I've watched this twice on the Sundance Channel in the US with English subtitles. The first time I thought is was pretty good, the second time I thought it was excellent. Like with most subtitled films, a second viewing allows you to get more into the film, whereas the first viewing is often spent just trying to catch all the visuals and read all the subtitles.
Very intelligent and thoughtful, often philosophical, sometimes poetic and reflective, and rather verbose exploration of love, selfishness, respect, self-respect, pride, punctuality, relationship power, ideals, determination, willpower and especially about the choice between sticking to your ideals versus sacrificing them for love.
Bruno is a fussy young man who wants to hang onto his self-respect by living up to his ideals, even if it means losing the girl he really loves. Rosette is flighty young woman who lives for the moment, unfettered by any time restraints, and who is simply clueless about Bruno's inner struggle with their situation. Bruno's best friend Pierre is the only one of the three who can see both sides of the coin, and he strives to bridge the gap between the two.
A gorgeous film to look at, even though it consists entirely of three people in an apartment. The leads are stunningly attractive, the short is beautifully shot, and although it's mostly dialogue, there's some lovely and very effective piano music to bridge the gaps between the discussions. It's also well acted and directed.
I'm sure many in the non-thinking crowd would consider this short film boring, talky pretentious French crap, but we probably don't have to worry about that since most of those people will turn it off as soon as they realize that have to read subtitles with big words.
Excellent short film.
