Chaos

Rating:
Summary: VIVE LE CINEMA FRANCAIS
Review: I was living in France 2001-2002 when this movie came out. Since then I've been searching everywhere to find it on DVD so I can watch it again. Unfortunately, I don't think Chaos was released in theaters in the states, so it didn't get nearly as much coverage as Amelie did, despite being a superior film. What makes it so great? You know how the Crying Game started out in one direction, and if it had continued that way it would have been a good film, but the shifts and surprises made it so much better? Chaos is similar - it twists and it turns until you don't know what's going on (chaos, get it?), until the end when finally you see what it was all about and can't wait to see it again. Also like the Crying Game, it's not an easy film to watch, there's violence and sexual abuse and drug use, and at times you'll feel so angry at the characters that you'll want to close your eyes or turn it off, but keep watching. As a French friend told me when she recommended I see Chaos, tout le monde sort du cinema avec une grande sourire (everyone leaves the theater smiling).

Rating:
Summary: You'll get Hooked
Review: I was surfing through channels on the Telly without any hope of catching anything good when I caught a french film a quarter of the way through on HBO. The docu-type camera shots intrigued me so I watched it. I was riveted. Loved the movie and in the end I went online to catch the film's title on HBO's screening schedule. Searched the film on Amazon and I was lucky enough to get hold of the last new copy. It's the first time that I saw a film on TV and wanted a copy of it. That's how much I liked this movie. It's that good!

Rating:
Summary: "It is easy to walk away from trouble."
Review: Paul (Vincent Lindon) and Helene (Catherine Frot) a miserable, middle-class married couple are out one night when a young prostitute, Noemie (Rachida Brakni) who is pursued by three thugs, begs for help. From the safety of their car, they witness Noemie suffer a savage beating. Paul's main worry is that they'll be asked to be witnesses, and as the days pass, Helene's conscience demands that she discover the fate of the young girl.

Noemie is comatose, and she lies unclaimed, unidentified, and unvisited. Her plight strikes a chord with Helene, and taking a leave of absence, Helene camps out at the hospital slowly nursing the stranger back to health. As Noemie gains consciousness and gradually regains her strength, a strong bond forms between the two women. Noemie tells Helene a horrific tale of how she was forced into prostitution, and when the men who beat Noemie reappear at the hospital, Helene is determined to save her--no matter the cost.

"Chaos" is a marvelous, exciting French film. There are comedic elements in Paul and Helene's tired marriage, and the film begins with scenes that expose the habitual routines well established between the couple. Paul brags that "I've got 15 women in my office ready to lick me all over", but he seems uninterested in pursuing these opportunities or even being polite to his wife. Helene has sunk, in Paul's eyes, to the role of housekeeper, cook, and personal secretary, and as long as she functions in those roles effectively, he's free to ignore her and bark out orders. Helene--played by the superb Catherine Frot ("Un Air de Famille") is a rather gentle creature whose finer self is simply wasted on Paul's brusque nature. Paul and Helene's son, Fabrice (Aurelien Wiik) seems, unfortunately, to take after his father. Fabrice has romantic difficulties arising from juggling two women at close quarters, but he also, like his father has a certain vision of the female role. Between Paul and Fabrice, Helene's character is boxed in, and when she 'revolts' and camps out at the hospital, the men in Helene's life are more than a little disgruntled.

"Chaos" is primarily a thriller, and it delivers some edge-of the-seat action as Noemie gains her health and plots her revenge. The plot is clever, well structured, and intense. Rachida Brakni delivers a truly amazing performance, and Catherine Frot provides an excellent foil, sidekick and accomplice. The film also carries a strong message about sisterhood and the strength created in friendships between women. From reading descriptions of the film (professional reviews and also reading the somewhat tawdry cover), I had a completely different impression of it. I expected an ugly harsh story, but "Chaos" is a soaring delight, and I simply can't recommend it enough. The film is from director Coline Serreau--in French with English subtitles--displacedhuman

Rating:
Summary: The truth hurts.
Review: The title is apt. What a rollercoaster ride! As for the male characters being stereotypical...I, an Italian-American, could relate. I found myself pumping my fist in the air when the Algerian girl finally gave her brother what he deserved.

I hardly feel sorry for the male reviewers here who complain about the stereotypes. We women are constantly stereotyped in the movies. Wouldn't it be novel if some men stood up for women once in a while?

As for reality, if you read the papers, you'd know that the events in this movie are not an anomaly. It's everyday life for many women--and little girls.

Rating:
Summary: Malika, my hero
Review: This 2001 award winning French film is offbeat and exhilarating. A middle-class Parisian couple, driving through the streets to a dinner party suddenly encounters a young prostitute being assaulted by three men. The young woman is bloodied and frightened and she runs to their car in a fit of terror. She gets no help from the couple, however, as the husband locks the door and is annoyed that his windshield is bloodied. The wife watches in horror as the young prostitute is further beaten.

