Rating: 
Summary: "They sense you are getting away."
Review: "Romance" from director Catherine Breillat isn't about romance at all--and while the film focuses on relationships between men and women, it's clear that romance has no place at all in this tale. The main character in the film, Marie (Caroline Ducey), is a young schoolteacher who lives with vain, intellectual male model, Paul (Sagamore Stevenin). Paul has decided that his relationship with Marie is going through a new phase--celibacy. Now Paul offers only a vague explanation why this phase has begun, but Marie, who is insecure, decides that she no longer arouses Paul. This leads Marie to cause a few desperate scenes both in public and in private. The more Paul rebuffs her, the needier she becomes. Marie clings and Paul shrugs her off. Marie decides that if Paul refuses to satisfy her, then she'll find someone else who will. It really doesn't take Marie long to attract men, and so an odyssey of experience begins. Paul is really a rather revolting character, and his gratuitious cruelty doled out casually enough to throw Marie off the scent establishes him as the power figure in the relationship. Marie is maintained in the inferior position--always trying to second guess Paul's actions and grateful when she's allowed a caress. Even the affairs she indulges in are conducted so obviously in the vain hope that Paul will make the connection. Marie really is without a clue here. Paul simply doesn't care--he is too busy loving himself that he can't spare one ounce of emotion for her. Unfortunately, Marie interprets Paul's lack of interest personally, and she descends into some rather needy behaviour. Caroline Ducey is marvellous in this role. She carries an edge of neediness and hysteria, and yet her dark eyes are pools of secrets and silence. Her relationship with Robert (Francois Berleand) explores the limits of her morality, and their relationship--based on trust, exploration, and equality--is in stark contrast to the humiliating relationship Marie shares with Paul. I really loved this film for the bold statement it makes about relationships. If the power within a relationship is unequal, it will become increasingly more so for the powerless partner--who will grow unhappier and needier, and I see Marie's actions as an attempt to balance the power. I can't remember seeing a film that illustrated this concept quite so effectively. This was the second film by Catherine Breillat I've seen recently ("36 Fillette" is also directed by her), and she is now added to my favourite director list. I should add, though, that this film may be offensive for some viewers--not for the kiddies--displacedhuman.
Rating: 
Summary: Slow and Boring
Review: This move dragged on and on. There was very little action at all. There were often scenes where there was no conversation or action of any sort except for walking, or dancing, or just starring off into space. The movie was poorly directed, and the plot was thin. The director did not develop the characters well at all, and you never feel as if you know them at all. Even the sex scenes don't save it. The only thing that saves this film from getting only one star is the ending, which was a bit of a surprise. I would not recommend this film at all, unless you don't have anything else to do.
Rating:
Summary: Great Love Scenes.
Review: Movie is good.
It has some steamy
scenes, and the plot
is interesting. One has
to accept and respect
that foreign films are
really different as
compared to american films.
many of the films that are
from europe along with this
one have a twist, and have
love scenes. Be open, and
respect the love scenes because
they are a reality. in
real life ,couples,loving
couples touch and fondle
themselves just like in
these films.Because movies
such as these represent real
life, and not fantasy plots
as american movies have alot.
I really do not believe
that the American audience would get
a kick out of this film.They'd find it
to be absolutely boring. I really
hope some day that movies such
as these become a hit with the
American public one day.it be nice if
catherine zeta jones appeared on
romance 2 co-starring with mr. siffredi.
Now those love scenes would be very steamy.
I can just imagine Catherine Zeta Jones
in a bikini, some sexy music in the background......
