Louis Garrel joins his father at the other side of the camera for his first long movie in which he offers a fresh vision of friendship through a crazy comedy. The duo Vincent Macaigne/Louis Garrel works perfectly and it makes the public laugh. Regarding Golshifteh Farahani, she surprises with her performance of woman that resists to the two men, but that still manage to break their friendship. They love each other, they fight each other (with a cast and a script that flirts with theatre), we are surprised but we never get bored. Louis Garrel evokes a serious subject with a certain cynicism: the fear to be left alone in the middle of a trio in which friendship is sometimes swallowed by love. Because three can be friends, but love is reserved for only two. Even if the films is not revolutionary, it is quite entertaining and it has some key scenes that make the public laugh and give them some food for thought. Full review on our blog Los Indiscretos : https://losindiscretos.org
6 Reviews
Lightweight french flick only of interest because it is the first offshore star vehicle for stunning Iranian actress Golshifte Farahani
alexdeleonfilm18 January 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Les Deux Amis (Two Friends), France, 2015 image2.jpeg Director: Louis Garrel Stars: Golshifteh Farahani, Vincent Macaigne, Louis Garrel Viewed in Hungary at Cinefest film festival, Miskolc, 2015. Two best friends have their relationship tested when Abel tries to help his friend Clement with the latter's love interest Mona.
The French entry "Deux Amis" (Two Buddies) Written and Directed by Louis Garrel, starring himself, Victor Macaigne, and Golshifte Farahani. This flimsy French flick is of interest mainly because it is the first star vehicle for stunning exiled Iranian actress Golshifte Farahani outside of her native Iran. She appeared in a much smaller role last year in Ridley Scott's "Exodus Gods and Kings" as the abandoned fiancé of Moses.
Golshifte was a top star in Iran before being declared persona non grata in the Islamic Republic for refusing to wear a head scarf in Cannes, then, even worse -- appearing partially nude in a French magazine. Directed by and co-starring Louis Garrel, himself a popular screen heart throb among the younger crowd in France and the 'significan other' of Golshifte in Paris at the time of filming.
Plotwise this is kind of a poor man's version of Jules and Jim with Vincent and Abel both in love with Monica, but more in love with each other as it will eventually turn out. Unlike Truffaut's J&J this never turns into a full on ménàge à trois as Mona's (Golshifte) interest shifts from bungling loser Vincent to his cool love adviser Abel (Director Garrel). The rankling between the two boys is little more than an excuse to present the ravishing Golshifte in just about every scene from every possible angle. In one scene she even gets to show off her dancing chops.
The highly contrived three way plot is not very convincing but worth sitting through just to see Persian beauty Golshifte finally getting the full attention she deserves as the leading lady and star of a non-Iranian western film. Anybody aware of the serious off-screen romance between Garrel and Goldhifte will realize that this was Garrel's main purpose in slapping this lightweight actress vehicle together. Apparently this gesture did not help cement their relationship as they are no longer a couple off-screen. (as of 2015)
The question remains whether any director French, English, or other, is finally going to see the potential box office drawing power of this talented, beautiful charismatic actress and give her a major role in a real movie. Having seen some of her star appeal in her Iranian films before she was banned from return to the homeland it is clear to me that somebody out there is missing the boat. Ridley Scott found her but only deigned to give her a couple of small middle eastern type eye candy roles -- in 'Body of Lies' 2008, and Exodus, Gods and Kings, 2014, and the current piece of Gallic fast food is not likely to promote her international image. If I were a director or producer I would immediately cast her as the lead in a big budget film opposite romantic stars like Jake Gyllenhall, Ben Affleck, Joaquin Phoenix, Colin Firth, or even George Clooney.
Golshifte Farahani (now 33) proved that she is is a free woman by posing nude for the french publication Egoiste. This earned her permanent expulsion from Theocratically strictured Iran., Our gain -- their loss.
The French entry "Deux Amis" (Two Buddies) Written and Directed by Louis Garrel, starring himself, Victor Macaigne, and Golshifte Farahani. This flimsy French flick is of interest mainly because it is the first star vehicle for stunning exiled Iranian actress Golshifte Farahani outside of her native Iran. She appeared in a much smaller role last year in Ridley Scott's "Exodus Gods and Kings" as the abandoned fiancé of Moses.
Golshifte was a top star in Iran before being declared persona non grata in the Islamic Republic for refusing to wear a head scarf in Cannes, then, even worse -- appearing partially nude in a French magazine. Directed by and co-starring Louis Garrel, himself a popular screen heart throb among the younger crowd in France and the 'significan other' of Golshifte in Paris at the time of filming.
Plotwise this is kind of a poor man's version of Jules and Jim with Vincent and Abel both in love with Monica, but more in love with each other as it will eventually turn out. Unlike Truffaut's J&J this never turns into a full on ménàge à trois as Mona's (Golshifte) interest shifts from bungling loser Vincent to his cool love adviser Abel (Director Garrel). The rankling between the two boys is little more than an excuse to present the ravishing Golshifte in just about every scene from every possible angle. In one scene she even gets to show off her dancing chops.
