It's like Deja Vu, this old-fashioned Parisian romance about sex and existentialism.
If you're in the mood for an old-style, art house film with plenty of angst, dark clothing, dirty hair, misdirected passion and the au lait ambience of the Left Bank, and are sorely tired of pretentious alien films, this is a Sunday afternoon diversion for you.
Unfortunately, this picture is often tres dopey and is mottled with generic conventions beyond its philosophical girth. Nonetheless, Leisure Time Films should derive a respectable art house number from the types who view the Village Voice as hip.
In this petite film, artsy student Gregoire (Melvil Poupaud) lugs around a copy of Soren Kierkegaard's to coffee shops and similar settings with which to prey upon disjointed females, in this case fellow student Claire (Chiara Mastroianni). Claire studies psychoanalysis at a U near Paris, but she doesn't go to class much -- her time is consumed with her own medical appointments, and, here's the depth, glowering at her mother (Daniele Dubroux), a night shift doctor (by choice) at a Parisian hospital.
Then there's Sebastien (Mathis Amalric), a burgeoning type who inveigles his way into staying a while with Claire and her mom. Basically, he's a shallow dip who's confused about his sexuality, which, naturally, catapults Claire and La Mom into a huge catfight.
Predictable, tedious and drenched with a shallow psychological predictability, "Diary of a Seducer" is, on the whole, pap for the cultural elite.
There are some delectations, nonetheless. There's no denying the pleasures of seeing Paris and the challenges of viewing conflicted love. Best, Truffaut all-star Jean-Pierre Leaud appears; unfortunately, his role is so trite that one is suspicious of the motive for including him in the cast -- to add marquee luster, we suspect.
On the plus side, writer, director and actress Dubroux has created a film that feels scrumptiously black-and-white. That's owing to the details and the feel for place and time that Dubroux exudes. Technically, the chief congratulations belong to cinematographer Laurent Machuel for his musty, clever lensing, as well as to costume designer Anne Schotte for the subtleties of garb, reflecting overall the pedestrian outlooks of these avant-garde pretendeurs.
DIARY OF A SEDUCER
Leisure Time Features
A production of Gemini Films
With the participation of the National Center of Cinematography and Canal+
Producer Philippe Saal
Screenwriter-director Daniele Dubroux
Executive producer Paulo Branco
Director of photography Laurent Machuel
Editor Jean-Francois Naudon
Sound designer Henri Maikoff
Sound mixer Gerard Rousseau
Art director Patrick Durand
Costume designer Anne Schotte
Music Jean-Marie Senia
Color/stereo
Cast:
Claire Conti Chiara Mastroianni
Gregoire Moreau Melvil Poupaud
Sebastien Mathieu Amalric
Anne Daniele Dubroux
Hubert Markus Hubert Saint Macary
Hugo Jean-Pierre Leaud
Diane Micheline Presle
Robert Serge Merlin
Charlotte Karen Viard
Running time - 95 minutes
No MPAA rating...
If you're in the mood for an old-style, art house film with plenty of angst, dark clothing, dirty hair, misdirected passion and the au lait ambience of the Left Bank, and are sorely tired of pretentious alien films, this is a Sunday afternoon diversion for you.
Unfortunately, this picture is often tres dopey and is mottled with generic conventions beyond its philosophical girth. Nonetheless, Leisure Time Films should derive a respectable art house number from the types who view the Village Voice as hip.
In this petite film, artsy student Gregoire (Melvil Poupaud) lugs around a copy of Soren Kierkegaard's to coffee shops and similar settings with which to prey upon disjointed females, in this case fellow student Claire (Chiara Mastroianni). Claire studies psychoanalysis at a U near Paris, but she doesn't go to class much -- her time is consumed with her own medical appointments, and, here's the depth, glowering at her mother (Daniele Dubroux), a night shift doctor (by choice) at a Parisian hospital.
Then there's Sebastien (Mathis Amalric), a burgeoning type who inveigles his way into staying a while with Claire and her mom. Basically, he's a shallow dip who's confused about his sexuality, which, naturally, catapults Claire and La Mom into a huge catfight.
Predictable, tedious and drenched with a shallow psychological predictability, "Diary of a Seducer" is, on the whole, pap for the cultural elite.
There are some delectations, nonetheless. There's no denying the pleasures of seeing Paris and the challenges of viewing conflicted love. Best, Truffaut all-star Jean-Pierre Leaud appears; unfortunately, his role is so trite that one is suspicious of the motive for including him in the cast -- to add marquee luster, we suspect.
On the plus side, writer, director and actress Dubroux has created a film that feels scrumptiously black-and-white. That's owing to the details and the feel for place and time that Dubroux exudes. Technically, the chief congratulations belong to cinematographer Laurent Machuel for his musty, clever lensing, as well as to costume designer Anne Schotte for the subtleties of garb, reflecting overall the pedestrian outlooks of these avant-garde pretendeurs.
DIARY OF A SEDUCER
Leisure Time Features
A production of Gemini Films
With the participation of the National Center of Cinematography and Canal+
Producer Philippe Saal
Screenwriter-director Daniele Dubroux
Executive producer Paulo Branco
Director of photography Laurent Machuel
Editor Jean-Francois Naudon
Sound designer Henri Maikoff
Sound mixer Gerard Rousseau
Art director Patrick Durand
Costume designer Anne Schotte
Music Jean-Marie Senia
Color/stereo
Cast:
Claire Conti Chiara Mastroianni
Gregoire Moreau Melvil Poupaud
Sebastien Mathieu Amalric
Anne Daniele Dubroux
Hubert Markus Hubert Saint Macary
Hugo Jean-Pierre Leaud
Diane Micheline Presle
Robert Serge Merlin
Charlotte Karen Viard
Running time - 95 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 7/24/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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