Watch Sentimental Destinies For Free

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Good movie but grossly overrated

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

The film was sensitive, but disappointing. It was over-extended and in spite of the elements to a period flick being present -- set in a small village, a devoutly Protestant porcelain empire in Limoges, the Swiss Alps, and World War I -- it lacked the period movie breadth like how the Italian's would do it. Not even the beauty of Béart nor the shaky camera technique used throughout the movie could hold our attention for such a long time.Oh well, this was Olivier Assayas' first period film, a departure from his contemporary works. That's a valid excuse for the film, I guess.

Chardonne's novel is a masterfully written tale about two characters as they spiral through and explore love as life's most essential element. The director captured it beautifully as a tone, a feeling, and as an overall impression of how the characters react to their journey. Unfortunately, he left out the milestones, those transitions a character makes, inwardly, as outward events bear in on them. The audience is asked to make gigantic leaps of logic as the character's trust in and dependence on Love changes, evolves with age. Mind you this is a three hour epic, so it is not for want of time that the production misses the mark, only the screenwriter's discipline, and here, again, the director got involved where he ought not be.

This film isn't exactly about the most exciting topic, china from Limoges, France, though it turned out to be a dandy film. It's a very lengthy film (almost 3 hours) that takes a very leisurely stroll through the adult life of a husband and wife--chronicling the husband's assumption of control of a family business and the ensuing ups and downs of this business. Once again, I know this doesn't sound very good to watch, but it is--particularly if you don't mind a long movie. I especially liked the way the characters changed throughout the film and the message the film gives that you cannot lose sight of your loved ones on your way to fortune.About the only negative I can think of in the movie is the inconsistency of the makeup. While the two main characters age well throughout the film and definitely appear quite old when the film concludes, for some odd reason Isabelle Huppert looks pretty much the same throughout (even though at least 25 years had passed from when you first saw her until you last saw her in the movie), as did one other minor character. Oh well, it's certainly not enough to damage the movie significantly--just an odd little flaw.

"Les Destinees sentimentales" feels like it's bringing to life selected scenes from some beloved French family saga that it helps to have read, which is hard for non-Francophones as the 1936 novel by Jacques Chardonne isn't available in English. The look is delicate and beautiful (and it soothed my headache) with gorgeous costumes, settings and Impressionistic cinematography as it traces the intertwining lives, families, and businesses of wine growers and porcelain makers in Limoges in the first half of the 20th century. But as a family saga, I just kept thinking over and over how much better is "The Godfather" or even "Sunshine."The three sections, each about an hour long, are divided to indicate the changing interests of the central character -- to wife #1, then wife #2, then to running the family business (yes he almost says: "They keep bringing me back in!"). But whether it's the writing (as adapted by director Olivier Assayas) or the acting of Charles Berling, he just isn't commanding of our attention. As one gossipy cousin complains towards the end, first he was with one wife, then for no particular reason the second, then somehow he was obsessively running the family factory -- so what does he want? And her mind didn't even wander past the subtitles a few times like mine did, missing some plot points here and there.(originally written 4/20/2002)