Rating: 
Summary: Times 2 = 10 stars
Review: One of the most beautiful films ever made. Clear proof that Juliette Binoche is one of the (if not the) greatest actresses of the age. Lacking, perhaps, in subtext or moral complexity - absences which would ordinarily prevent me from branding a film a great work of art, the extraordinary beauty (which I confess brought me to tears during the fireworks sequence,) the brilliant acting, the homages (especially to L'Atlante,) the inexorable progression from despair to hope all lead me to the conclusion that this is one of the greatest films ever made.I was fortunate enough to see this first in a theatre (the Walter Reed at Lincoln Center) so the full impact of the beauty of the film came through better than would be possible on a home system. However, I bought the DVD from Amazon UK several years ago and it is well worth owning. Following Boy Meets Girl (very good) and Mauvais Sang (wonderful,) the followup to Lovers on the Bridge which was Pola X was staggeringly disappointing and undiciplined. Worth owning largely for Scott Walker's brilliant soundtrack I could only look at it aghast and wonder what happened. There is nothing even scheduled by Carax in the new "improved"(?) Amazonified imdb. We can only hope that he returns with something even approaching having the sense of wonder and intensity of this masterpiece. Not just worth owning, but utterly mandatory.
Rating: 
Summary: If a bridge is reparable, is human life the same?
Review: Set in the days before and after France's bicentennial, Les Amants du Pont-Neuf tells the story of three homeless people who have been cheated by life. First is Alex, a street performer who seeks refuge in alcohol and downers. Hans, an elderly bearded man who bears a resemblance to Jack Elam, provides Alex with the downers. And then there's Michele, a homeless artist with a bandage over her left eye. All three proceed to make the Pont-Neuf bridge in Paris their home. This is possible because the bridge is under repairs and renovation and closed to the public for two years. Hans though, does not like Michele and repeatedly tells her she must leave. Alex convinces him to let her stay for a couple days. A bond develops between the two, and the two share some of that bicentennial magic of fireworks for some heavy drinking and cruising in a police patrol boat, with Michele water-skiing. However, Michele has periods when she is tired out--she even blacks out when she is drawing Alex. Turns out she is going blind in her remaining eye. In contrast, without his downers, Alex can't go to sleep. Opposites if anything. Hans detects the feelings Alex has for Michele and tells him "Look around. There's no love here! There's no cold air in bedrooms. It doesn't fit your life. Forget it!" He later tells Michele that life outside is not right for her, and it's up to her to live. As her condition worsens, Michele tells her that the "world's just a lot of blurry flames and I'm sick of it." That is mirrored in a scene when Alex sets fire to a row of posters along the subway hallways, a great visual effect, as there are posters on both walls, utilizing a symmetry akin to Kubrick. The bridge symbolizes the stage of life for a person, from point A to point B. In the beginning, it is in disrepair, under renovation, as are the lives of the three protagonists. At the end of the movie, the bridge has been renovated. "Nothing is irreparable" Michele tells Alex. For some people, that may be true, but countless others are damaged beyond repair. The sequence in the bus carrying the wounded Alex and the scene in the shelter is a very oppressive segment and it's a bit of tough going through due to the characters who seek refuge in the shelter. And for the leisure pacing of this movie, it's a bit long at near two hours. Juliette Binoche (Michele) is amazing here because she is not her usual glamorous self. With the bandage on her eye, pale face, disheveled and fatigued look, she is far from the composer's widow in Blue, the idealistic Tereza in The Unbearable Likeness Of Being, or Vianne in Chocolat. Denis Divant (Alex) does a good job in bringing to life someone trying to make sense of a new set of circumstances (Michele's arrival). Good for the main leads, hampered by overlength and depressing atmosphere.
Rating:
Summary: If a bridge is reparable, is human life the same?
