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I love this movie so much

Too much of everything

How sad is this?

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

I loved all the symbolism. Mind you - you didn't need it - nothing came out of left field at all in this movie. In fact, you were shown the denouement right at the outset - no happy endings for this movie then...Even Mommy-dearest's 'earth-shattering' disclosure to Simon, came as no great shakes, because it had been presaged by the scene with Marie snooping through Louise's Filofax and exhibiting over-the-top shock at her surname.It was obvious at the outset that Simon was gay. (!!! - he's FRENCH - how many more clues do you need??? - little joke, there). Then when you meet the 'Adam's Family' back home, it's clear he's not one of them (the Adam's Family, that is!) Then we find out that Simon has the hots for Mathieu who turns out to be a young version of Marc - his mother's toy-boy*.So - S&M are going to get it together, oui? Non - parce que LOUISE and Mathieu effectively get married at the Family's Christmas do. Louise is in her wedding dress. The 'Young married couple to be' (NOT specifically S&L) are toasted, and M&L have their post-wedding dance together, with a salutary 'guard of honour' supplied by the local 'matelots'.So that's both S&M AND S&L killed with one stone.... and talking of birds, the seagulls telegraphed the state of S&M's relationship at the outset.At the Lighthouse (a monster boner, BTW - signifying what a stud-muffin M is!) Mathieu's seagull was dead, never to be seen and 'yuk' (rotten) and outside on the balcony.Simon's seagull was also dead, but preserved in S's bedroom, wings outstretched, head turned as if in grief, in the exact same pose as the b&w photo of a Michaelangelo bust, in S's photo portfolio.So S was preserving his feelings for M, whereas M's feelings for S were dead, defenestrated and left to rot.... and it took LOUISE to literally tell us this fact. Appreciative applause - a master stroke!) The wheeling seagulls permeated the seaside environs, symbolising the very whirlwind, which is life and love, of course...* So apart from being French, why else is Simon gay? Very possibly because he didn't have a father. He had a cold relationship with his mother's husband, and so spent his life 'looking for Dad' which is how SOME interpret homosexuality.No surprise then, that Mathieu is the spit of Marc - his real Dad. No surprise either that the erotic bed scene of S on M's bed, is echoed at the end, with S on his Dad's bed - the other M.Incidentally, we know well in advance that Marc is Simon's Dad, because Marie spells it out in discussion with Louise about her real relationship with S. 'Like sister and brother?' All good stuff. You know what the outcome's going to be way in advance, but unlike Star Wars, it's a very entertaining and enjoyable ride getting there all the same.

The previous reviews make interesting points about this film; most of them plausible and some very perceptive. The following is more an analysis than a review and contains SPOILERS. If you have not viewed the movie and intend to do so, you might want to watch it before reading further. The film is a study in ambiguity – taking that French-film hallmark to a new level – and I do not pretend to have the definitive interpretation of the characters' emotions and actions. But here are my somewhat disjointed, and not entirely original, thoughts.Louise and Simon are both stalkers, of the active and passive types respectively. Sort of yin and yang (initially secret) siblings. Simon is an observer, introverted but not entirely introspective, always looking out at others through a glass (a window or a camera lens). Does the glass distort or clarify his vision? In either case, it separates him from the others - he is emotionally isolated from everyone. In the end, he stops watching and acts, shattering the glass to end the isolation in the only way he can. Simon does not meet Louise by chance on the train - she pursues him, playing on his loneliness, so as to insinuate herself into the family circle (at Christmas, yet). Her motivations remain unclear to me. Apparently she initially wanted to learn more about her half-brother, but her actions seem quite malevolent when she pursues Mathieu even though it is clear that this increases Simon's distress. So I take a darker view of the affection she shows Simon; she seems to be setting him up for his ultimate devastation.While the film gives no incontrovertible proof that Simon has a romantic/sexual interest in Mathieu, many scenes indicate strongly to me that that is the case. Soon after Simon arrives in La Rochelle, he leaves Louise in the car to climb to the top of the lighthouse to seek Mathieu out, and he is obviously disturbed when Louise follows. When the three are together, Simon is continually looking past or around Louise to gaze at Mathieu, and when Louise leaves the bed to make hot chocolate, Simon lies staring at the sleeping Mathieu. Several times Simon alludes to, and tries to rekindle, their past relationship, but Mathieu has moved beyond it (if Simon did not misinterpret it from the beginning). When Simon gratifies himself on Mathieu's bed (where Mathieu and Louise have apparently just made love), intoxicated by the scent of the bedding, he could be assuming the place of either of the two, but the other indications make me think he is supplanting Louise. (Finally, the obvious phallic image of the lighthouse bears some consideration, and I think it bolsters the sexual element of Simon's interest in Mathieu.) When/if I watch the film for a second time, I would pay more attention to Simon's art. It seems that Mathieu has not figured it out – and is probably incapable of doing so. When he mentions the article he saw about Simon's photographs, Mathieu says it was poorly edited and the pictures sloppily presented (unfocused and cropping off parts of the subject). He does not understand what Simon is doing in the photos or in life. When Marie steals a look at Simon's portfolio, she begins to understand the full sense of desolation within Simon. Most of the pictures feature the dunes and coast in the vicinity of the lighthouse. At other points in the film, Simon appears at most of these same places. The pictures are portraits of Mathieu – without Mathieu. (I have not figured out the significance of the first three pictures of the statuette, but assume they relate to Marie herself. I would welcome ideas about those.) Then there are Simon's film clips – mostly blurred, confusing fragments depicting the actions and emotions of those around him – things he is capable of recording but not, it seems, comprehending or accepting.In addition to the homosexual implications of the film, there are strong elements of incest in the relationships between Louise and Simon and Simon and his mother. Simon's final, posthumous commentary speaks to that. Freud would have had fun with those relationships and the images of the father – one false, one absent. Was Simon pushed over the edge by the realization that he has been kicked out of Mathieu's bed by his sister and out of his mother's bed by his (true) father? Now for my review: I give Gaston Ulliel a 10 and the rest of the film a 4, for an average of 7. The film did make me think. I tend to over-analyze things – looking for (and finding) images, symbols, motives and meanings that may be utter figments of my imagination, entirely unintended by the filmmakers. Often that analysis is a somewhat fruitless endeavor, but in this case I think it is exactly what the filmmakers did intend. They provided hints, clues, seemingly random moments (often blurred and fragmentary like Simon's movies) for us to try to comprehend and piece together into a meaningful narrative. Was it worthwhile for me? Under most circumstances, I would not have watched the film to the end. Parts of it really dragged – Simon's endless splashing at night in the swimming pool; the long drives at night on country roads; the stuffed seabird always lurking like the Raven. And, despite Gaspard Ulliel's extraordinary magnetism and acting skill, the almost unremitting and (in my estimation, unexplained) gloom that pervades his character became tedious to the point where the inevitable ending came as a relief, not a shock. I did watch till the end and might watch it again – if only for the glimpses of Ulliel, some of them transcendently beautiful. But if you are not fascinated by Ulliel, many other films are just as thought-provoking and ultimately more rewarding for anyone who is not into angst for angst's sake.

