"Shot with a nimble-fingered, compulsively twirling and rotating camera, MR & MRS ADELMAN freewheels in an almost mercurial form through the tonal discrepancies derived from a mishmash of components: a heady rom-com about a girl sets eyes on her Mr. Right and never let him go, a cynical satire on a writer's block (Victor's unpremeditated fixation with being Jewish, he even alters his bourgeois, Gentile surname de Richemont to Adelman), fame and egregious ego, an astringent matrimonial drama plumbing a husband's sexual frustration and a wife's desperation to hold onto the breadwinner of the family, or a reportage on gender politics within a nuclear family, but between Victor and Sarah, the one who gets the oneupmanship is evident along the way, as the story is as much an affirmation of a wife's high-wire maneuver of molding her husband into the man she wants (if not necessarily she worships) him to be, even without that final volte-face, as a no-holds-barred dissection of a tumultuous relationship that often blights a middle-class union where self-efficacy is foregrounded."
23 Reviews
the writer and his muse
dromasca29 August 2020
In March, I was looking forward to seeing 'La Belle Époque', the second and latest film by French director Nicolas Bedos, which was due to hit our local screens just in the week when the world stopped and cinemas closed. I had to postpone the meeting with that film, but I recently discovered that I had recorded his 2017 debut film in which Bedos also plays the lead role with his real life partner, Doria Tillier as his screen partner. The two are 'Monsieur & Madame Adelman'. He, Victor, is a famous writer, member of the French Academy and recently deceased. She, Sarah, is his fresh widow, who shares with a reporter, on the night of his funeral, the story of 45 years of love, betrayals, successes and disappointments. It is one of the films that I liked the most of all I saw lately - a romantic story, a social comedy, a critical look at the French intellectuals, a satire of racist prejudices, a feminist story but above all a sparkling and witty film, as French filmmakers know how to make when they are struck by inspiration.
The first third of the film is formidable. WOW! The old but still beautiful and elegant Mrs. Adelman remembers the love story between her, the Jewish student at the Sorbonne and the aspiring writer coming from a wealthy bourgeois family. We follow the first years of their relationship, the first books, the path searching, the failures and the successes. At one point we have the impression that we are watching a French version of 'The Wife' (which was released on screens in the same year - 2017) but the French film has more. Comparing the two films with similar themes - the lifelong connection between a famous writer and his wife who is something else and more than a supporter in the shadows or a muse - I think the the French film starts from a more original point of view. Victor needs security and inspiration, Sarah helps by lending him her name and part of her identity. Once success is achieved, the confrontation with routine begins. This movie is the story of a marriage. In most marriages, the first third is the stormiest and most interesting. The same goes for 'Monsieur & Madame Adelman'. From a moment on, the film loses speed, even the story seems to enter into a relative routine and fails to completely avoid the clichés. The audacity of the screenwriter returns only at the end, which holds a few surprises.
Nicolas Bedos is the director, the screenwriter and also plays the lead role. I don't think it's a coincidence that a cinema hall screening a Woody Allen movie appears at some point in the background. Woody is currently much more appreciated and influential in France than at home. Bedos borrows some cinematic elements from him, including the division of the story into titled chapters, but especially the insertion of situations and character traits that allude to his personal biography. Doria Tillier, the screen partner is also the director's life partner, and as spectators we can ask ourselves how much the two bring to the screen from their real life relationship. They both play very well in a story that spans almost the entire history of the 5th French Republic in the post-De Gaulle period, from Pompidou to 2016. They certainly gave a lot of work to makeup artists and hairdressers, but the result is almost perfect. The Parisian intellectual environment with its snobbery and rivalities is excellently presented, with ironic arrows at some of the sacred monsters of French literature and culture, including Jack Lang in a cameo appearance in which the former minister plays his own role as a speaker at funerals of the members of the French Academy. The feeling of authenticity is accentuated by the use of television reports of the time, documenting changes of regime and personalities at the helm of France. 'Monsieur & Madame Adelman' manages to be at the same time sincere and sophisticated, witty and critical, comic and moving. Judging by this debut, Nicolas Bedos is one of the most promising filmmakers of the generation of French filmmakers which is now reaching adulthood.