The wife, Helene, played by Catherine Frot, is appalled at her insensitive husband and, the next day goes to the hospital to see if the young woman is still alive. She finds her alive, but barely - in a coma and paralyzed. She's so moved that she takes a leave from work and spends all her time in the hospital, tending the recovering woman through a long and arduous recovery. Rachinda Brakni, cast as Noemie, the prostitute, is a fine actress and absolutely captivating with her huge dark eyes and mop of curly hair. She invokes our sympathy completely, especially after the wicked pimps come to the hospital and try to kidnap her.

In the meantime there is trouble in Helene's household which plays out like a satirical comedy, as her husband and son seem to embody the very worst attributes of men. Helene is devoted to Noemie, however, and Noemie eventually recovers completely and shares her incredible story through flashbacks. During the next half of the film, the women plot revenge and eventually the bad guys get caught, the husband and son get their comeuppance and the ending is happy and satisfying.

The film is a fast paced and well-scripted view of the role of women. There's lots of brutality and bloodshed as well as a satirical look at our society. And even though the plot is extremely contrived, it was done so well that I was totally enraptured by it all. There's great storytelling, acting and directing and it doesn't drag for one minute. I absolutely loved it. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Brutality against women. And then revenge! Great film!
Review: This 2001 award winning French film is offbeat and exhilarating. A middle-class Parisian couple, driving through the streets to a dinner party suddenly encounters a young prostitute being assaulted by three men. The young woman is bloodied and frightened and she runs to their car in a fit of terror. She gets no help from the couple, however, as the husband locks the door and is annoyed that his windshield is bloodied. The wife watches in horror as the young prostitute is further beaten.

The wife, Helene, played by Catherine Frot, is appalled at her insensitive husband and, the next day goes to the hospital to see if the young woman is still alive. She finds her alive, but barely - in a coma and paralyzed. She's so moved that she takes a leave from work and spends all her time in the hospital, tending the recovering woman through a long and arduous recovery. Rachinda Brakni, cast as Noemie, the prostitute, is a fine actress and absolutely captivating with her huge dark eyes and mop of curly hair. She invokes our sympathy completely, especially after the wicked pimps come to the hospital and try to kidnap her.

In the meantime there is trouble in Helene's household which plays out like a satirical comedy, as her husband and son seem to embody the very worst attributes of men. Helene is devoted to Noemie, however, and Noemie eventually recovers completely and shares her incredible story through flashbacks. During the next half of the film, the women plot revenge and eventually the bad guys get caught, the husband and son get their comeuppance and the ending is happy and satisfying.

The film is a fast paced and well-scripted view of the role of women. There's lots of brutality and bloodshed as well as a satirical look at our society. And even though the plot is extremely contrived, it was done so well that I was totally enraptured by it all. There's great storytelling, acting and directing and it doesn't drag for one minute. I absolutely loved it. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Divine Revenge
Review: This is a captivating thriller and social comedy masterfully guided by Coline Surreau (Three Men and A Cradle). The plot is well enough told above, but I take issue with one review who acted as though the idea of Muslim men selling their second-generation French daughters to Muslim men in Algeria is racist. France is now consumed with the problems of its large Muslim population which has been festering in government housing outside of Paris since they withdrew from Algeria. There are plenty of young French-Algerian women who are over-protected by their chauvinistic brothers and dicatorial fathers. Muslim parents here arrrange their daughter's marriages, and it is no laughing matter. Overnight a woman can literally be a slave to her arranged husband. If she refuses, her family can beat her, and in some cases a rebellious young Muslim woman can lose her life. This is very serious religious chauvinism. If you don't believe that it can't happen, read the April 2004 issue of Vanity Fair where Marie Brenner's article--"Unveiling France's Muslim Problem" lays out the current situation in frightening detail.

This is hardly the first movie about female empowerment, and you're never dis-engaged. The men are fools and idiots here, and all deserve their various moments and levels of comeuppance. But sit back and enjoy a well-plotted movie that will leave you breathless and admiring of the talent it took to create it. An expert cast, a superb director make this one of the most engaging films I've seen this year.

Rating:
Summary: subtheme here
Review: This movie is brutal, and personally I found nothing comedic about it. Since the plot has been described elsewhere, I won't repeat it; but underlying the plot is a statement about the status of women across cultures. The family life of 2 women are compared, one from an almost medieval Islamic culture, and the other from a modern Western culture (France, probably the most 'liberal' of Western cultures). The message here is that neither culture is much better than the other in its treatment of women. The treatment is different, but one is not better than the other. Throughout the movie, we see Western women lied to, taken for granted, belittled, ignored-- in fact, the movie's final conclusion seems to be this: all over the world, men just suck.