Viva la Vie!

France • 1984 • 106m •

• Directed by: Claude Lelouch. • Starring: Charlotte Rampling, Michel Piccoli, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Evelyne Bouix, Charles Aznavour, Laurent Malet, Tanya Lopert, Raymond Pellegrin, Charles Gérard, Anouk Aimée, Myriam Boyer, Patrick Depeyrrat, Maryline Even. • Music by: Didier Barbelivien.

The movie starts with an interview with director Claude Lelouch. He pleads viewers not to disclose the plot of the movie after leaving the projection room. Even the movie's trailer shows only a long sequence of faces gazing speechlessly in space. "Like all my movies, this one is about a man and a woman", says Lelouch in the interview.

Review:

After four minutes of this enigmatic French movie its director Claude Lelouch himself appears on the screen. In a radio interview he insists that one should watch his new film without knowing anything about the story. So I won't tell either what is exactly happening in "Viva la vie!". Nonetheless, I'd like to give a few hints: It is a mixture of thriller, mystery and sci-fi. In a broader sense it has to do with the fear of a nuclear holocaust which is quite typical of the 1980s. This movie is a strange puzzle: Not before the end titles you will be able to put the pieces together which Lelouch has scattered in front of you during the last 105 minutes. After circa one hour you might ask: What on earth is it all about? Don't worry, you'll find the answer in the end. But to recapitulate the story which you'll then see in a different light, at least one further watching will be necessary.

Considering the baffling story as well as the row of good actors (Piccoli, Rampling, Trintignant...), "Viva la vie!" is an underrated highlight of the French cinema in the 80s.

Review by TimG-2 from the Internet Movie Database.

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