewer best viewing pleasure.

After I was done with BWC the inner arguments I had was ‘if’ this story was about an ordinary man and woman couple would that be this talked about. And ‘if’ the director has decided to remove some of the details and keep only the essence of it will it still be this controversial. The answer for both arguments I got was a no.

Original title: La vie d'Adèle - Chapitres 1 et 2

Genre: Drama | Romance

Director: Abdellatif Kechiche

The Intouchables (2011) (French) Rating 3.5/5

What can a young careless but street smart ex con and a disabled millionaire with a luxurious life style has in common? Watch this movie to find out. It looks like a miracle but actually these two get along and change their lives to better than many of us would predict. And the wonderful thing is this movie is based on real life events and people who actually exist. Now that’s what I call as the real miracle.

From start to end The Intouclables will not bore you with unnecessary drama or tears though the whole movie is based on troubles of life and pain. It runs with a joyful spirit end to end and elevates the viewer in to a whole new level of bliss. For a moment you might actually wonder how people can live a life full of laughter amidst all the problems they live with. And this is proof of it. And underneath all that humor runs the warm story of friendship and trust.

There is no other way to explain this movie in one word than saying brilliant. This indeed is one of the most heartwarming cinema that leaves the audience with a great cheer when it ends. The last time I felt the same joy was at the end of We Bought a Zoo back in 2011.

400 Blows (1959) (French) Rating 3.5/5

Movies those days always had a way of saying things straight. They are like old people. They hardly care what the society would think of their opinion. They just let it out. 400 Blows is such movie that speaks to the point where it applies to this age of time just as it was back then.

The story of this movie is not at all about the beauty of life. It’s the opposite of it. And the lead is a young boy who is neglected by his parents and forced to survive in the big city by committing petty crimes. Yet the society fails to find his true soul but shamelessly punish him for what he had become. Still under that entire misunderstood overcoat lies a kid’s heart and mind yearning for love and protection. While the viewer’s gets to feel it the boy travels his rigid path in solitude.               

   

Directing a kid to do a big man’s role must have being a real challenge for the director. Yet he flawlessly accomplishes it. And being made in the 50s the beauty of a classical movie is completely intact. Beyond that technical and production beauty lays the heart melting story line and talented performances from the cast. As I mentioned before this story will never become old but only becomes new with the direction of current society is heading. This is a must watch for classic movie lovers. 

The Other Son (2013) | "Le fils de l'autre" (original title)

If you’re looking for a touching and never before tested story line and amazingly natural performances, then look no further. This is the movie you have to see. It speaks of a theme so emotional that some of you with children might find it heart breaking yet so loving. And teenagers out there will feel this movie entirely in a different way with much enthusiasm towards its characters. Speaking of characters they will live in your mind for many days struggling for a justification from you. Overall it’s the story of families, parenthood and childhood and the unconditional love that binds them. No matter which part of the world or what religion and race you belongs to this movie will sink right down to your heart. Guaranteed!

The Other Son (2013) | "Le fils de l'autre" (original title) 4/5

Amelie (2001) French

This is a very light hearted and witty piece of movie that can reverse bad moods in a jiffy. The real wonder is in the style of storytelling and the cinematography. For a good deal of time the story doesn’t fall in to the track and it seems like many random events only takes place. Once the track is set and the viewer finds it it’s a joy ride. Watched it, laughed with it and liked it.    

            

Amelie (2001) 3/5

Rust And Bone (2012) (De rouille et d'os -original title) (French/ France)

Losing limbs is no doubt one of the most painful and mind shattering experience a person could have.

And this movie is about losing life and finding its way again through pain and with bravery. And no doubt this flick is a touchy one. It speaks of some horrible things people face that we would probably love to forget and even uncomfortable to discuss about. But yet there are so many people out there who live with it and maybe having the courage than most of us do to live that way.

 

Rust and Bone is a powerful drama equipped with matching cinematography that speaks with quirky scene compositions and mood. And it has a set of beautifully crafted characters that are played skillfully by good actors. Marion Cotillard is one of them who we are quite familiar with Hollywood movies as well. Throughout this movie it speaks of people, their lives and expectations. How they live it and how they lose hope in the most hoped things in their lives. But the power of undying passion that makes them stronger and makes them return to living. A good movie with a very big heart.

 

අත පය අහිමි වීම අනිවාර්යයෙන්ම මනුෂ්‍යයකු විසින් අත් විඳිය හැකි ඉතාමත්ම වේදනාකාරී සහ මානසිකව බියකරුම අත්දැකීමකි. මේ චිත්‍රපටිය එවැනි ජීවිතය අහිමිවීම සහ නැවත එය සොයාගෙන වේදනාව උඩින් උත්සාහවන්තකම මතුවීම ගැන කියවෙන ප්‍රබල එකක්. එමෙන්ම එය ඉතාමත්ම සංවේදී චිත්‍රපටියක්. එයින් කියවෙන්නේ අප බොහෝවිට කතා කිරීමට පවා අකමැති බිහිසුණු දේ සහ නමුත් ඒවාට අකමැත්තෙන් හෝ මුහුණ දෙමින් ජීවිතය ජය ගන්න ශක්තිමත් මිනිසුන්ගේ කතාවයි.

