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Touches You

Good movie but grossly overrated

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

I saw this last year as part of a French Film Fest in Boston; it floored me then, and when I saw it again this year, it floored me again. Thankfully 2 other reviewers on its IMDb page-Philippe Guenot and hatugai - say it as well or better than I ever could.I'm sure I missed a lot of messages that politically aware French people would not miss, but , in spite of that, there was still an abundance of rich material to absorb . That Olivier Gourmet is really something. I had admired his work in The Son and The Promise , but The Minister will be calling card for Gourmet in the same way Raging Bull was a calling card for DeNiro.I want to see other films by Gourmet and this screenwriter/director.

The car crash comes out of nowhere, on an abandoned road with no traffic either way: the crazy suddenness of it, the violence leading to a death, it's a tremendous piece of film-making. Editing, camera work and sound all come together impressively.The film is a bit loose in the narration, there are perhaps too many small roles that don't have much to do with the central characters, but all in all this is a picture that is worth seeing. Olivier Gourmet, whom I have enjoyed in many films over the years, here shows some impressive acting skills. This politician is in trouble: he's got to close some train stations and the union is on his back--in France the unions are much more powerful than in North America. His desire not to make waves runs up against political realities; he's running out of time. Philippe Scholler also wrote the music for the film; it's very evocative.

L'execice de L'etat is like a species on the verge of extinction. You don't know much about its existence until you realize it is one of kind. You try to remember if you have ever seen something similar, but very little comes close. And because you feel this species may vanish away sometime soon, you grow fond of it. Like pandas, it is a creature you care about, and it would be too bad if they simply disappear. But make no mistake - this movie is no panda, an alligator would be more appropriate, and that's exactly what you see when the movie starts. You wonder why, but this film does not offer easy answers. You must go on and find them yourself, and this is what most delighted me. Watching this film made me feel like an outside, after all, it's about politics. But the more in doubt, the more excited I was. And it made more and more sense when I started thinking about the recent carnage for power in the American presidential campaign, the economic and political warzone in the European Union. This film is a rare opportunity to peep in behind the doors of political exercise nowadays. However, it is more than a lesson. Olivier Gourmet is formidable and you know he achieved something big. Politicians don't enjoy any popularity nowadays, but his minister is still fascinating even after causing a casualty that is cruelly exposed to our eyes. And despite his survival-of-the-fittest manner, you may approval some of his principles in the end. L'execise de L'etat is indeed a rare film. It did not make me laugh, it did not make me cry, it just made me think, which is a great achievement in movies nowadays, unfortunately.

I am not familiar with political features. LA CONQUETE was a real gem, very interesting about the rise of Nicolas Sarkozy - in 2007 - to power. It will remain a classic. This one I comment today is something different. Weird, very weird. But fascinating too. A strange but accurate study of the political backyards that the common people don't know about. The picture of every minute, every hour of a minister who have to struggle against his own government, friends, family, and many other things. Olivier Gourmet's performance is outstanding, and the pace of this non action film vivid at a point you couldn't imagine. Look out for a car accident, in the middle of the film. A real brutal sequence that made me startle on my seat. And the audience too. I have never seen such a sequence, even in a James Bond film, or an action flick, even the best ones. A strange film which deserves to be seen.