Manon 70

This film made my brain hurt and I didn't like it very much at all. That was a surprise to me, as I usually enjoy Catherine Deneuve films. I just found that the characters behaved unpredictably and irrationally--and I kept thinking to myself "does anyone REALLY talk or act like this?!". Now has this been an Absurdist film (like "Buffet Froid"), I might have been able to get some handle on the film. Instead, I just felt very confused and disconnected.

The film begins in Japan. Deneuve is with one man and another is like a stalker--he follows her back to Paris. Within seconds, they are suddenly lovers and announce to each other that if the other cheated, they would leave...or kill them. So naturally, just a few minutes later, each is with another person--she's with some married guy (whose wife is also there and seems fine with this) and he's in Stockholm having sex with some bimbo. Neither kills the other or leaves--and Deneuve actually catches him in the act and immediately takes him back. It's all very civil and completely irrational. After a while, I simply got tired of all this and turned the film off--something I rarely ever do. By then, I simply cared nothing for the characters and the story bored me--as did ALL the characters (not just Deneuve and her kooky boyfriend). All in all, a waste of my time.