 

මෙහි සිනමාකරණය කතාවට ඉතාමත්ම සමීප වන අතර එයට ආවේනික රුප රාමු සහ මනෝභාවයක් වෙයි. එමෙන්ම මෙහි හොඳින් නිමැවුණු චරිත සහ ඒවා දක්ෂ ලෙස  රඟපාන්නාවූ නළු නිලියන්ද වෙයි. ඒ අතරින් මැරියන්  කොටිලර්ඩ් අපට හොලිවුඩ් චිත්‍රපටිවල දැක පුරුදු නිලියක්. මේ චිත්‍රපටිය පුරාවටම මිනිසුන්, ජීවිත සහ ඔවුන්ගේ බලාපොරොත්තු ගැන කතිකා වෙයි. ඔවුන් ජීවත් වන්නේ කෙසේද එමෙන්ම ඔවුන්ගේ බලාපොරොත්තු කඩ වුනු පසු ඔවුන් නැවත වරක් ජීවය ලබා ශක්තිමත්ව නැගී සිටින්නේ කෙසේද යන්නද කියවෙයි. මෙය ලොකු හදවතක් සහිත හොඳ චිත්‍රපටියකි.

 

I rate this 4/5

 

Rust And  Bone (2012) (De rouille et d'os -original title) (French/ France)

Drama

 

Synopsis: Put in charge of his young son, Ali leaves Belgium for Antibes to live with his sister and her husband as a family. Ali's bond with Stephanie, a killer whale trainer, grows deeper after Stephanie suffers a horrible accident.(IMDB)

One Night (Original title 38 témoins) (2012) (French/France)

Just like thousands of crime movies out there this one also evolves around murder. But murder is not the sole center of it and that’s what makes this plot unique. This movie speaks of disgusting human behavior that is solely selfish and narrow minded. But this behavior does not belong to a victim or a criminal. But to a set of people who have witnessed this horrible crime. If you wish to see a full story and a crime being solved then this movie will not deliver what you’re looking for. It’s a mere representation of psychological reality of modern people. And that’s all it offers.

 

අපරාධ ගැන කියවෙන දහසකුත් චිත්‍රපටි වගේම මේ කතාවට පදනම් වන්නේ මිනි මැරුමක්. නමුත් එය ලක්ශගත වන්නේ එම මිනීමැරුම ගැන නොවීම මේ චිත්‍රපටියේ විශේෂත්වයයි. මෙයින් කතා කෙරෙන්නේ පිළිකුල් සහගත මනුෂ්‍යය චර්යාවන් සහ ආත්මාර්ථකාමී සහ පටු අදහස් ඇති මිනිසුන් ගැනයි. ඒ මිනිසුන් නම් අපාරාධය ලක්වුවන් හෝ අපාරාධකරුවන් හෝ නොව එම බිහිසුණු අපරාධයේ සාක්ෂි කරුවෝය. ඔබ බලාපොරොත්තු වන්නේ අපරාධයක් සහ එහි සුල මුල පෙන්වන කතාවක් නම් මේ චිත්‍රපටිය ඔබ සඳහා නොවේ. එය හුදෙක් නුතන මිනිසාගේ මනසේ සත්‍යය ස්වරුපයෙහි පිළිබිඹුවක් මිස වෙනකක් නොවේමය.

 

I rate this 3.5/5

 

-Priyantha Bandara

 

One Night (Original title 38 témoins) (2012) (French/France)

Drama

 

Synopsis: A young woman is stabbed, sexually assaulted and murdered in public as her neighbors ignore her cries for help. (IMDB)

Romantics Anonymous (Original title - Les émotifs anonyms -2010) (French, France)

Romantics Anonymous (Original title - Les émotifs anonyms -2010) (French, France)

Comedy | Romance

 

 

Emotions are good. But too many of them are not. This movie is about two individuals who are excessively emotional and has skipped the best experiences and moments in life due to that very reason. It happens so that when you are too afraid to do things, face challenges, understand feelings or express them the life can be pretty boring.

 

It’s  another sweet and funny love story put deliciously with a taste of chocolate coating with it. There is plenty of moments to get a mouth full of chocolate as the plot most of the time takes place in a small chocolate factory in the city. With that and the very unique behaviors of the lead characters it becomes even more interesting. And than many other movies its runs a short time comparatively. But the effect of love is intact none the less. And very emotional and sweet performances by the main roles will make you sink in.

