L'ennui (1998)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Cédric Kahn

Writers:

Cédric Kahn (adaptation) and
Laurence Ferreira Barbosa (adaptation) ...

Release Date:

16 December 1998 (France)

Genre:

Romance | Drama

Plot:

A philosophy teacher restless with the need to do something with his life meets a young woman suspected of driving an artist to his death...

Plot Keywords:

Love | Painter | Death | Philosophy Teacher | Philosopher

Awards:

1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

Charles Berling	...	Martin
Sophie Guillemin	...	Cécilia
Arielle Dombasle	...	Sophie
Robert Kramer	...	Meyers
Alice Grey	...	Cécilia's Mother
Maurice Antoni	...	Cécilia's Father
Tom Ouedraogo	...	Momo
Patrick Arrachequesne	...	Doctor
Mirtha Caputi Medeiros	...	Meyers' concierge
Pierre Chevalier	...	University dean
Oury Milshtein	...	Jean-Paul
Anne-Sophie Morillon	...	Agnes
Marc Chouppart	...	Ferdinand
Cécile Reigher	...	Ferdinand's girlfriend
Antoine Beau	...	Pierre

Also Known As:

O Tédio (Portugal)

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

France | Portugal

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Germany:16 | Australia:R | France:-12 | Hong Kong:III | Japan:R-15 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:R(A) | South Korea:(Banned) (original rating) | South Korea:18 (re-rating) (uncut) | UK:18

Company:

Gemini Films

Quotes:

Sophie: Abstinence is turning you sour; give it up.
Martin: I have.
Sophie: Really? Do I know her?
Martin: No, I met her in odd circumstances a few weeks ago.
Sophie: Really? You must be pleased.
Martin: You're quite wrong, I don't like her at all. She's totally uninteresting. I'm trying to get rid of her.
Sophie: Why? Is she ugly?
Martin: Not particularly.
Sophie: Is she stupid then?
Martin: No. Not at all. She never says anything stupid. It's complicated. She bores me. I have no contact with her. Or rather only physical contact.
[...]

Movie Connections:

References Jade (1988)

Soundtrack:

La prieta Linda

1 real modern man, 1 mythological Helena

Imagine a relationship divided into two parts: the smaller one is sex and the rest is talking – about sex, sex and love.

Such is the relationship between Martin and Cécilia in this wonderful movie. I say wonderful because although this premise doesn't sound too entertaining throughout almost two hours, I was really amazed and didn't feel l'ennui – boredom at any phase of the film. Beyond the sex scenes (Sophie Guillemin looks really great, I must say…) and the endless interrogations Martin subjects Cécilia to, the action somehow unfolds and unfolds and in the end we know that we have not only seen a philosophical love film like `Before Sunrise' but a real STORY, a unified whole.

Martin's character is precisely copied from real life by author Alberto Moravia and perfectly portrayed by Charles Berling. This kind of man, apparently philosophical, but actually egocentric, possessive and concerned only about himself, is in my opinion the only realistic modern kind of man who is worth building a fictitious story around. Of course, this story shows, with Martin, mainly the negative qualities of the `generation X'-man.

Cécilia's character holds some problems for me. Obviously, Cédric Kahn is one of those filmmakers whose movies are perfect entertainment, but you're not allowed to think about them later because you catch on things that are truly unconvincing but would destroy the whole movie if you changed them: the person of Cécilia is like Helena in the Greek mythology. She cannot exist in reality. She is just an ideal, completely freed from every kind of feeling or humanity. She answers to Martin's questions eagerly and tirelessly and she has hardly any opinion about anything and that's what drives him crazy – that's what the whole movie is built upon. But a Greek Helena doesn't fit into the amazingly realistic world the movie shows: it's impossible to imagine that she had a life before the beginning of the film and will have one after the end.

By focusing on Martin and his view alle the time, Cédric Kahn is able to prevent us from realizing this while watching and that's a plus for him. However, it is a remarkable flaw in a movie I enjoyed very much. It's a little bit like in `The Sixth Sense': Show one more scene, and the whole movie becomes senseless.