Review: Set in the days before and after France's bicentennial, Les Amants du Pont-Neuf tells the story of three homeless people who have been cheated by life. First is Alex, a street performer who seeks refuge in alcohol and downers. Hans, an elderly bearded man who bears a resemblance to Jack Elam, provides Alex with the downers. And then there's Michele, a homeless artist with a bandage over her left eye. All three proceed to make the Pont-Neuf bridge in Paris their home. This is possible because the bridge is under repairs and renovation and closed to the public for two years. Hans though, does not like Michele and repeatedly tells her she must leave. Alex convinces him to let her stay for a couple days. A bond develops between the two, and the two share some of that bicentennial magic of fireworks for some heavy drinking and cruising in a police patrol boat, with Michele water-skiing. However, Michele has periods when she is tired out--she even blacks out when she is drawing Alex. Turns out she is going blind in her remaining eye. In contrast, without his downers, Alex can't go to sleep. Opposites if anything. Hans detects the feelings Alex has for Michele and tells him "Look around. There's no love here! There's no cold air in bedrooms. It doesn't fit your life. Forget it!" He later tells Michele that life outside is not right for her, and it's up to her to live. As her condition worsens, Michele tells her that the "world's just a lot of blurry flames and I'm sick of it." That is mirrored in a scene when Alex sets fire to a row of posters along the subway hallways, a great visual effect, as there are posters on both walls, utilizing a symmetry akin to Kubrick. The bridge symbolizes the stage of life for a person, from point A to point B. In the beginning, it is in disrepair, under renovation, as are the lives of the three protagonists. At the end of the movie, the bridge has been renovated. "Nothing is irreparable" Michele tells Alex. For some people, that may be true, but countless others are damaged beyond repair. The sequence in the bus carrying the wounded Alex and the scene in the shelter is a very oppressive segment and it's a bit of tough going through due to the characters who seek refuge in the shelter. And for the leisure pacing of this movie, it's a bit long at near two hours. Juliette Binoche (Michele) is amazing here because she is not her usual glamorous self. With the bandage on her eye, pale face, disheveled and fatigued look, she is far from the composer's widow in Blue, the idealistic Tereza in The Unbearable Likeness Of Being, or Vianne in Chocolat. Denis Divant (Alex) does a good job in bringing to life someone trying to make sense of a new set of circumstances (Michele's arrival). Good for the main leads, hampered by overlength and depressing atmosphere.
Rating:
Summary: The Lovers on the Bridge: The Crushing of Hope
Review: THE LOVERS ON THE BRIDGE is a confusing movie. Director Leos Carax clearly wants the audience to sympathise with the plight of the two stars, Alex, played by Denis Lavant, and Michelle, by Juliette Binoche. As the film begins, the viewer sees that both Alex and Michele suffer from ego-shattering crises. In her case, she suffers from an eye disease that is gradually worsening to a state of total loss of vision. Further, she has just been dumped by her lover. Totally bereft of hope, she joins the small army of homeless who live on or near Paris's Pont-Neuf Bridge. Alex suffers too, but Carax chooses not to inform the audience why he has degenerated both physically and mentally. He wanders the streets near the bridge, drinking cheap wine, stealing food, and generally showing every indication that his life may be measured only in terms of when he can get next that next drink. And then they meet. As I was watching, I guessed that Alex and Michelle would somehow connect, that they would prop each other up in mutual support. And it is precisely here that Director Carax goes seriously astray. If his intent were to present the morally uplifting story of two homeless rejects in the context of an artful exploration of love, needs, and values, then his message goes astray in the criminal activities of both Alex and Michelle. Michelle gets hold of a pistol, visits her former lover, begs him to let her enter his apartment, and when he refuses,she shoots him through the door's peephole. He dies, and she is exultant. He may have been a rotter for breaking her heart, but society cannot exist when this sort of thing goes unpunished. As gruesome as her crime is, Alex's corruption is far greater. He learns of her eye disease by reading a series of posters glued prominently through a long winding tunnel leading to the bridge. He chooses not to tell her that an eye surgeon might cure her. He prefers to keep her dependent on him. He shows his true needy and controlling nature by striking her on several occasions. He ultimately refuses to accept her decision to leave him, thereby re-enacting the same scenario that caused her to kill her lover in the first place. He grabs her and both fall into the river in an attempt that can only be considered as a potential murder-suicide. And this is after his earlier torching of a man whose only crime has been to glue those posters of her eye disease onto Paris walls.
