Movie Review: Romantics Anonymous
The French Film Festival 2012 had many film offerings: me and a colleagues opted for Romantics Anonymous due to time schedule + reviews. I do wish GSC would provide more screenings and promote foreign films more :/
Plot
Angèlique is a talented chocolatier, but due to her bashfulness, she assumed the identity of a mysterious hermit who makes incredible chocolate sold through another person; however when her employer passed away, she is unable to carry on her business and approaches Jean-Renè for the position of a saleswoman at his struggling chocolate factory. Both individuals are incredibly shy; Jean-Renè listens to self-help tapes, seems grumpy and consults a therapist regularly; Angèlique often sings the song I Have Confidence to overcome her anxiety and she joins a support group for Emotifs. We then see how these two complex individuals fumble their way through to each other in a sweet love story set in the fascinating world of chocolate.
Cast
One thing I like about French films is how realistic they are. The cast are not Hollywood-perfect, Hollywood-glam or (sometimes) borderline pretentious. It's so easy to believe in the story when you've got fairy-like Isabelle Carrè playing the endearing Angèlique to perfection, and Benoît Poelvoorde bumbling his way around as Jean-Perè. You can't help but sigh and hope these two will "get on with it"!
Music
Pierre Adenot wrote the music, lovely accompaniment to the film. The underlying theme song J'ai Confiance En Moi is charming and recurring throughout the film.
Conclusion
A lovely, lovely film - I left the cinema feeling warm and happy and gooey - the job of a romantic film well done! This film reinforces my opinion that it's good to get out of the mainstream genre and explore foreign films, usually the style and plot is unique and refreshing. Romantics Anonymous is a lovely romantic film dripping in chocolate sweetness! This film gets a thumbs up from me! Bravo!
Note: Another friend watched the same film but the guys manning the reel manually censored some of the kissing scenes which drew a lot of boo-ing from the crowd; this reaction is understandable, the Malaysian audience (as well as the fair number of foreign movie-goers) are mature enough to handle the scenes - plus the scenes add to the expression and the sentiment behind the film. The censorship board needs to grow up, IMO.
Angèlique is a talented chocolatier, but due to her bashfulness, she assumed the identity of a mysterious hermit who makes incredible chocolate sold through another person; however when her employer passed away, she is unable to carry on her business and approaches Jean-Renè for the position of a saleswoman at his struggling chocolate factory. Both individuals are incredibly shy; Jean-Renè listens to self-help tapes, seems grumpy and consults a therapist regularly; Angèlique often sings the song I Have Confidence to overcome her anxiety and she joins a support group for Emotifs. We then see how these two complex individuals fumble their way through to each other in a sweet love story set in the fascinating world of chocolate.
One thing I like about French films is how realistic they are. The cast are not Hollywood-perfect, Hollywood-glam or (sometimes) borderline pretentious. It's so easy to believe in the story when you've got fairy-like Isabelle Carrè playing the endearing Angèlique to perfection, and Benoît Poelvoorde bumbling his way around as Jean-Perè. You can't help but sigh and hope these two will "get on with it"!
Pierre Adenot wrote the music, lovely accompaniment to the film. The underlying theme song J'ai Confiance En Moi is charming and recurring throughout the film.
Conclusion
A lovely, lovely film - I left the cinema feeling warm and happy and gooey - the job of a romantic film well done! This film reinforces my opinion that it's good to get out of the mainstream genre and explore foreign films, usually the style and plot is unique and refreshing. Romantics Anonymous is a lovely romantic film dripping in chocolate sweetness! This film gets a thumbs up from me! Bravo!
Note: Another friend watched the same film but the guys manning the reel manually censored some of the kissing scenes which drew a lot of boo-ing from the crowd; this reaction is understandable, the Malaysian audience (as well as the fair number of foreign movie-goers) are mature enough to handle the scenes - plus the scenes add to the expression and the sentiment behind the film. The censorship board needs to grow up, IMO.
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