 

බොහොමයක් හැඟීම් හරි සුන්දරය්. නමුත් ඕනෑවට වඩා හැඟීම් බර වීම නම් ප්‍රශ්නයක්. මේ චිත්‍රපටිය එවැනි අධි හැඟීම් බර යුවලක් වටා ගෙතුණු එකක්. ඔවුන් ජීවිතයට මුහුණදීමට ඇති බිය නිසාම බොහෝ අපහසුතාවලට ලක් වන දෙදෙනෙක්. එවැනි දෙදෙනෙක් පෙමින් වෙලුනොත් සිටුදන්නේ කුමක්ද ? මේ චිත්‍රපටිය එයට හොඳ පිළිතුරු ටිකක් ඔබට දේවි.

 

ප්‍රේමය සහ හාස්‍යය හොඳින් චෝකොලට් සමග මුසු කල කතාවක් මේ අඩන්ගුය්. ඒ මේ දෙපලම රැකියාව කරන්න නගරයේ පුංචි චොකොලට් කර්මාන්තශාලාවක නිසා. ඒ නිසාම කතාවේ ප්‍රේම රසය වගේ පැණි රසයත් හරිම වැඩි. සමහරවිට ඔබට දැන්ම කඩේට දුවල චොකොලට් එකක් ගේන්න සිතේවි!! ඒවගේම ප්‍රධාන චරිත දෙකේ ලස්සන රංගනය නිසා බලන්න ඉන්නත් ආසා හිතේවි. හරිම සුන්දර ප්‍රංශ පෙම් කතාවක්.

 

3/5

 

Priyantha Bandara

 

Synopsis: What happens when a man and a woman share a common passion? They fall in love. And this is what happens to Jean-René, the boss of a small chocolate factory, and Angélique, a gifted chocolate maker he has just hired. What occurs when a highly emotional man meets a highly emotional woman? They fall in love, and this is what occurs to Jean-René and Angélique who share the same handicap. But being pathologically timid does not make things easy for them. So whether they will manage to get together, join their solitudes and live happily ever after is a guessing matter. (IMDB)

Sleepless Night (2011) (French, France)

Sleepless Night (2011) (French, France)

Action | Thriller

 

This is another French action thriller that has the immense capacity to keep you at the edge of your seat. Scooped around corrupted cops, undercover agents and ruthless drug dealers it is a plot that is twisted and turned. And the whole story run a period of a day starts from one morning and ends from the next.

The plot is a series of creatively aligned circumstances that leads from one to the next juiced with more pumping adrenaline.

 

The main lead portrays a certain die hard character so tensely motivated by his kidnapped son and from the intention of getting him back at any cost. And the rest of the characters tag along making that job ever hard for the main lead. The close camera frames and thumping heavy dance music boosts the mood moment to moment without making the viewer bored of the plot circulating within the same location. And at last everyone goes home happy except for the dead people! And there are many dead people!!

 

ප්‍රන්සයෙන් එලි දකින ක්‍රියාදාම චිත්‍රපටි අපේ ලෝකයේ මේ පැත්තේ දකින්න ලැබෙන්නේ අඩුවෙන්. ඒ නිසාම ඒ චිත්‍රපටි වල තියෙන අගය බොහෝ දෙනෙකුට මග හැරෙනවා. මේ එවැනි නොනවතින ජවයකින් පිරි ප්‍රංශ ක්‍රියාදාම ත්‍රාසජනක චිත්‍රපටියක්. එය ගෙතෙන්නෙ පාතාලය සමග සම්බන්ධ දුෂිත පොලිස් නිලධාරියෙක් තම රහස් හෙළි වීමත් සමග අතුරුදහන් වන තම පුත්‍රයා බේරා ගැනීමට කරන වැයම මුල් කරගෙනය්. තම පුත්‍රයා සොයා ගැනීමට ඔහු වැර දරන අතර පුත්‍රයාව සඟවා තබා ගැනීමට පාතාලයට දැඩි වැයමක්ද දැරීමට සිදු වෙනවා. කතාව හරියටම දවසක කාලක් පුරා දිවෙන අතර එක දිනක උදැසනින් ආරම්භ වී පසු දින උදැසනින් අවසන් වෙනවා.

 

කතාවේ ගලා යන ස්වරුපය ඉතා යහපත්. එය මොහොතින් මොහොත වෙනස් වෙමින් කතා නායකයාට අලුත් අභියෝග ඉදිරිපත් කරමින් ඉදිරියට ඇදෙනවා. ඒ නිසාම ප්‍රේක්ෂකයාට කාලය ගත වීම දැනෙන්නේ නැහැ.

 

3/5

 

-Priyantha Bandara

 

Synopsis: A cop with a connection to the criminal underworld finds his secret life exposed when he and his partner are caught stealing cocaine from a powerful drug dealer, a move that puts his son's life in jeopardy.