The first third of the film is formidable. WOW! The old but still beautiful and elegant Mrs. Adelman remembers the love story between her, the Jewish student at the Sorbonne and the aspiring writer coming from a wealthy bourgeois family. We follow the first years of their relationship, the first books, the path searching, the failures and the successes. At one point we have the impression that we are watching a French version of 'The Wife' (which was released on screens in the same year - 2017) but the French film has more. Comparing the two films with similar themes - the lifelong connection between a famous writer and his wife who is something else and more than a supporter in the shadows or a muse - I think the the French film starts from a more original point of view. Victor needs security and inspiration, Sarah helps by lending him her name and part of her identity. Once success is achieved, the confrontation with routine begins. This movie is the story of a marriage. In most marriages, the first third is the stormiest and most interesting. The same goes for 'Monsieur & Madame Adelman'. From a moment on, the film loses speed, even the story seems to enter into a relative routine and fails to completely avoid the clichés. The audacity of the screenwriter returns only at the end, which holds a few surprises.
Nicolas Bedos is the director, the screenwriter and also plays the lead role. I don't think it's a coincidence that a cinema hall screening a Woody Allen movie appears at some point in the background. Woody is currently much more appreciated and influential in France than at home. Bedos borrows some cinematic elements from him, including the division of the story into titled chapters, but especially the insertion of situations and character traits that allude to his personal biography. Doria Tillier, the screen partner is also the director's life partner, and as spectators we can ask ourselves how much the two bring to the screen from their real life relationship. They both play very well in a story that spans almost the entire history of the 5th French Republic in the post-De Gaulle period, from Pompidou to 2016. They certainly gave a lot of work to makeup artists and hairdressers, but the result is almost perfect. The Parisian intellectual environment with its snobbery and rivalities is excellently presented, with ironic arrows at some of the sacred monsters of French literature and culture, including Jack Lang in a cameo appearance in which the former minister plays his own role as a speaker at funerals of the members of the French Academy. The feeling of authenticity is accentuated by the use of television reports of the time, documenting changes of regime and personalities at the helm of France. 'Monsieur & Madame Adelman' manages to be at the same time sincere and sophisticated, witty and critical, comic and moving. Judging by this debut, Nicolas Bedos is one of the most promising filmmakers of the generation of French filmmakers which is now reaching adulthood.
that's a movie
mexesteban1 May 2020
An entertaining, smart, funny movie. Well directed, great acting, good production. Another dozen of these in the same year and the French have once again a film industry! One thing's for sure Nicolas Bedos is one talented guy.
Several films in one, some funny, some really not
jimcheva20 October 2021
This film veers between Woody Allenish interactions and social observation, "Scenes from a Marriage" and "The Wife". (If the latter film had not come out so soon after this one, it would be tempting to find a distant model for it here.) Sometimes it is wickedly funny to the point of biting satire, sometimes it is idly absurd, for long stretches it is touching in the way of any intimate look at a marriage. While it has many comic moments, it is distinctly NOT a comedy. It is rarely unwatchable, but does go on too long after a while. While there's a lot to be said for the different sections, they don't always add up to one film. A surprise for American viewers is Ronald Guttman in a colorful and very ethnic turn.
Superb!
pnoronha-6026813 January 2020
1 couple. 2 writers. 1 imposture.
FrenchEddieFelson31 July 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Despite undeniable cinematographic qualities that I do not seek in no way to minimize, I can not detach the character of Mr. Adelman from that of Nicolas Bedos who is almost systematically imbued with his own person, conceited, insolently pompous and desperately familiar with empty soliloquies. It is then not surprising that he chosen to play as a Goncourt prize-winning writer pompously becoming an Immortal of the prestigious French Academy and puking an arrogant « J'emmerde Dostoïevski » with his sleepy shrink. Despite this description barely laudatory, my rating remains honest: 5/6 of 10.
