|
|
 |
Avenue Montaigne aka Fauteuils d'orchestre aka Orchestra Seats
R1 - America - ThinkFilm Review written by and copyright: Pat Pilon (17th July 2007). |
|
The Film
 Like a vast tapestry, the movie interweaves stories and colourful characters, knitting a great work, to be taken in as a whole. From a man who had an affair years ago with his father's new squeeze, to a concert pianist who would rather play in hospitals, prisons and the forest, the characters are very warm, sweet and occasionally quirky. Like 'Grand Hotel', everybody crosses paths in a one location - in this case it's a restaurant - where the (pseudo-) main character, a country girl waitress called Jessica (played by Cecile de France), serves us everything. Everything moves towards one night, where an auction, a concert and the premiere of a play all coincide. Having an ensemble cast with various sub plot is easy to have in a movie, but juggling them well is not. Luckily, director/co-writer Daniele Thompson (writer of 'La Boum' and its sequel) handles everything with a very deft hand. The stories, sometimes comical, sometimes more serious, all come out as being enjoyable tales, and never fall into overly dramatic or silly situations. Having to help out with these situations are the actors. They do a great job. Miss de France and Dani (no last name) were both nominated for a Cesar and Valerie Lemercier won her Best Supporting Actress Cesar. This should tell you the level of the performances. As a standout, Albert Dupontel as the pianist, to me, gave an absolutely outstanding performance. He's the one with the toughest character, and he pulls it off brilliantly. The rest of the cast are very believable and all give quite natural performances. The movie's real name is 'Fauteuils d'orchestre', which means 'orchestra seats', and is a much better title, which really makes me wonder why the name was changed in the US. There's a conversation in the movie, where an actress seeking to rid herself of her soap opera role talks about looking at the audience when she does a play. She says there are always a few people trying to sneak to get to a closer seat. When they finally get to the front row, they realize they're too close and can't see anything. Everybody in this movie tries to find the perfect balance, the perfect spot for them. They may know what it is, or they may not, but they all look for it, and this is where happiness lies.
Video
1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. As may be expected, the picture is very strong. The colours are bright, accurate and very life-like. Their separation is very good and the contrast is very strong. The compression gives no way to banding, pixelation or other artifacts. The level of detail is pretty strong, though not perfect. The print also gives no way to specks, scratches or other damage. The transfer also has a very fine film of grain, making the picture great to look at.
Audio
There are two French tracks: a Dolby Digital 5.1 track and a Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo track. I doubt there's very much a difference between the two. The movie is essentially all talk, as there are no real sound-intensive scenes. The dialogue always comes clearly in the front, and is very crisp and clean. The other speakers are pretty much forgotten, making the 5.1 speakers pretty useless. Everything is clear and crisp, which is what is important in an audio track. Because this is an American release, there are English subtitles to help you out. Unfortunately, they're forced, which, for me (I don't need them), is very, very annoying. The translation isn't also the most accurate, though it retains the sense of what's being said.
Extras
Though the French DVD has a commentary and some deleted scenes, this DVD only keeps the Making of Avenue Montaigne (26:14) from the French release. It's a really nice making of, and what differs from the usual US EPK is the fact that nobody praises anybody here. The director very matter-of-factly tells you how and why she got Cecile de France and the others. You see plenty of behind the scenes and rehearsal footage. You also see the director on set discussing various things. It's a very nice, though not too deep, making of. Next is the movie's Theatrical Trailer (1:56), which is sweet, and sets up the main characters very well. Although I don't like the English name, this is a very nice trailer. There's also a Trailer Gallery with advertisement for 'The Dog Problem' (2:34), 'Off the Black' (2:11), '5x2' (1:27). These are good trailers, and the second one seems to be the best. They advertise their movies very well. These, by the way, are also startup trailers.
Overall
|
|||||
|