Latest Site News

[Insomnio]

The truth is that we went to see another movie to the cinema and we watched this film instead. Of course, I knew the title since I had taken a look at it in a magazine about the cinema schedule but I mistook the "Chinese Puzzle/A French Woman in Manhattan" for "Two Days In New York". Both were released in the summer and I remembered that I had seen the official trailer of the last one but I didn't remember the title. So, "Two Days in New York" ended up being "Chinese Puzzle". "A French Woman in Manhattan" was the title given by the Greek distributor and to say the least, it was not the most suitable for the movie. Maybe, they should have had promoted it as as "A Frenchman in Manhattan" after the main character. He is the one who struggles to survive in the chaotic New York. I drew my conclusions as I stepped out of the cinema but when I came at my home, I searched for more information about this movie. Reading that it belongs to a trilogy, I changed somewhat my opinion because there was obviously content before the whole situation of the new movie.
"Chinese Puzzle" is a lighthearted French film which was released in French theaters one year ago. The movie has famous actors/es (Audrey Tautou, Cecile de France, Romain Duris) and the story unfolds first in Paris and then in Manhattan. "Chinese Puzzle" is the third chapter of a trilogy, launched in 2002 as "L'Auberge Espagnole" (Spanish Apartment). The second chapter, "Les Poupées russes" (Russian Dolls) was released in 2005 and it took eight long years for the production to release the third part in the cinemas. Judging the film separately from the rest (I haven't watched the previous movies), the result was quite modest. Cédric Klapisch is not only the initiator of this script idea but he took care to carry it on the big screen. The film had some directing tricks that I found them pretty smart but the script completely lost control. It seemed like he added to the story whatever he had on his mind. It was like a dream which there are inconsistent things and unexplained situations that help the development of the events. Do not imagine that he put a lot of imagination into this film. On the contrary, he put realistic situations but the way that they were presented, was as if they are all random but eventually were all related. Maybe, some people in real life face some bizarre situations and some are quite prone to them but going to the cinema to see this, I would say that it is not my cup of tea. The story was not bad, but watching so many movies in cinema, I can figure out what it's really interesting to me and what's not. However, it had sympathetic interpretations, some funny scenes and some of the dialogue had something to tell. Nevertheless, it differs a lot from several other European movies I've seen in recent years (in a bad way). Especially from those who have participated in numerous festivals because "Chinese Puzzle" is one of these films which are intended for general consumption..
"Chinese Puzzle" received a nomination for "Best Music" at this year's Cesar awards but was defeated by "Michael Kohlhaas". It did pretty well at the French Box Office but it had a moderate success elsewhere it was released. Watching pleasantly because of its mad and eccentric content and it would be a nice alternative choice to a boring Sunday afternoon. However, it's not the movie you watch at the cinema even if the price of the ticket is a nice price. It only cost 2.50 euros..