Parts of Val�rie Donzelli?s Declaration of War, which details a young couple?s struggle to keep their lives together in the face of their child?s illness, are bracingly intimate and believable. Yet there?s so much filmmaking packed around them that they flicker and fade before you know it: Between the Truffautish voice-overs and Jacques Demy-style musical interludes, it?s a wonder anyone in this sort-of drama, sort-of comedy ever gets any rest.
Declaration of War is the classic example of the small-scale movie with lofty intentions that simply tries too hard. That?s a shame, because the story?s emotional nuts and bolts are fairly sturdy, and the picture represents the kind of collaborative effort -- a semi-autobiographical one, in fact -- that generally suggests everyone involved is on the same page. The script was written by Donzelli and J�r�mie Elka�m, who have a child together in real life; they drew from their own experience of dealing with their son?s serious illness. They also star in the film, playing a couple named, adorably, Romeo and Juliette. Romeo and Juliette meet cute in a nightclub, spying one another across the noisy, sweaty terrain. Romeo sends a peanut flying across the room; Juliette, with lightning-quick reflexes and the luck of true love on her side, catches the tiny missile in her mouth. After a sunny montage in which the two run through the streets, cuddle, kiss and eat cotton candy together, they?re suddenly blessed with an infant who cries all the time and simply exhausts them.
That?s a normal problem, but the one Romeo and Juliette go on to face is far more daunting: When their son, Adam (played at this stage by C�sar Desseix; in a later scene, he?s played by Elka�m and Donzelli?s real-life son, Gabriel Elka�m), is still a toddler, the…
Asia Argento Aubrey ODay Audrina Patridge Autumn Reeser Avril Lavigne Bali Rodriguez Bar Refaeli Beyoncé
No comments:
Post a Comment