Pi in the Sky

Chaos

Posted on June 4th, 2007 at 3:35pm by Pi.
Categories: Cinema.

Chaos
Drama/Thriller. France, 2001
Director: Coline Serreau
Writer: Coline Serreau
Cast: Vincent Lindon, Catherine Frot, Rachida Brakni

Absolutely delightful and crude story where drama, thriller, crime, redepmtion, tenderness and selfishness meet together to form an awesome film which will move you in many ways.

A totally standard and bored married couple deny help to a girl being attacked who hits their car. Feeling guilty, Helene goes to the hospital to see her, and starts taking care of her. The girl goes through a painful and slow rehabilitation, while Helene completely abandons her house and husband, and all the related problems such as his heartless son and her demanding job just to stay with the unknown girl. One day, the guys who attacked her go to the hospital, and Helene protects her.

That is the starting premise of this great mixture of drama and thriller. Who is the girl, and why the bad guys go after her, is only part of the story. An important part, enough to not fit this movie simply into the drama genre. But at the same time, all the little affairs in Helene’s life, and her relationship with the people around her, are examined closely, and also it’s seen how the perspective of her life changes slowly as those affairs start to become meaningless, while taking care of the unknown girl becomes more and more important.

As well as the drama and thriller genres are mixed in an excellent way, the perspectives are also mixed. In one scene the family crisis seems central to the story, but in another, anything but the most important things in life are just mundane and without real meaning. There’s also a great change in tone. From routine to extreme tenderness, and then there’s raw cruelty telling how life really is and how does it treats the less lucky ones. Although the movie doesn’t go into graphic detail when relating this stuff, nothing is hidden and nothing is left out; it’s brutally honest and at the same time easy and quiet in doing it. It tells us, “this is how life is, simply put and simply told”.And there are great endings at many levels. Not everyone ends happy, but we watch movies to see endings like these.

Although the movie doesn’t seem to outstand in any particular area, except actor performances, the really strong point is the story; although changing, the rhythm is flowing seamlessly from one mood to another. Sometimes I got amazed that I was still looking at the same movie. It has many great moments which will make you feel good, and others which will make you depressed. This movie will move you in many ways, and I think that’s one big thing for a movie. In one sentence, this movie is a must for any cinema lover.

My score: 8/10. Strongly recommended for everyone, it’s worth it.

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