Mal de pierres

Its hard to start where. I mean the movie is like an eternally flowing river. So you simply don't know where it started or ends. Just like Gabrielle's life, feelings, emotions, love....oh the list is long. Marion is fantastic! She is the live wire of the movie. She takes you wherever she wants to go, along with her journey. Her intensity, stature, fervor has always been her identity or trademark in any movie she acts in. Jose is equally good with his supposedly subdued character. But his silence, that mostly lives in, reflected through his razor sharp eyes hangs on your head like a dagger. I am not too sure of Lt. Andre's character. As to me, was the weakest cast in the movie. True, with his illness there was nothing much he could do in the role, but his imposed vampire like look didn't help much either, to build whatever left to be build.

Daniel Pemberton's Music was awesome and soothing. Use of violin in an alluring pitch in many intense scenes was spellbinding. Chris captures gorgeous landscapes and close-ups. Nicole has done a fantastic job bunching up all these talents together. Simply Fantastic! I will live a long time mesmerizing on this beautifully crafted movie. Excellent!

This movie deserves a generous 9/10!

In life many times the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence . Both stars in this film are excellent and perfectly cast . Is the glass half empty or half full ? Sometimes it takes a shock to see that your glass is full and has been all the time . This is a beautiful movie and a" must see" for Marion Cotillard fans . It also could double for a marriage counceling film !!!!!!! True love is hard to find and sometimes harder to see .

I absolutely loved this film, French films are masters at this type of art. The longing for love the unknown forbidden fruit. Not wanting it yet finding it out of the blue, again metaphorical substances, her pain is real, the stone in her body is real, not attention seeking as her mother would say. Just as painful as her yearning for love, to be loved, to give love, naive, curious... The parents strict in many ways we do not know as to what she went through as a young child, but it forms and shapes her womanhood. Her mind in turmoil, visions, fantasies that are alive as daylight. Twists and turns in the film that left me totally glued as to what is going on with this creature, this beauty, these consequences that are occurring all the time, her loveless marriage, her son... It's the passion of love, lasting a mere moment in a lifetime, and ending so abruptly. To reconcile with herself, in the end finding who she is, finding her inner peace...she is in reality a part of most of mankind.

Another bright movie from Marillon Cotillard, the very talented French actress who shines in other ways in this limited, averagely deep production. Everything is on point in a simple, semi-impactful and mysterious way. The beginning was well developed alongside the middle, just the end and what precede it was a little average, hurting the production in a minimal to the sense way.

• Screenplay/storyline/plots: 7
• Production value/impact: 7
• Development: 7.5
• Realism: 7
• Entertainment: 7
• Acting: 8
• Filming/photography/cinematography: 8
• VFX: 8
• Music/score/sound: 7
• Depth: 7
• Logic: 6
• Flow: 7.5
• Drama/romance: 6.5
• Ending: 6.

I will be honest, I did see this film because it is directed by Nicole Garcia, one outstanding female French director, the best I guess. She has a very sensitive way of filming. So, I did go to see this film without hesitating. And of course I don't regret it at all. Marion Cotillard, whom I don't particularly appreciate, is at her best here. Although I don't crave for her, she is a damn good actress, but sorry, I felt a little emptiness here, I don't really know where. Something missed somewhere. The actors and actresses around her are flawless, but I persist on my opinion. I don't think that's a matter of directing. Not with Nicole Garcia. Maybe because this kind of scheme has already been told a hundred times before.

But it remains a good film.