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Overview
L’Amour à mort is a French romantic film drama first released in 1984,
directed by Alain Resnais.
The film stars Sabine Azéma, Fanny Ardant, Pierre Arditi, André Dussollier and Jean Dasté.
It has also been released under the title: Love Unto Death.
Our overall rating for this film is: mediocre.
Synopsis
During an archaeological survey, Simon meets and falls in love with Elisabeth. They
share a few months of passionate love before Simon has a seizure and is proclaimed dead
by his doctor. Miraculously, Simon is revived but he is changed by his near-death
experience. Elizabeth is terrified of losing Simon for good, but Simon refuses to
have any medical examinations. She seeks the support of her friends, Judith
and Jérôme, both pastors, but they are unable to share her anguish and cannot
understand the nature of her love for Simon…
Film Review
Whilst not in the league of Resnais’ earlier cinematic achievements, L’Amour à
mort offers a solemn and unusual meditation on the relationship between love and death.
The intense performances from the four lead actors (Resnais’ dream team Arditi, Ardant,
Dussollier and Azéma from the director’s preceding film La
vie est un roman) is perhaps the film’s strongest selling point.
The film is far less satisfying than most of Resnais’ other films, although it does offer a distinctly unsettling experience. Unfortunately the somewhat abstract narrative, laden with trite references to scripture and the paranormal, punctuated by inexplicable musical interludes with images of black space, makes this a heavy and somewhat inaccessible film. © James Travers 2002 Write a review for this film... User Comments
The four characters of this film - two men and two women - represent
four solutions to the human existential problem. The director
challenges viewers to understand what they are. The actors’
uniquely intelligent performances creates in front of our eyes a kind
of living encyclopaedia of psychological expressiveness that you
continue to return to even after watching the film several times. For
further analyses of films by Alain Resnais, visit: www.actingoutpolitics.comVictor (Seattle, USA) What do you think of this film? Related links
More French DramaMore French Romance Recent DVD releases |
 Credits
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If you like this film you may also like the following: 5x2 (2004) L’Appartement (1996) Le Boucher (1970) Conte d’automne (1998) La Double vie de Véronique (1991) L’Équipier (2004) Fin août, début septembre (1998) Le Goût des autres (2000) Mademoiselle (2001) Le Milieu du monde (1974) Mon père, ce héros (1991) Trois places pour le 26 (1988) Un coeur en hiver (1992) Un monde sans pitié (1989) |
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