Don't Look Back (2009)

That was an excellent one.

Did you people see the same film I saw?

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

'Ne te retourne pas' (= French for 'don't give yourself back') makes an unusual watching. Leading you to some family drama in the past that has much to do with changing identities.One cannot say the plot is this film's strongest part, but I suppose it wasn't meant to be anyway. The lack of it adds prominence to the visuals, and of course to the two female leads Sophie Marceau and Monica Belluci.These visuals are pretty much extended, but one must admit they never bore you. Both Sophie Marceau and Monica Belluci are competent enough to carry this film all the way down.Apart from these two ladies, 'Ne te retourne pas' breathes a Latin South European lifestyle. Its picturing is tasty in a competent way, but nowhere & never excels.

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects. The process of filmmaking has developed into an art form and industry. Films are cultural artifacts created by specific cultures, which reflect those cultures, and, in turn, affect them. Film is considered to be an important art form, a source of popular entertainment and a powerful method for educating – or indoctrinating – citizens. The visual elements of cinema give motion pictures a universal power of communication. Some films have become popular worldwide attractions by using dubbing or subtitles that translate the dialogue into the language of the viewer. Films are made up of a series of individual images called frames. When these images are shown rapidly in succession, a viewer has the illusion that motion is occurring. The viewer cannot see the flickering between frames due to an effect known as persistence of vision, whereby the eye retains a visual image for a fraction of a second after the source has been removed. Viewers perceive motion due to a psychological effect called beta movement. The origin of the name "film" comes from the fact that photographic film (also called film stock) has historically been the primary medium for recording and displaying motion pictures. Many other terms exist for an individual motion picture, including picture, picture show, moving picture, photo-play and flick. A common name for film in the United States is movie, while in Europe the term film is preferred. Additional terms for the field in general include the big screen, the silver screen, the cinema and the movies.

I believe this might be the first collaboration between S. Marceau and M. Belucci. Though I'm not sure about that, I am sure about the fact, that both are not only astonishingly good looking, but can act! Which is something that is needed here. The story has to have solid acting to hold itself above water (so to speak).There is quite a bit of CG going on here, which might distract some people, but it is necessary and helps the story move along. Unfortunately the very strong beginning almost gets lost completely toward the ending. "It's just another one of those", might be one of the reactions this movie gets (that's me assuming).On other news, Sophie stays completely clothed, but Monica as ever is not afraid to show a little "flesh". But don't expect anything too arousing, with the things that are going on ... I hope to see both of them in another movie ... and maybe it will be possible to top that (it actually is very possible).

Many angles are possible to represent personality disorders. Delivering an exciting movie with this subject is a challenge which I believe writer/director Marina de Van succeeded with beautifully. The tension and attention span gradually increase as does the spectator disorientation with subtly changing details to full decors. The physical changes are superbly rendered and here again the spectator starts to loose his/her reference points. In other words, we are inside Sophie Marceau and Monica Bellucci and move with her/them to try and understand. Both actresses perform splendidly and beyond feeling for their life's search, one leaves the movie with a strong bond for both personalities. In summary, I liked the movie for the storyline, the subtle crescendo along the time line, the actresses performance and the total attention span to try and understand (if I had been part of their life, I would have tried to help, but probably to no avail). I am a little sad for the low rating (6 at the time of this review).