Review of Rendez-Vous

Introduction

Nina, (Juliette Binoche) is a sexually liberated, 18-year-old girl who has recently moved to Paris from Toulouse to realise her dream of becoming an actress.

She`s the kind of girl who knows how powerful her sexuality is, but uses it mechanically and frequently with lots of men in return for accommodation among other things.

Binoche is outstanding in this film. One of her first feature films and at a very young age, she tackles a part that requires strong sexual scenes and an almost complete change in her character`s personality terrifically.

From the very first time you see Nina in this film you know exactly what kind of girl she is and this is testament to the quality of actress that Juliette Binoche is.

Nina lands a small part in a play, and while flat hunting meets Paulot, (Wadeck Stanczak) an introverted estate agent.

Paulot is instantly smitten with the sexy young woman but she would much rather allow herself to be coldly seduced by his mysterious, compulsive flatmate Quentin (Lambert Wilson) who begins aggressively pursuing her.

Wadeck Stanczak is convincing as Paulot as we know him at first but as the film and his character develop it`s difficult to believe how he changes towards Nina.

Lambert Wilson is terrific. He has the added bonus that he has the look of an artist. The French take their art very seriously, completely dedicating their life to it and this is the quality that Wilson instils in Quentin.

Quentin is also an actor, the tortured type. He takes part in staged, live sex shows by night and persecutes himself by day for surviving a suicide pact he had made with his ex-girlfriend.

The two discovered everything together from an early age, including the theatre. She was to be the perfect Juliet to his Romeo in a play staged by her father Scrutzler, (Jean-Louis Trintignant) the genius, casting director who now internationally stalks Quentin so he will play the role.

I also liked Jean-Louis Trintignant as Scrutzler. I am unfamiliar with French cinema and all these actors, other than Binoche, but I was impressed by the quality of acting in this film from all the cast.

When Quentin is also killed in a road accident, Scrutzler appears on the scene and subsequently enters Nina`s life. He sees qualities in Nina, possibly memories of his deceased daughter, and he demands she plays Juliet.

This is where the storyline takes an unexpected turn and it breathes life into a film that in spite of great performances had lost direction.

You have to watch quite closely and listen to Scrutzler berating Nina in rehearsals and jealous Paulot overhearing, to realise what director André Téchiné has tried to do.

He adapts the story into his very own, unorthodox Romeo and Juliet, simply by strengthening the characters` emotions towards each other.

The story line again shifts focus to the now intense relationship between Paulot and Nina.

Scrutzler realises what is unfolding before him when he`s confronted by a raging Paulot in a rain soaked Paris street.

He knows the hurt of losing the most important thing in his life and he`s now anxious that life will once again imitate art.

Video

Original ration 2.35:1
16.9 Anamorphic. A pretty good transfer for a film now over 21 years old.

Audio

Audio Dolby Digital 2.0
Music score is by Phillipe Sarde.

Features

French Language/English Subtitles
No extras

Conclusion

This film begins with real potential. The characters are strong, the story seems to be immediately interesting and the setting is fantastic.

I can forgive many things in a film for the sake of a beautiful backdrop and Paris is in a league of its own.

The film itself is quite a complicated affair. There are moments when I thought it was going to be great and there were moments when I was baffled.

For instance, Quentin is stalking Nina after meeting her for the first time for about three minutes. The pair barely even exchange a glance but when he forces his way into her room it`s almost as if she is expecting him to.

I also found the way Quentin died a bit strange and unbelievably sudden.

There are also some good moments although none are great. The sex scenes are not so much graphic but are almost at the point of abusive.

I think this was necessary though to show the state of mind of all the characters and I certainly wasn`t offended by it.

The way the film changes though is the most significant part for me. I thought it was clever and certainly saved the it from burning out too early.

This is by no stretch of the imagination the most entertaining film I have seen recently.

However, it has a fairly short running time and for strength of performance alone it`s certainly worth a look.