A rare jewel
jules120200018 August 2017
The best movie I saw this year by far...Moving, witty, very funny, great dialogues, superb acting, a rare jewel!!!!I had no expectations about this movie based on the last french movies I saw but I left the theater in a lighter mood.This thriller reminds me old french school: Lelouch comedies and other great directors which are no longer among us.If you want to have a great time for a couple of hours, go and see it!
it can change or confirm your world view
info-440-56087626 November 2017
classic french cinema, full of psychoanalysis. fast moving witty and indiscreetly correct dialogue for those needing subtitles. what comes as surprise is the revelation, or at least the unmentioned-until-absolutely-necessary of who the madame is. this gave a entirely different, while parallel, level of information about madame and her extended family. we see only what we are allowed to see, but only once the viewer had been prepared. the essence of what is communicated can have other sources, other motives. as expected sex is in full Freudian motion and this particular French relationship is more passionate drama and manipulation than romance. poor guy was out of his league. viewed as unstated confirmation it will be liked in Hollywood New York, but, what with the state of things, it worries me. if possible, see the most excellent 2014 Turkish film Kis Uykusu, to understand how compassion is missing in the French film.
it is definitely worth seeing both as entertainment and education. could even change your world view. 7 of 10
it is definitely worth seeing both as entertainment and education. could even change your world view. 7 of 10
Great movie...
michaeltetteroo21 August 2017
Saw this on a long haul flight: beautiful love story, well directed and put together. In essence it is the story of a couple from their acquaintance till death. Great fun, laughs and tears! It also takes you through the different phases historically and especially in France - as I grew up there, the familiarity might be somewhat biased - so really enjoyed it. Absolute recommendation to see this movie!
so...French
Kirpianuscus29 December 2018
A virtue and a sin, in same measure. All the nuances of French cinema are present in this seductive-bitter drama in which the humor and the irony, the cynical levels and the cruelty in different forms, the love and the fall of love, the fears and the joy are reflected in strange and precise manner. But, it could be perceived as only a correct use of old recipe. The characters, the dialogues, the crisis, the stranger front to confessions of an old lady, her words changing everything again and again are good points because they are familiar. I love this film exactly for its French flavor, for the status of travel across influences and suggestions, for the cold honesty and for the precise traits of the characters, for the status of story about survive and for the last confession as basic proof of a great love story , more profound if you see, again, from the first scene, this profound seductive pledge for be part of the other.
The invalidation of a woman
hof-48 December 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Victor de Richemont is a scion of a wealthy Paris family and a budding writer, meaning he may be at the beginning of a brilliant literary career or about to become a one-book wonder. He takes up with Sarah Adelman, a brilliant and charismatic doctorate student in literature. She becomes a de facto editor-cowriter of his first unpublished novel and is instrumental in turning it into a well structured work that puts Victor in the French literary map. They begin a relationship that lasts 45 years in which she cowrites in various ways most of his works. Perhaps in contrast with his own, Victor is fascinated by Sara's Jewish family and culture, although with literary exploitation in mind.
With a subsequent work Victor attains French literary Parnassus winning the coveted Prix Goncourt. All the while, Sarah's contributions to his works are studiously ignored by Victor and Sarah, a situation that endures until his death and beyond. The tale is at times told as a comedy, which does not always work; Victor's and Sarah's families are clichés. There are some pretentiousness and echoes of Truffaut's Amour Fou movies specially Jules and Jim.
There are some substantial negatives about women. Victor's mother is an addled-brain alcoholic and Sara's mother a mute witness to the intellectual brilliancy of her husband. I find repulsive the idea of an accomplished, educated woman like Sarah sacrificing her accomplishments and even her memory for a disloyal, narcissistic, self-pitying manipulative man that took lifelong unashamed advantage of her. In the same year 2017 another movie was made, Björn Runge's The Wife with almost the same subject and some coincidences; the words with which Sara and The Wife threaten an inquisitive journalist are almost the same. I don't believe the movie attains entirely its objectives but it deserves a watch, perhaps more so than the much more staid and conventional The Wife.