It was difficult for me to see these lovers in the positive light that Carax surely intended. Much of the film involves incredible use of sight and sound that elevates Alex and Michelle to the status of Romeo and Juliet. He the acrobat, she the artist. As the eye is dazzled by a masterly use of firework pyrotechnics and the ear is deceived by the superficial mutual protestations of love, the critical faculties of the viewer that ought to form the moral center of any audience is tempted to overlook the clearly criminal tendencies of two people who care not a fig for the deaths of others, nor for each other, nor for themselves. By the film's end, I simply could not accept their reconciliation of a happy ending.
In movies like this, I would have vastly preferred to see the protagonists come to recognize the consequences of their actions as they ponder where they came from before they can so blithely find solace in an ending that suggests that the only conclusion to a romance based on disease and loathing must result in no hard-won self-awareness at all.
Rating:
Summary: Addendum to original review.
Review: The more i think about this film,the more i appreciate it,It's unforgettable,a true work of cinematic art,akin to a moving Renoir(i've never seen his work,i just thought it sounded good).As a result i have to increase my rating to 5 stars,anything less would be criminal.This is a true movie lovers movie,with elements of the classics of days gone by.A Casablanca from a homeless person's perspective.A surrealistic fantasy about frustrated lovers on the fringe of society,and how the rules of engagement are the same for everyone regardless if you have a mansion or you live on the street.Please,someone,preferably Anchor Bay entertainment,get to work on a DVD transfer with 5.1 sound and loads of extras.This film derserves it immensely.
Rating: 
Summary: why
Review: This is by far the worst movie of all time, no questions asked.
Rating:
Summary: Bravo for Carax !
Review: This movie found me as a first year student of French and since then it has become my all-time favorite. "Les amants..." is a long and painfully crafted work that may seem, prima facie, difficult to approach. Nevertheless, when such apparent difficulty is conquered, you reach the simple joy of getting to know the work of a superior talent, plenty of unforgettable moments. Juliette Binoche's face when watching paintings at the light of a candle. Alex Lavant walking in the Paris metro tunnels, where Binoche large-sized photos cover the walls. The Seine mirroring their craziness and light... Images from the movie will haunt you with its bizarre beauty for long time. It should also be taken in account that the story beyond the scenes of the movie is a drama on its own, worth to be known.
Rating:
Summary: The most romantic movie out there!
Review: This movie has gone from easy to hard. The story is about a almost blind homeless girl played by Juliette Binoche and a homeless fire eater played by Alex Lavant. One day they meet at the bridge Pont-Neuf. Romance builds up and they fall in love. But living on the street is not easy and this is what the story is about. I don't want to spoil the plot for those who hasn't seen the movie. I truly recommend this to anyone familiar with Juliette Binoche works. A true masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: beautiful
Review: this movie is a complex love story with stunning visuals. there are a few scenes that really breathe scorcese, but most of the film feels very fresh and unlike anything else i've ever seen. the energy that this film possesses is breathtaking. definitely worth watching.
Rating:
Summary: carax at his finest
Review: this movie may come off as a simple love story, but let's face it, it's not. like most anything done by carax, it's more about film, and its semiological consequences, than anything else. this film, number three by carax, shows a strong truffaut influence, e.g. tirez sur le pianiste. though not as experimental as pola x, and not as indebted to godard as boy meets girl, there are clear tributes to vigo throughout. self-conscious, highly symbolic, intertextual. carax may be the finest director of his generation. just consider his very human treatment of lavant's character, for example. only truffaut, or maybe bresson, compares to that kind of characterization, though surely an ironic "realism" given the context of this film. all in all, this is a great achievement.
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