The highly contrived three way plot is not very convincing but worth sitting through just to see Persian beauty Golshifte finally getting the full attention she deserves as the leading lady and star of a non-Iranian western film. Anybody aware of the serious off-screen romance between Garrel and Goldhifte will realize that this was Garrel's main purpose in slapping this lightweight actress vehicle together. Apparently this gesture did not help cement their relationship as they are no longer a couple off-screen. (as of 2015)
The question remains whether any director French, English, or other, is finally going to see the potential box office drawing power of this talented, beautiful charismatic actress and give her a major role in a real movie. Having seen some of her star appeal in her Iranian films before she was banned from return to the homeland it is clear to me that somebody out there is missing the boat. Ridley Scott found her but only deigned to give her a couple of small middle eastern type eye candy roles -- in 'Body of Lies' 2008, and Exodus, Gods and Kings, 2014, and the current piece of Gallic fast food is not likely to promote her international image. If I were a director or producer I would immediately cast her as the lead in a big budget film opposite romantic stars like Jake Gyllenhall, Ben Affleck, Joaquin Phoenix, Colin Firth, or even George Clooney.
Golshifte Farahani (now 33) proved that she is is a free woman by posing nude for the french publication Egoiste. This earned her permanent expulsion from Theocratically strictured Iran., Our gain -- their loss.
Two friends
searchanddestroy-126 September 2015
Warning: Spoilers
You have here a sort of JULES ET JIM scheme where two male friends fall in love for a young woman who is also a probation inmate. A female who is unable to get back to her cell in prison because of the two guys' behaviour. This movie is interesting because it is a study of the friendship mechanism, at least among men. It explains how it works in certain situations, how it sometimes turns out. It shows how strong or how weak, fragile, it may finally be. I know that there is nothing really new here, we have already seen hundred times before but we never get tired of this. A good film worth watching. Louis Garrel gives here a tremendous double performance as the lead character and the director. Watch out for him in the future.
One-dimensional characters, erratic plot
cix_one1 October 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Going into the movie, I was eager to see what the director had to add to an otherwise classic topic: two men in love with one woman. I assumed that if Louis Garrel took on the subject, he would only do so to add a fresh and novel perspective.
What a disappointment! The three characters in the movie are grotesquely one-dimensional caricatures: one is a sociopathic serial boyfriend, another is a ridiculous loser who's not only unattractive and has a whiny voice, but also sports an idiotic red baseball hat. The female character seems to have completely lost her compass in life, to a point where she inexplicably decides to hang out with two individuals who just assaulted her and whom she barely knows, at the expense of at least six months of her life. Why would anyone who's not irreversibly deranged do that? Other than to advance the plot of a wobbly movie, I mean.
The pivotal scene when the two men dragged the woman out of the train was to me as close as one can get to a rape scene. The power of the scene is in no small part a testament to the talent of Golshifteh Farahani. But her craft was wasted in this film, and could do nothing to salvage the incoherence of a bad script.
What a disappointment! The three characters in the movie are grotesquely one-dimensional caricatures: one is a sociopathic serial boyfriend, another is a ridiculous loser who's not only unattractive and has a whiny voice, but also sports an idiotic red baseball hat. The female character seems to have completely lost her compass in life, to a point where she inexplicably decides to hang out with two individuals who just assaulted her and whom she barely knows, at the expense of at least six months of her life. Why would anyone who's not irreversibly deranged do that? Other than to advance the plot of a wobbly movie, I mean.
The pivotal scene when the two men dragged the woman out of the train was to me as close as one can get to a rape scene. The power of the scene is in no small part a testament to the talent of Golshifteh Farahani. But her craft was wasted in this film, and could do nothing to salvage the incoherence of a bad script.
They should have stayed to their short movie
leplatypus24 April 2016
This trio has already done a short movie about the same triangle : the fragile bearded friend, the racked other and the gracious Goldsifeth. Here the story is interesting and is reminiscent to « after hours » as Goldsifeth stays in Paris for a wild night with those friends instead of coming back to prison ! There is some good moments also because the movie is shot live in the streets of Paris : for one time, it's not the « city of lights » but the city of workers with public transports, old apartments, small streets
The cast is good, especially Goldsifeth who has totally assimilated french culture and better than some others native ! However, at the end, the movie is too much talks, not really optimist and repetitive with those hugging / fighting friends! As my version had in addition a horrible sound and no subtitles, it was really hard for me to follow it and i was thus happy when the movie ended !
Sophisticated tragicomedy; underrating is nonsense
guisreis24 July 2021
What a sophisticated and innovative tragicomedy. Underrating is nonsense. Through the dark funny absurd situations there is a very careful script that develops gradually each character, and provides the clues to the spectator as both the woman's drama and the buddies' comedy of manners advance. Off course charming, beautiful and strong Mona Dessaint is the character who shines, and the film starts showing her life. However, as everyone may notice, the movie's title is "two friends", and there is a reason for that. Everything is about them, their dusfunctional friendship, what they show to each other, what they hide, what they even do not know, althouth everybody around seem to have noticed. Although everything in the movie happens with Mona as the object of their arguments, she is not the reason, she is just the spark. They say that "it may not happen again", and that means that before her there was another Mona. When the film ends, it was clear that it would not take too much time for a new Mona appears.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
