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Notre histoire (1984) More at IMDbPro »

14 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
A surreal twist on marriage!, 24 April 2001

Author: Darren Parry from Holyhead, Wales

Please don't get me wrong - I like this movie. It is pure 80's French romantic cinema, has two excellent leads, and like the Flic flicks of the time, has relevant modern themes. It is, however, deeply flawed.

"Notre Histoire" is a classic example of a movie in which an established director carries out all the mistakes he should have shaken off at film school. For instance, Blier is the only director I know who doesn't know how to use music effectively - music is just slotted in at random points, and very unsuitable points at that.

Like a lot of Blier's work, this is a film of confusion, alternative reality and twisted takes on what we call normal life. Its' characters change persona, distance becomes meaningless, relationships blur - yet the film's final few seconds puts everything - and I do mean EVERYTHING - into sharp context.

Essentially, this is a vehicle for Alain Delon, but it's nowhere in the same league as Le Samourai. It's Delon - the King of 60s Cool - playing Robert, a middle-aged man in crisis; yes, playing against type! His marriage is on the rocks, but being Delon, he attracts the attention of wayward young mother Donatienne (Baye). After a fleeting assignation on an SNCF train, Robert won't let go. Donatienne is the woman for him, and he won't give her up! To hell with the marriage, the job, the house, the normal life - let's be reckless!

What follows is a series of surreal set pieces taking Robert from fascination to obsession to the spiritual nature of beer. The surreal nature of the film does throw up some problems as times. The objectification of women for instance; women are displayed as problematic objects for men; inconveniences that get in the way of a good Gallic life. Even Nathalie Baye herself is portrayed as a hooker, wife, mother, teacher and adulteress in many episodes of the tale.

However, the leads are wonderful - Delon gives it his seedy, confused best, whilst Baye (in my mind the most underrated French actress of her generation) gives a wonderful weak/strong performance as the many faces of Donatienne.

Yes, this is a surreal love story. Yes, this is so Gallic it could not be remade in English. Yes, it isn't perfect, but it's an excellent example of a purely French cinema that is simply too homegrown to be appreciated by a wider audience.

6 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Two characters in search of an author, 16 May 2005
Author: Harry T. Yung (harry_tk_yung@yahoo.com) from Hong Kong

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

"Our story" starts not unlike "Before Sunrise" which came a decade later, with an encounter on a train. For a few brief minutes, it looks like it's even going to develop in that direction, until the film takes a sharp turn and starts to look like Pirandello's "Six characters in search of an author" as Robert (Alain Delon) and Donatienne (Nathalie Baye) try to decide who is a minor character in whose story.

This is not the super-cool Alain Delon that we are used to, but middle-aged, confused, dejected and sometime even comical, clinging to bottles and cans and glasses of beer which becomes the recurring motif in the movie. The story starts to get surreal as an ever-growing cast rampages through the affluent neighbourhood in the middle of the night in amorous and other pursuits. Superbly mesmerising Nathalie Baye starting out as the mysterious woman on the train becomes something like a particle in the quantum theory, changing constantly even as the observer observes.

And yet, there is meaning to all the apparent madness, and everything ties together quite well in the end. Those who must have a logical explanation for everything will be easily satisfied, but those looking behind the surface will find ample food for thought. Fantastic movie.

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