With a subsequent work Victor attains French literary Parnassus winning the coveted Prix Goncourt. All the while, Sarah's contributions to his works are studiously ignored by Victor and Sarah, a situation that endures until his death and beyond. The tale is at times told as a comedy, which does not always work; Victor's and Sarah's families are clichés. There are some pretentiousness and echoes of Truffaut's Amour Fou movies specially Jules and Jim.
There are some substantial negatives about women. Victor's mother is an addled-brain alcoholic and Sara's mother a mute witness to the intellectual brilliancy of her husband. I find repulsive the idea of an accomplished, educated woman like Sarah sacrificing her accomplishments and even her memory for a disloyal, narcissistic, self-pitying manipulative man that took lifelong unashamed advantage of her. In the same year 2017 another movie was made, Björn Runge's The Wife with almost the same subject and some coincidences; the words with which Sara and The Wife threaten an inquisitive journalist are almost the same. I don't believe the movie attains entirely its objectives but it deserves a watch, perhaps more so than the much more staid and conventional The Wife.
Uneven
sergelamarche12 November 2021
There are shocking bits. The first half is rather hilarious but it get creepy for a while after. Then, back to funny and strange after. Overall, better than passable. There is an english film wading in similar waters called «The wife» if I recall.
Schoolboyish pomposity
francoisvadrot28 August 2017
Nicolas Bedos has nothing to tell, and he wants to make it known.
Narcissistic gritty rubbish, crammed with clichés. It is pedestrian, long-winded, ugly, uninteresting, a heap of phoney playlets, all equally lamentable.
Apart from the makeup artists one wonders who worked.
We understand the poor psychologist (poor Podalydès !) who prefers to die rather than suffer the character's logorrhea. Unfortunately everything is first degree.
Not to mention the photographic filters supposed to convey a vintage look, or the walls of the Paris flat elaborately knocked down to suggest bohemianism. Everything is appalling, vacuous, supremely commonplace, particularly the dialogues, of bewildering poorness.
Narcissistic gritty rubbish, crammed with clichés. It is pedestrian, long-winded, ugly, uninteresting, a heap of phoney playlets, all equally lamentable.
Apart from the makeup artists one wonders who worked.
We understand the poor psychologist (poor Podalydès !) who prefers to die rather than suffer the character's logorrhea. Unfortunately everything is first degree.
Not to mention the photographic filters supposed to convey a vintage look, or the walls of the Paris flat elaborately knocked down to suggest bohemianism. Everything is appalling, vacuous, supremely commonplace, particularly the dialogues, of bewildering poorness.
Brilliant and touching
satin-4825030 May 2021
I was curious before watching this film. Nicolas Bedos is both brilliant and annoying. And he's often overplaying himself in real life like a bad actor.
This movie is very good. Even better than that actually.
The story of this couple is complex enough to avoid being a rom-com.
It is touching, clinically sharp, funny, sad. And most of all, benevolent.
The acting is excellent, especially Doria Tillier's.
The music is great.
I wanted to give 8 or 9 stars and settled for 9 because of the real life story between the 2 main actors (and scriptwriters).
This movie is very good. Even better than that actually.
The story of this couple is complex enough to avoid being a rom-com.
It is touching, clinically sharp, funny, sad. And most of all, benevolent.
The acting is excellent, especially Doria Tillier's.
The music is great.
I wanted to give 8 or 9 stars and settled for 9 because of the real life story between the 2 main actors (and scriptwriters).
Bautiful story translated or beautiful film...
RosanaBotafogo17 July 2022
Surprisingly captivating, the woman behind the artist, an atypical romance, sincere and realistic, from the 70s to the present day, passionate, normal people with their impulsive and emotional attitudes, which we love... depth and meanings... But the ending, perplexed, perfect, painful, understandable, justifiable, the double plot twist to crown this beautiful story translated or beautiful film...
A gem, witty, refreshing, generous
fruault3 December 2020
Sharp dialogues, brilliant scenario, hilarious at times, touching at others. Lead actors co wrote the story. They also were husbands and wives in real life for years and their authenticity shows. Delightful. Nicolas Bedos is brilliant. So is Doria Tillier. She deserves more roles in more movies to touch millions more. A gem.
