Rating: 
Summary: Gorgeous and rewarding
Review: ...An incredibly moving film, focusing on slight movements and glances to convey the most complicated human emotions. Beautiful camerawork and pacing. Love, instead of theft, as the "heist" of the film.
One of the best films I've seen.
Rating: 
Summary: Dreaming of Film Noir en Francais
Review: I couldn't disagree more with the previous reviews posted on this page. An incredibly moving film, focusing on slight movements and glances to convey the most complicated human emotions. Beautiful camerawork and pacing. Very symbolic. Love, instead of theft, as the "heist" of the film.
One of the best films I've seen.
Rating:
Summary: Gorgeous and rewarding
Review: I couldn't disagree more with the previous reviews posted on this page. An incredibly moving film, focusing on slight movements and glances to convey the most complicated human emotions. Beautiful camerawork and pacing. Very symbolic. Love, instead of theft, as the "heist" of the film.
One of the best films I've seen.
Rating:
Summary: Dreaming of Film Noir en Francais
Review: It is a fun ride.
Rating: 
Summary: A Celebration of Cinema!
Review: Leos Carax's 1986 film "Mauvais Sang" was only the directors second. Yet it immediately confirmed his status as the inheritor of the New Wave legacy. The film is above all a celebration of cinema and all things cinematic (including the entrancing Juliette Binoche's flawless face).The plot of the film is slight and inconsequential, concerning the heist of a serum that cures STBO an Aids like virus which effects people who "make love without being in love". Piccoli plays Marc the gang leader who enlists the quick fingered Alex (Lavant) to break into the Darley-Wilkinson building and steal the serum. Matters are complicated when Alex falls in love with Anna, Marc's vastly younger girlfriend Anna (Binoche). Carax's film is a visual tour de force. His main concern in "Mauvais Sang" is a celebration of cinema. The film constantly alludes to Godard (Binoche is a dead ringer for Anna Karina in this role ), to Chaplin (Lavant's clown like movements) and to film Noir in genereal through the use of music and the presence of Piccoli. A previous review likens the film to "Amelie". However barring a resemblance between Binoche and the cookier and altogether more cartoonish Audrey Tautou these likenesses are unfounded. Unlike the entertainment based Amelie, "Mauvais Sang" aspires to the art of cinema itself as a visual medium. The visuals by the late, great Jean Yves Esscoffier, as stated constantlty allude to Godard's 1960's masterpieces (the use of extreme close ups and primary colours, and have been repeated since in more mainstream fare such as "The Professional" ("Leon" in Europe). "Mauvais Sang" was a cult hit and winner of the prestigious Louis Delluc Prize in 1986. It paved the way for Carax's more ambitious 1991 stunner "Les Amants du Pont Neuf" and was the first film where Juliette Binoche's face (now an important cinematic institution) was used as a visual reference. Mauvais Sang is a difficult, at times exasperating film, but it is also sublime and rewarding...
Rating: 
Summary: Style Without Substance
Review: Tedious and insubstantial "Mauvais Sang" reminds me of Coppola's "One From The Heart" and Beineix's "Moon in the Gutter," which are among the least interesting of those director's works and predate this film by only a few years. "Mauvais Sang" is pretty to look at but its overuse of close-ups is stultifying. Nice colors and interesting camera angles photograph one-dimensional characters whose relationships are uninvolving and unconvincing. The plot of this two hour movie could be told in about one quarter of that time. The rest of the time is taken up with vapid cinematic set pieces, which are honestly not very cinematic. A 12 minute video interview with director Leos Carax included on the DVD helps explain this as he claims he doesn't write scripts but merely dictates ideas into a tape recorder until he has enough material to transcribe to paper so he can create a budget and seek financing. Another extra on the DVD is a collection of silent outtakes that runs about 5 minutes but which unfortunately doesn't illuminate the film story in any way as they merely show the actors out-of-character waiting for the director to call action or having make up applied, etc. It is a rather cute extra though. As for the rest of the disk, the 16x9 enhanced letterboxed picture quality is beautiful, the subtitles are removable, there are 16 chapter stops, however, the advertised trailer turns out to be for the director's latest film "Pola X." There is no trailer for "Mauvais Sang" included. The only saving grace for this film is the camera's love affair with then 22-year-old Juliette Binoche who is always a dazzling screen presence even if this film doesn't give the acclaimed actress much to work with.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting mess
Review: This film is pretty slight, but it does feature some interesting cinematic sequences; the jumps from color to black & white, the lighting, editing etc. Film students might find this interesting What also makes it interesting is the dynamic between Juliette Binoche/Denis Lavant and behind the scenes Binoche/Leos Carax, the director. This will be played to better effect with the later 'Les Amants dupont Neuf aka "Lovers on the Bridge". That film is much better than this one. ( Miramax - DVD please!! ) The main reason to see it is Binoche, who is beguiling even in the silent outtake in the extras. She has quietly become quite the cinematic icon. ( also look for Julie Delpy, another insanely beautiful, talented French actress - this might be her first film) A word to the wise: If you liked Binoche in 'Chocolat', this may not be the first film I'd look at if you wanted to catch up on her other work.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting mess
Review: This film is pretty slight, but it does feature some interesting cinematic sequences; the jumps from color to black & white, the lighting, editing etc. Film students might find this interesting What also makes it interesting is the dynamic between Juliette Binoche/Denis Lavant and behind the scenes Binoche/Leos Carax, the director. This will be played to better effect with the later 'Les Amants dupont Neuf aka "Lovers on the Bridge". That film is much better than this one. ( Miramax - DVD please!! ) The main reason to see it is Binoche, who is beguiling even in the silent outtake in the extras. She has quietly become quite the cinematic icon. ( also look for Julie Delpy, another insanely beautiful, talented French actress - this might be her first film) A word to the wise: If you liked Binoche in 'Chocolat', this may not be the first film I'd look at if you wanted to catch up on her other work.
Rating:
Summary: "Amelie" meets "The Third Man" in the Mind of an 19-year-old
Review: This is a good movie worth a watch and adding to your library. It is a curious mixture of being sophisticated, trying to be sophisticated, & trying too hard to be sophisticated to downright pretentious. It is dream-like and poetic at all those levels. It is also charming, sexy and beautiful. There are unexpected giggles. It is like the writer of the script, shadowed on film as "Alex"(Denis Lavant), wrote this draft when he was 18 and this group of very interesting and talented actors thought it would be fun to make his dream happen. It is definitely a showcase to indulge the youthful energy and talent of Lavant. It would not make my desert island 100, but I would not mind seeing it and would pay matinee price to see this in a theater with the right audience
Rating:
Summary: "Amelie" meets "The Third Man" in the Mind of an 19-year-old
Review: This is a good movie worth a watch and adding to your library. It is a curious mixture of being sophisticated, trying to be sophisticated, & trying too hard to be sophisticated to downright pretentious. It is dream-like and poetic at all those levels. It is also charming, sexy and beautiful. There are unexpected giggles. It is like the writer of the script, shadowed on film as "Alex"(Denis Lavant), wrote this draft when he was 18 and this group of very interesting and talented actors thought it would be fun to make his dream happen. It is definitely a showcase to indulge the youthful energy and talent of Lavant. It would not make my desert island 100, but I would not mind seeing it and would pay matinee price to see this in a theater with the right audience
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