Film Review
Maladie d'amour is a surprising departure for Jacques Deray, a director
who is best known for his psychological thrillers and gangster films, among
which are such enduring classics as -
La
Piscine (1969),
Borsalino
(1970) and
Flic Story (1975).
Made in the twilight of his high-profile career, this slushy romantic drama
is certainly not the kind of film we would associate with Deray and despite
a strong principal cast it fails to make much of an impact. The film's
main failing is a sloppy script (supplied by Danièle Thompson, who
is far more adept at lighter fare) which serves up little more than a lazy
potpourri of low grade soap that doesn't really add up to much.
Actors of the calibre of Jean-Hugues Anglade and Michel Piccoli are totally
wasted on this kind of lumbering, superficial tearjerker, although if we
had been spared the cloying presence of the fairly talentless Nastassja Kinski
(whose performance is rendered more unbearable than unusual by a lamentably
bad script) the film might just have had some appeal. Coming hot on
the heels of Deray's previous film - the formulaic and fairly stale Belmondo
thriller
Le Solitaire (1987)
-
Maladie d'amour does feel like a long overdue breath of fresh air,
but the director's venture into pastures new probably came too late in his
career and can hardly be called a success. Overlong, rambling and almost
entirely predictable, the film is one of Jacques Deray's few unequivocal
misfires.
© James Travers 2016
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Next Jacques Deray film:
Netchaïev est de retour (1991)
Film Synopsis
On a train to Bordeaux, Clément, a promising young intern at a cancer
clinic, encounters for the first time Juliette, an attractive young woman
who works as a hairdresser. By chance, Clément's employer, the
respected cancer specialist Raoul Bergeron, also meets Juliette and immediately
falls in love with her. The prospect of an easy life with a well-heeled,
albeit somewhat older partner is hard to resist and Juliette is soon pursuing
an intense love affair with Raoul. Juliette may be comfortably situated
but she is far from fulfilled and when an occasion to sleep with the much
more desirable Clément presents itself she puts up absolutely no resistance.
When Raoul hears of this betrayal he threatens to wreck Clément's
career. The younger doctor responds by moving away from the area with
Juliette and starting a new practice in the country. Things go smoothly
for a while but Juliette soon comes to the conclusion that this precarious
new life is not for her. On the spur of the moment, she decides to
leave Clément and move back in with Raoul. Some years later,
Clément is married to another woman and has made a success of his
career at a hospital in Paris. One day, he meets up with Raoul, who
informs him that Juliette has fallen ill. It seems that there is nothing
he can do for her...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.