Remember Me (Robert Pattison)

(Amazon UK link)

The film ‘Remember Me’ has been sitting in our drawer of DVDs to watch - either new ones, or those we haven’t seen for eight or nine years or more. We haven’t previously seen ‘Remember Me’, but neither of us can remember how we acquired it. Possibly from a church sale, or a thrift store. The blurb on the back made it sound quite heavy going, but last night, we finally decided to watch it.

I wasn’t sure I was going to like it in the early scenes. The film opens in 1991 with a young woman being mugged and then shot at a railway station, leaving a weeping daughter and devastated husband.

It then moves ten years later, where we meet Tyler (Robert Pattison) who is a college student, and who also works in a book shop. He and his friend Aidan (Tate Ellington) share a rather grungy apartment, and are out one evening when they get involved in some street violence. The police are contacted, but Tyler isn’t at all happy with how the situation is resolved, and gets into conflict with Neil (Chris Cooper). Neil is the bereaved husband from 1991, and who is evidently violent and judgemental.

Tyler’s father (Pierce Brosnan) is a wealthy businessman who gets into a lot of arguments with his son, and more-or-less ignores his nine-year-old daughter Caroline (Ruby Jerins). We quickly learn that Tyler had an older brother, Michael, who committed suicide a few years earlier. Tyler is still grieving, and is very protective of his sister. She’s rather a dreamer, and an artistic prodigy, and isn’t just neglected by her father, she’s bullied at school.

And then there’s Ally (Emilie de Ravin), Neil’s daughter, who lost her mother in the opening scenes. She’s a student too, in some of the same classes as Tyler. And Aiden suggests that his friend ask her out, and then treat her badly, to take revenge on her father. Tyler is reluctant, but finds Ally very attractive…

The back of the DVD says that this film is ‘terrifically powerful, hugely moving and totally compelling’. While blurbs often exaggerate, we thought this one absolutely correct. Despite my initial reservations, I was soon totally absorbed in the storyline. It’s quite heavy in places and I didn’t like the violence, nor the shocking ending. But there are some light-hearted scenes as Tyler and Ally’s friendship develops, and some clever dialogue. Then the subplots involving Caroline are poignant and moving, and provide an excellent contrast to the more active, often aggressive scenes involving Tyler.

We didn’t see the ending coming, until right before the climax. It would be a spoiler to give any hints - suffice it to say that I felt slightly cheated at first, but then realised how very powerful it was as a storyline. We watched the ‘making of’ documentary, which explained why the scriptwriter used a significant incident and made a film around it, bringing ordinary, flawed but likeable characters to life, to make the point about ordinary people being involved in unexpected situations.

The acting is excellent, the pace exactly right, the conversation believable. It’s a film we won’t forget; I don’t know if we’ll want to see it again in another few years, or whether it would be difficult to see it, knowing what was coming. But it’s one I would recommend, if only for a piece of important American social history.

The rating is 12 (PG-13 in the US), which slightly surprises me; I’d have thought 15 would be more appropriate. The violent scenes are unpleasant, the scenes of intimacy quite drawn-out (albeit showing nothing explicit) and there’s some bad language, as well as quite disturbing themes. Definitely not for impressionable children or sensitive teens.

But for older teens and adults, definitely recommended.

Review copyright 2020 Sue's DVD Reviews

Chocolat (Juliette Brinoche)

(Amazon UK link)

In between watching new DVDs we have been given, we are re-watching some of the films we haven’t seen for about ten years. Last night we decided to see ‘Chocolat’ again, which we last saw in the spring of 2007. I liked it then, slightly better than the book on which it is based by Joanne Harris, to my surprise. But we didn’t remember much about it although I recalled the overall storyline.

The setting of the film is a small French town, one which is ruled by a somewhat uptight Mayor (Alfred Molina) who lives his life with rigid morality. Everyone in the town knows their place, and their duty. They dress conservatively, and all attend the Catholic church regularly. The new young priest (Hugh O’Connor) finds himself judged by the mayor and his sermons re-written, with an emphasis on denial and sin. This is the part I liked a great deal more than the book, where it's the priest who is rigidly judgemental.

Then Vianne (Juliette Binoche), a single mother with a daughter Anouk (Victoire Thivisol) arrives. They are blown in by the wind, arrayed in scarlet cloaks. They rent a shop with lodgings from an elderly lady called Armande (Judi Dench) and turn it into a chocolaterie. The mayor is not pleased, since they have arrived at the beginning of Lent, when everyone is supposed to give up sweets…

There are several storylines which I recalled from the book. Vianne claims to be able to find each person’s favourite brand, using psychology and intuition. Armande is estranged from her grandson Luc (Aurelien Parent Koenig) because her daughter Caroline (Carrie-Anne Moss), the Mayor’s secretary, thinks Armande too wild. Vianne brings them together secretly. There’s an abusive husband whose wife is motivated to do something positive by Vianne. There’s another husband, lazy with a tendency to drink rather than anything worse, whose marriage is transformed by a selection of chocolates.

Then Roux (Johnny Depp) arrives on his boat, a traveller whose lifestyle horrifies the townsfolk, especially the mayor...

It’s a story of transformation, of gradual acceptance of new ideas, of moving forward away from tradition and denial. Chocolate is the catalyst for many changes, and there are several scenes showing, briefly, the complex processes by which Vianne makes her chocolates. It’s not a fluffy film, however; there are scenes of violence, albeit fairly brief, and several of the subplots are quite thought-provoking.

The acting is excellent; Judi Dench's character Armande in particular pulled on my heartstrings more than once. Vianne seemed quite believable too, and the Mayor and priest are both excellent. There's some mildly amusing moments, cleverly done, which add a little lightness to what might otherwise be quite a heavy film.

The rating is 12 (PG-13 in the US) which seems about right. There’s implied sensuality but nothing explicit, and I don’t recall any bad language. However there are a couple of quite intense scenes, and some violence, making it an unsuitable film for small children.

Definitely recommended.

Review copyright 2018 Sue's DVD Reviews