Scenes from a married life - Franch champagne socialist version.
guy-bellinger19 March 2021
A series of sketches of married life over four decades, starting in 1971 when Sarah, a doctoral student in classics, met the writer Victor Adelman. Sex, happiness, children, cowardice, binge drinking, deception, betrayal, secrets, fights, separation, return home, divorce - the life of Mr. & Mrs. Adelman as a couple has not been a smooth one.
Choosing to tell four decades of the life of a man and a woman, how ambitious for a first film! It sure was a risky move for Nicolas Bedos. But from the very first minutes of the film, you realize that the challenge will be met. The fledgling director has indeed the gift to reconstitute with accuracy the times gone through while proving able to make his characters age with naturalness. He also succeeds, with the complicity of his companion Dora Tillier, in making endearing a rather failed love story, ravaged by the exacerbated cynicism of Victor, a champagne socialist. Perhaps because everything is seen through the eyes of Sarah, clearly less neurotic than her companion. Written in an energetic language, in which all the words bite home, "Mr. & Mrs. Adelman" shakes the spectator, pushes him in his tracks, while arousing in him a certain melancholy, born from witnessing the failure of a couple that had everything to succeed, both physically and intellectually. If the fiction couple works only intermittently, it is not the case of the duo Nicolas Bedos & Dora Tillier, whose alchemy is perfect. A good point also to Pierre Arditi as an upper-class jerk: the way he throws his lines in the scene of the meal is great art.
Choosing to tell four decades of the life of a man and a woman, how ambitious for a first film! It sure was a risky move for Nicolas Bedos. But from the very first minutes of the film, you realize that the challenge will be met. The fledgling director has indeed the gift to reconstitute with accuracy the times gone through while proving able to make his characters age with naturalness. He also succeeds, with the complicity of his companion Dora Tillier, in making endearing a rather failed love story, ravaged by the exacerbated cynicism of Victor, a champagne socialist. Perhaps because everything is seen through the eyes of Sarah, clearly less neurotic than her companion. Written in an energetic language, in which all the words bite home, "Mr. & Mrs. Adelman" shakes the spectator, pushes him in his tracks, while arousing in him a certain melancholy, born from witnessing the failure of a couple that had everything to succeed, both physically and intellectually. If the fiction couple works only intermittently, it is not the case of the duo Nicolas Bedos & Dora Tillier, whose alchemy is perfect. A good point also to Pierre Arditi as an upper-class jerk: the way he throws his lines in the scene of the meal is great art.
One moment mattered...and then the rest
jlpk-172959 October 2020
Warning: Spoilers
When the husband, how suffering from dementia, stops and tells his wife how much her loves her...I just about shed a tear. The she pushes him off a cliff.
Only because this film is French did I watch it and only because the actors were so compelling, especially the beautiful "Sarah" did I force myself to finish this.
A couple of things that were horrible: 1. Pregnant wife doing coke 2. Father calling a 9 year old and idiot 3. A mother crying a her sons funeral, about how much she hated him. 4. The dinner with friends scene. The Chilean bedroom scene.
Honestly, the best thing was that this was a French film and perhaps, that is all that matters. Like a French pastry that you know you shouldn't eat...but
Only because this film is French did I watch it and only because the actors were so compelling, especially the beautiful "Sarah" did I force myself to finish this.
A couple of things that were horrible: 1. Pregnant wife doing coke 2. Father calling a 9 year old and idiot 3. A mother crying a her sons funeral, about how much she hated him. 4. The dinner with friends scene. The Chilean bedroom scene.
Honestly, the best thing was that this was a French film and perhaps, that is all that matters. Like a French pastry that you know you shouldn't eat...but
behind every successful man is a strong woman
madalenapimentel14 April 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Monsieur & Madame Adelman is a story directed by the French director Nicolas Bedos that portraits a relationship between Victor and Sarah. Released in 2017, this storytelling is the living example of how behind every successful man is a strong woman.
There are many factors that make this movie, in my opinion, an example of a perfect storytelling.
In the first place, the decision of dividing the key moments of the story in chapters gives a structure to the complex and unbalanced marriage between the characters.
