Jeux d'enfants (2003)
Directed by Yann Samuell

Comedy / Drama / Romance
aka: Love Me If You Dare

Film Review

Abstract picture representing Jeux d'enfants (2003)
Yann Samuell's bizarre romantic comedy begins as what looks like an apprentice filmmaker's take on Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (2002), complete with irritating zooms, over-saturated photography and children acting unconvincingly as adults.  Once you manage to get past this off-putting prelude, the film settles into what looks more like traditional French comedy drama, albeit one which takes a few uncomfortable black comedic turns.  Sympathetic performances from Guillaume Canet and Marion Cotillard provide some emotional realism and prevent the whole thing from collapsing into a wash of forced sentimentality and whimsy.  Whilst Jeux d'enfants can be irksome in places, it is also strangely compelling and even entertaining.  Unfortunately, the ambiguous double ending robs the film of the magic it somehow manages to summon up in its last twenty or so minutes.
© James Travers 2006
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.

Film Synopsis

Julien and Sophie deal with the traumas and tragedies of life by competing in a dare game which tests the limits of both their nerve and their friendship.  They met when they were small children, at the time when Julien's mother was dying from an inoperable cancer.  Ever since they have been the closest of friends, living by their own rules and not caring what the world thinks of them.  By the time they are both 18 their dare games have become more cruel and dangerous.  Then they go their separate ways and meet up a year later.  This is when Julien reveals he has met his ideal woman and intends to marry her.  Sophie can hardly believe this news.  She had thought she and Julien would be together forever.  Deeply hurt, she does everything she can to sabotage the wedding, but fails.  It is another ten years before Julien realises the mistake he has made.  Comfortably settled with a wife and mortgage, Julien now finally realises that there is only one person he loves - but where is she now?  What has become of Sophie...?
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.


Film Credits

  • Director: Yann Samuell
  • Script: Yann Samuell
  • Cinematographer: Antoine Roch
  • Music: Philippe Rombi
  • Cast: Guillaume Canet (Julien Janvier), Marion Cotillard (Sophie Kowalsky), Thibault Verhaeghe (Julien à 8 ans), Joséphine Lebas-Joly (Sophie à 8 ans), Emmanuelle Grönvold (Julien's Mother), Gérard Watkins (Julien's Father), Gilles Lellouche (Sergei Nimov Nimovitch), Julia Faure (Sophie's Sister), Laëtizia Venezia Tarnowska (Christelle Louise Bouchard), Élodie Navarre (Aurélie Miller), Nathalie Nattier (Sophie à 80 ans), Robert Willar (Julien (80 ans)), Frédéric Geerts (Igor), Manuela Sanchez (Teacher), Philippe Drecq (School Principal), Luc Bromagne (Priest), Jean-Michel Flagothier (Dorzac), Stéphane Auberghen (Proctor), Isabelle Delval (Clothilde), Christophe Rossignon (Doctor 2)
  • Country: France / Belgium
  • Language: French
  • Support: Color
  • Runtime: 93 min
  • Aka: Love Me If You Dare

The brighter side of Franz Kafka
sb-img-1
In his letters to his friends and family, Franz Kafka gives us a rich self-portrait that is surprisingly upbeat, nor the angst-ridden soul we might expect.
The best French Films of the 1910s
sb-img-2
In the 1910s, French cinema led the way with a new industry which actively encouraged innovation. From the serials of Louis Feuillade to the first auteur pieces of Abel Gance, this decade is rich in cinematic marvels.
The best of Indian cinema
sb-img-22
Forget Bollywood, the best of India's cinema is to be found elsewhere, most notably in the extraordinary work of Satyajit Ray.
Continental Films, quality cinema under the Nazi Occupation
sb-img-5
At the time of the Nazi Occupation of France during WWII, the German-run company Continental produced some of the finest films made in France in the 1940s.
The greatest French film directors
sb-img-29
From Jean Renoir to François Truffaut, French cinema has no shortage of truly great filmmakers, each bringing a unique approach to the art of filmmaking.
 

Other things to look at


Copyright © filmsdefrance.com 1998-2024
All rights reserved



All content on this page is protected by copyright