 |  | Amazing,sweeping,overwhelming if not somewhat confusing! |  |
Every film that I have ever seen that has dealt with pre WW2 and the during and after effects all combined together in this amazing and sweeping epic film LES UNS ET LES AUTRES (roughly translated "These people and the other people") and released in America under the title BOLERO.It is difficult to give an accurate review of such a film,directed by Claude Lelouch (A Man and a Woman) because frankly it is overwhelming in it's scope and characters,as it is also a film of music and feeling that evokes the senses,and yet tells a powerful story of people's lives affected by the Holocaust, starting in the 1930's, in four different countries,four different languages, and following the after effects into the 1980's!!!! There is A LOT to take in this movie.One viewing is simply not adequate to express all that is in this film.That it is a tribute to the human spirit and to the power of music is undeniable.The characters in this film are all based from real life, except the names are changed.Some characters I could figure out such as the German Pianist/conductor Karl Kremer, who seemed a composite of Wilhelm Furtwangler (Taking Sides-the film about his complicity with Hitler)and Herbert van Karajan. The Russian ballet dancer who defected to America as Rudolf Nureyev or possibly Mikail Baryshnikov (White Nights-a film based on his defection). The other characters were harder to identify;the failed boxer and the American singer (played by Geraldine Chaplin), and the author who was abandoned on the railroad tracks as a baby! Someone will know who all of these people were that Claude Lelouch places in this tribute to music and humanity.This film is SPECTACLE and I honestly can say that in all my years of watching films,I have NEVER seen anything quite like it.It runs for 177 minutes,just slightly edited from it's original 188 minutes.The music flows from Beethoven,Ravel and Liszt to the contemporary Michel Legrand and Francis Lai.The choreography by the French great Maurice Bejart is astounding.Bejart is well known as the choreographer for the rock group QUEEN'S Queen Rock Montreal + Live Aid.The film can be a little confusing as certain actors,James Caan, Geraldine Chaplin, Nicole Garcia etc.play dual roles.You must keep up with this this film especially in the third hour when the story shifts into the 1960's and then into the 1980's.It is all there, but don't blink.
I would have never known that this film existed unless a friend had given it to me who said,"Dedicate three hours of your life, non stop, to 'experience' this film!" SHE WAS RIGHT.This is as epic and grand as any film I have ever seen.
March 12, 2008This is a movie that was released when I was six years old, but its main score, Ravel's Bolero, was forever indelibly imprinted in my mind. My parents introduced me to this movie and when watching it I was completely transported to the era, during and after world war II, when values were different than those of today, life was much simpler and family ties stronger. This movie depicts the lives of three different families who are affected by the vicissitudes of war and how each copes with its multiple effects throughout the different generations. It's as if the clock is stopped and the observer becomes enveloped in the human drama which is inexplicably intertwined and inexorably real. It is a masterpiece of film making and one of the best French movies I have seen.
December 22, 2007I was very glad to find this movie on Amazon. I had first seen it when it originally came out. Back then, I saw it in Italy in Italian. I was struck by the choice and sequence of events and how they were developed.
Now I have seen the original French version (this copy had subtitles in English) and am happy to say that it was as good as the first time.
The ending was a bit confusing since the actors of the main characters played their role twice, once as the main characters, then as the grown up children of the main characters!
I don't remember getting confused when I saw it the first time in Italian. But then my French is not as good as my Italian! I have also grown older!!
May 24, 2007| | | finest picture and finest amazon | |
picture finest and ý want to thank to amazon !..I am very happy for shopping with Amazon !..
May 7, 2007| | | waited a long time to see it again | |
I saw this movie with a dear friend back in 1982 while visiting his family in the Netherlands. I was in love with the movie and emotionally moved by the story and the music that I desperately wanted to see it again. When I returned to the the US, the movie never came to my hometown's film festival--probably only showed in theatres along our coastal states. I came across some old journal entries and had a notation about the movie. I longed to see it again so I went on-line,typed in the title and there is was on DVD! Cannot wait to see it.
March 14, 2007More reviews at Amazon.com ...
Daily Birthdays
(14 reviews)