Rodolphe Marconi ('Love Forbidden') is a director and writer to watch. He has a signature style already (he is quite young in the industry) and knows how to use that sensitivity to tell touching stories. LE DERNIER JOUR or THE LAST DAY is a mood piece, spare on dialogue, misty in its depiction of young emotional feelings, challenging in its play with time devices, and ultimately very satisfying for those who enjoy the French manner of film making.Simon (the very handsome and gifted young actor Gaspard Ulliel of 'A Very Long Engagement') boards a train bound for the coast where he is to spend time in his family's seaside cabin. Most of his ride is spent gazing out the windows at the misty countryside, telling us more about this lonely, lost, vulnerable young eighteen year boy than a thousand words. On the train is a young girl Louise (Mélanie Laurent) who seems to be shadowing him. When Simon arrives home he is met by his loving mother Marie (Nicole Garcia), his sister Alice (Alysson Paradis) and his father. Louise joins Simon as a guest in his home and his family thinks the two are a couple. Though they sleep in the same bed, Simon's mind and longing are for a lad who lives in the lighthouse, Mathieu (Thibault Vinçon). Simon visits Mathieu, with Louise not far behind, and though we feel a kinship between the two boys, Louise forces her attention on Mathieu and Simon becomes a third party. In a telling moment when the three are in a pub Louise insists that Simon and Mathieu kiss, and that kiss tells a lot about the current state of mind of both boys. Simon becomes isolated, longs for Mathieu who has moved on from their past relationship, an emotional level which is culminated in a visit to Mathieu's home where Simon, alone on Mathieu's bed, re-visits the passion and lust and love for Mathieu in a scene of radiant beauty.Simon's parents argue at all times and this leads to the discovery of a previous affair his mother had, an affair which holds secrets that drive a stake into Simon's relationship to Louise and to his mother's lover who as he visits the mother uncovers significant mysteries. The story ends tragically in a coda suggestive of the beginning of the film. It is stunning.For some the sparse dialogue may prevent the storyline from driving clearly, but in the hands, eyes, and body of Gabriel Ulliel words are wholly unnecessary. If there were no other reason to see this very sensitive film, having the opportunity to observe the talented Ulliel would be sufficient. Recommended viewing, in French with English subtitles. Grady Harp

In many respects, I could tell that this movies convey a rather deep meaning and not just ordinary teenage-gay-boy romance story which mostly end up in either bad or happy ending. This movie is alike to many of other French movies that I saw before which contains little or minimal dialogue. It conveys the message through showing "symbolic scenes".However what troubles me the most is not such 'absence of dialogue' but rather the clarity and sense of direction in the film. The love that grow between Simon and Matthew is only evident somehow in the middle of the film but for the rest - it is clearly unclear of what Simon thinks or at least other characters should have played greater role to clarify the role of the main character. As a result of this unclarity - all scenes appear to be just randomly and awkwardly put in.The movie is incredibly slow. There is no significant or notable progression that the audience should be rewarded after watching the film for around 2 hours.Aside from the talented and good looking actor Gaspard Ulliel (who played Simon), there is no other aspects of either in the story or plot that makes me eager to recommend this film to the general audiences.5 out of 10