histoiremeet98

Message from: Victor
About: Film Structure

Thu, 12 Mar 1998 23:22:51 -0500

I would have to disagree with you two on that. Perhaps the American
film did use a little bit too much hyperbole, and some scenes
are cheezy. However, I had a much easier time understanding
the American characters' emotions because their emotions are well-explained
through either the dialogue or the somewhat exaggerated acting.
The french version has less dialogue, but there isn't enough
development of the characters to make up for the lack of words.
Some things that happen in the movie cause me to think, "huh?
where did that come from?" because I didn't expect them to happen.

A couple examples. First, the scene where Jacque pretends to be a pregnant
woman and drinks from a bottle. I understand that the scene
tries to convey that he misses the baby, but his absurd actions
can use some further explanation. Another example, the ending scene.
What is the ending supposed to convey? It could be interpreted many
different ways, but it left me hanging. This abstract ending made me try to
search for a deep meaning, but I did not find one.
I don't think a light comedy like this should try to create
such unneccesary suspense. The well-explained american ending
made me feel that the story was resolved when the movie ended, so
I finished the movie feeling more relaxed than when I finished the
French version.