........................... In conclusion romance is good, it is
recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: 10,000 lovers but perhaps there were none
Review: This movie seems to be a psychological thriller - how could this nymphomaniac (yes, she calls herself that at one stage) manage a husband/partner who refuses to make love to her? Perhaps that's why he refuses - because she is a nymphomaniac. But perhaps it is also true that nymphomaniacs loathe the men whom they mate with. The only way he could stop her from loathing him would be to stop mating with her. Pretty well this movie only shows the couple when they are not cohabiting - she is madly in love with him (and hating it because of his neglect) and he, well this is where it falls down for me - as a male myself I'm not at all sure what he is doing in his mind - and the film really doesn't show us, doesn't explore the issue. But she does manage with lots of ugliness along the way. She finds the man who brags of having 10,000 lovers and engages her in perverse activities that never include intercourse. Perhaps he is her perfect lover! I didn't like this film. For me there is insufficient in this film about the background of the characters and what lead them to be the persons we meet. And far too little of what is happening for the male partner. The characters are ugly and far from mainstream. There was nothing in it that a tentative voyeur like myself could be attracted to. But perhaps it is not a silly film - perhaps it does reveal something of the difficulties some people face in their lives - hidden difficulties that are never visible at the surface.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't waste your time...
Review: A wretched and tiring movie with characters that deserve each other but that we certainly don't deserve to be subjected to.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: This movie had me interested for a large portion of its duration and seemed to be building up to an enlightening ending. Instead, the ending was quite lame, though unexpected. I was expecting something a lot more profound. Quite disappointing.
Rating: 
Summary: distinctive idea, intriguing style
Review: this is a film about sexual control and domination. the heroine is in submission to a sexy male boyfriend, who refuses to have sex with her as part of an obvious male power trip. forced to seek her freedom, she embarks on a variety of relationships, including a long term s&m affair and a random encounter in the street, that explore the limits of her control or lack of it. the denouement includes a sexy male boyfriend who finds himself interested but no longer in control, and a pregnancy, which in this film is the ultimate female burden and the ultimate female liberation. the lead is extremely well played, not all that physically attractive (she lacks the curves shown on the dvd cover!) but smoldering and sexy in a seemingly spontaneous way (she has two seduction scenes where her hair is her best asset). her pain is often subtly played, not with screaming but with resignation. the seduction "duel" between herself and the old lothario, where the issue is really who is seducing whom, is the erotic high point, nicely done. well worth seeing.
Rating:
Summary: Worth seeing
Review: "Romance" is a troubling and fascinating film exploring the shadow side of female sexuality, and is bound to inflame moralists and (certain) feminists alike. Like a whole batch of recent French films, it raises that vexed question of art versus pornography (or art and pornography, depending on your point of view.) "Romance" certainly SEEMS like art in its chic austerity - think white apartments, long existential silences, a heroine with that kind of long-limbed, angular beauty that conveys fragility one moment and deep suffering the next.
It's a cold, alienating film; we don't like or identify with anyone in particular, and we are invited to take a voyeuristic/anthropological interest in the fairly disturbing proceedings. In this, Breillat's objectives are certainly toward art: she wants to make us think, not drool. She's also very, very French in that she intellectualizes sex sometimes to the point of overbearing grimness and humourlessness. And yet that very intellectual coolness and sobriety is also what makes "Romance" so riveting; it's certainly not a likeable or even enjoyable film, but you can't deny it has the power to mesmerize you while you're watching it and provoke thought afterward. It's worth seeing, at least to gauge your own responses.
Rating:
Summary: Sad, shocking, and troubling
Review: The producers go to great lengths in this film to shock you. The few sex scenes, as well as a scene of childbirth are not meant to entice, but to show to what extremes the character will go, as she flounders through her confusion and insecurity. Her model boyfriend wont touch her, so she falls prey to the cruel world. Graphic yet not erotic.
Rating:
Summary: Censored!
Review: Do NOT buy the VHS version of this film if you want to see the film that Catherine Breillat intended to make. It is cut, edited, in other words, censored. It's not just that the graphic sex scenes are cut and that much can be left to the imagination; it's that the cuts eviscerate the film. Breillat made the film in anger, and her anger is most evident in the explicit sexual scenes that were cut. What's left is drivel.I plan to ship it back for a refund.
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