12/1/11

Shall We Kiss?

"Un baiser s'il vous plaît" is the most un-pornographic pornography I have ever seen. (Of course I categorically deny ever having seen ANY!)

When I get a foreign DVD from the City Library (with English captions) it can sometimes be a surprise, and this one certainly was! I had confused it with a boring and trivial French entry to the 2010 Seattle International Film Festival. I have never been happier to be wrong.

This delightful French comedy had me giggling from the get-go! Two best friends have to deal with the guy's mental and emotional problems. Of course, we, in the audience, because we are all-seeing and all-knowing, realize that his major problem is that he loves HER! She, naturally, is oblivious.

We see:
  • Virginie Ledoyen ("The Valet") is a good friend just trying to help....
  • Emmanuel Mouret ("L'art d'aimer") is the besotted sad sack we are rooting for...
  • Julie Gayet ("L'art de séduirer") is a sort of Scheherezade telling a story that bedazzles, bewitches and delays....
  • Michael Cohen ("Rebirth") just tries to keep it real...
Interspersed with snippets from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite and well-known classical bits of Shubert, there is humor to spare and plenty of people to like. Quotes like: "How can I hope for world peace with immoral women like me in it?" and "Maybe it's people like me who stop civilizations from growing in harmony." We know these are good people if they can think thoughts as fine as these!

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Here is a link to a trailer:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0920473/
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