Delicacy (2011) (French)

Delicacy (2011) (French)

La délicatesse (original title)

Drama | romance | Comedy

Maybe this magic is only possible with French movies. Maybe the feeling is coupled with wonderful language, people and landscapes. Whatever it is love with a taste of France is not like anywhere else. It blossoms. But Delicacy is not all gorgeous with love and its beauty. It has deep emotional distress and struggle to recover and survive after a love that cannot be forgotten. It will make you realize but hardly understand the emotions of the main character. But for sure it will introduce you to some wonderful people. People, who care, love and be there under the storm. Delicacy is not the average romantic comedy or the heard headed drama. It plays in a middle ground. And yes it is soft, smooth and pretty.

Delicacy සුන්දර ප්‍රංශ චිත්‍රපටියක්. එය එක හෙලාම බොළඳ ප්‍රේම කතාවක් හෝ ගැඹුරු ආත්ම ගවේෂණයක් නොවේ. එය අන්තනෝමතික නොවූ මධ්‍යස්ත චිත්‍රපටි සම්ප්‍රදායට අයත්. නමුත් බොහෝ සෙයින් හදවතට දැනෙන පෙම් කතාවක්. මෙතුලින් ඔබට විශේෂ චරිත ගොන්නක් මුණ ගැසේවි. සැපේදී මෙන්ම දුකෙදීද ළඟ සිටින නමුත් පෙනුමෙන් මනුස්සකම මැනිය නොහැකි චරිත. ඒ චරිත ඔබට බොහෝ කලක් මතක තියේවි. ඒ මේ චිත්‍රපටියෙහි ඇති ලස්සන කතාව හෝ රඟපෑම් නිසාම නොවේ. එය මනුස්සකම නිසාය්. ඔබට ප්‍රධාන චරිතයේ ජීවත් වන්නටද අවකාශ හිමි වේවි. නමුත් අයව මුළුමුනින්ම හඳුනාගන්න ඔබට හැකි වන්නේ නැහැ. එත් ඒ ගුප්ත බව ඇතුලත ඇති සුන්දරකම ඔබට පෙනේවි.

3.5/5

- Priyantha Bandara

Synopsis: A French woman mourning over the death of her husband three years prior is courted by a Swedish co-worker.

The Prodigies (2011)(France)

Animation | Sci Fi

 

While the animation resembles bits and pieces of ‘Scanner Darkly’ the plot and feel of this flick is totally different. And the animation quality is quite awesome bringing very different style of visuals all together. One reason I hanged on was the CG and its masterful presentation. The plot is kind of super heroic and Sci Fi at the same time. But you don’t find anything out of the ordinary.

 

3/5

 

Synopsis: Five young prodigies assaulted in New York's Central Park plot the perfect revenge.

Les Lyonnais (2011) (French) A Gang Story

Crime | Drama

Good gangster movies are always deliver something extraordinary to the table. And when the plot is inspired by true events, the gravity increases considerably. Coming from France this is one of those appealing gangster movies. The story span across few decades with the growing up gangster youths and the present day events are not less dramatic as well.  Well performed and edited this powerful drama will keep you guessing for the next move with a mix of violence and bitterness. An in depth look at the life of gangsters and their shattered dreams.

රස්තියාදුකාර පාතාල කල්ලි ගැන කෙරුණ තවත් එක බලවත් චිත්‍රපටියක්. ඉතා හොඳ රඟපෑම් ගොන්නක් සහ සිතට කා වදින කතා පුවතක් ද රැගත් මෙය සත්‍යය සිදුවීම් මුල්කොටගෙන නිෂ්පාදනය වුවක්. ප්‍රංස සිනමාවේ දැවැන්තයින්ගෙන් සිනමා ලොවට පිදුණ සුන්දර ත්‍යාගයක්. 

4/5

Synopsis: After growing up in a poor gypsy camp, Edmond Vidal, aka Momon, has retained a sense of family, unfailing loyalty and pride in his origins. Most of all, he has remained friends with Serge Suttel, with whom he first discovered prison life - for stealing cherries. The two of them inevitably got involved in organized crime. 

Tomboy (2011) (French)

Drama

This is a subtle drama about the joys of the childhood and a complicated girl who wish to be treated as a boy. Funny and curious as it sounds the story spreads its wings to uncover the strong desires which this little girl has towards her ambitions. Completed with very natural performances and almost non existing score it has a beauty of its own. Almost the entire movie takes place in the view of children and the final bit transform it in to adults and gives us the viewer an opportunity to see the problem in both angles. A good watch.

3.5/5

Synopsis: A 10-year-old girl, settling into her new neighborhood outside Paris, is mistaken for a boy and has to live up to this new identity since it's too late for the mistake to be clarified.