This film-making decision allows the viewer to have a clear understanding of the relationship and gives them the privilege to be able to announce the specific moments when the marriage of the main characters starts to reveal as unhealthy. This invasion of the intimate moments of Sarah and Victor, and the ruining of the typical French Cinematic Love, turns this movie into, almost, non-fiction.
Another reason that makes this cinematic piece so extraordinary is the game that the Director plays with the viewer. While peeking into the intimate raw moments of the couple, Bedos starts giving the viewer small hints that make the viewer struggle to find who is the "villain" of the story. With a constant feeling that there is something the director is, consciously, hiding from the watcher, the last scene of the movie reveals an unexpected ending that turns out to be the punchline of the little tricks Bedos was playing with the viewer.
The irony and sophisticated comedy that fills this movie is also an important detail to mention. With a clear influence of Woody Allen, Victor gets revealed as a fragile masculine figure with a writer's block set to failure, yet completely naive about his own insignificance. The strong charisma of Sarah, that contradicts her husband in a clear way, gets to be silent for the whole relation, as she lives on Victor's shadow.
Monsieur & Madame Adelman is a beautiful and challenging story that proves that behind every successful man is a strong woman - which Sarah sure is.
There are many factors that make this movie, in my opinion, an example of a perfect storytelling.
In the first place, the decision of dividing the key moments of the story in chapters gives a structure to the complex and unbalanced marriage between the characters.
This film-making decision allows the viewer to have a clear understanding of the relationship and gives them the privilege to be able to announce the specific moments when the marriage of the main characters starts to reveal as unhealthy. This invasion of the intimate moments of Sarah and Victor, and the ruining of the typical French Cinematic Love, turns this movie into, almost, non-fiction.
Another reason that makes this cinematic piece so extraordinary is the game that the Director plays with the viewer. While peeking into the intimate raw moments of the couple, Bedos starts giving the viewer small hints that make the viewer struggle to find who is the "villain" of the story. With a constant feeling that there is something the director is, consciously, hiding from the watcher, the last scene of the movie reveals an unexpected ending that turns out to be the punchline of the little tricks Bedos was playing with the viewer.
The irony and sophisticated comedy that fills this movie is also an important detail to mention. With a clear influence of Woody Allen, Victor gets revealed as a fragile masculine figure with a writer's block set to failure, yet completely naive about his own insignificance. The strong charisma of Sarah, that contradicts her husband in a clear way, gets to be silent for the whole relation, as she lives on Victor's shadow.
Monsieur & Madame Adelman is a beautiful and challenging story that proves that behind every successful man is a strong woman - which Sarah sure is.
Nicolas Bedos directed
sjanders-864303 May 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Doria Tillier and Nicolas Bedos star in this story of a writer who meets his wife's family and decides he wants to be Jewish and write like Jewish writers. The couple are married for decades and the film follows a birth of a retarded son and then a daughter who is too close to her father. Bedos signs his books Adelman, his wife's name. The book about his mother makes her kill herself. At one point his fame is gone, and he drinks too much and they separate. At another time they divorce. They get back together. Their son dies. The daughter marries. He becomes a professor and falls for a student. When the student leaves he goes into a decline. The script is well written and acted. There are bizarre funny moments like their child underneath the table being completely ignored by his conversing parents. The psychiatrist is someone there for thirty years, and when he is dying Bedos still starts telling him his troubles. The psychiatrist says he does not care and death will be a pleasant silence. The ending is a surprise.
A Love Story Of Many Tales
EggOrChicken25 June 2019
Stalker's failure
sdlotu-866058 January 2024
Warning: Spoilers
The woman is a stalker, at least, how we understand it in the 21st century. How many times did she need to be rejected to understand that it was not her"cup of tea"? She was chasing the man who did not like her and ended up with her only because it was beneficial for him. She was a much better writer than he was. It was a long marriage with its "ups and downs", but Sarah never accomplished what she deserved. True love. It is not clear why she decided to come back. With any hope that he will treat her better or just for a revenge? It is a very bitter story about a woman without any self-respect. There are a lot of unpleasant moments in the movie. Doria Tillier is very convincing in the role that is quite disturbing.
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