Les amours imaginaires
The movie, despite the Canadian accent, feels incredibly Nouvelle Vague. The scene cuts, the strange pretentiousness, the sort of hollow yet artsy dialogues – I loved them. This film is probably funnier than a Nouvelle Vague, because it’s making fun of itself. Curiously enough, I find this approach extremely healing. For somebody who is constantly afraid of the ‘coup de foudre’ happening to me and who knows very well the disastrous consequences when it happens, I find it extremely refreshing when the concept of ‘amour fou’ is taken down from its pedestal of ultimate romanticism and mocked like one mocks bourgeois hypocrisy. Hipsterdom is modern bourgeoisie.
The best thing about the film is how music is used, perhaps the most poignant aspect of the film’s irony and subtle humor. Okay, maybe it wasn’t actually that subtle – the whole thing is more or less about how the main characters fail at life, at communicating their feelings properly and even having anything like a relationship. In that respect, the end is also absolutely perfect.
There is one aspect of the film I personally don’t like though; I don’t quite understand why in the world the film cannot focus on the main characters. They are sort of unlikable, sort of stereotypical and, ultimately, they don’t do very much. It is painful to see how these humans are even capable of lying to each other and themselves. But whenever that incredible awkwardness becomes funny, I get to enjoy myself.
I think the movie would have been better if they had explored the main characters more, and have put all those little pieces of random people being interviewed into another film. Incidentally those interviews make the film feel pretentious, yet at the same time some of the things they say are just so painfully true, oh my god. So Nouvelle Vague hipster-style.
I love the umbrella! And Le Garrel!
Ultimately, I would say that the film is pretty much the exact opposite of what I am, or what I want to be, for that matter. I’m way beyond the time of being a smoky student who seems to never do anything serious, I don’t listen to that kind of music (though I thoroughly enjoyed it in this film), I don’t wear that kind of clothes and especially I am not into that type of man. In short, no identification potential of at all. But one has to appreciate how it’s surprisingly well-done with a script so full of seemingly effortless humor. Without even a German Wikipedia article, this is definitely an underrated film.
i love this film.
I also adored the funny scenes (and oh, the music!), especially the bitching between him and her. And even though I was annoyed at times when the film took itself too serious, it’s both strange and unbelievable the film didn’t get enough recognition to get a Wikipedia article?!
What? I can’t believe you XXXD I thought the film *never* took itself serious. I mean, the music is so over-the-top and downright funny because it puts a layer of self-deprecating irony over the whole scene. Slow-motion and other cinematographic devices totally looked so overdramatized that it had to be irony… or so I thought?
Maybe you should just write that Wikipedia article =P
i agree that everything was just basically shot-gunned with irony to be taken too seriously! it is the perfect hipster-failing-at-life film, and Dolan dishes up some fantastically overwrought shit via these two characters that is kinda refreshing and fun and still feels kinda genuine, in ways that other hipster-dramas precisely don’t? i can’t explain it, but it was just such a great way to stylize this stupid obsession of theirs! wonderful! xD