Alice and Martin (1998) User Reviews (21)

Give it a few hours to sink in.

[bowhead · 7/10 · 11 August 2000]

Martin, age 20, runs away from his rural French home under mysterious circumstances and ends up at his half-brother's flat in Paris, where he meets and falls in love with the half-brother's female roommate Alice, age somewhat older. When Alice informs him, halfway through the film, that she is pregnant, he has a flashback (which we don't see for a while yet) of what happened to make him flee his father's house, and for the rest of the film, while Martin languishes in a psychiatric facility, Alice must resolve the situation Martin created, a labor of love she doesn't hesitate to perform even though it involves the sacrifice of her own happiness.

The bad news: This is a long, slow movie, and the characters are not really as well-defined as they perhaps could have been, especially given the film's character-centered plot. The good news: It's really beautiful to watch, and when the end of the movie sneaks up on you, and you've given what you've seen a little while to sink in, it's so brilliantly sad that you just want to fly to Paris and find Alice and hug her or take her to dinner or something. Not a good choice for a first-date movie--rent the video and have a close friend over for wine and cheese.

What makes Martin run?

[jotix100 · 6/10 · 6 September 2005]

Andre Techine is a director that likes to portray the problems young people are facing, which seems what attracted him to "Alice et Martin", a film that gives us a strange take in how the past catches up with a young man that challenged his father's authority. The screen play is by Olivier Assayas and Gilles Taurand, two men that have had written better things for the cinema.

The film's opening sequence is puzzling since we have no clue as to what makes Martin run away from home. This seems to be a disjointed way to make the film work, because even though we might guess what could have happened, when the final truth comes about, we just don't care about it.

Then there is the problem of Alice's attraction for Martin. Alice is a woman that seems to know what she wants. She is older than the young guy that comes into her life, and should have been wiser to avoid, at all costs, but she falls for him, anyhow.

Basically, what attracted us to the film was Juliette Binoche, an actress that is always interesting to watch. Unfortunately, because our lack of interest in the story, we stop caring about her long before we get to know what really happened. Alexis Loret is a weak choice for Martin. Mathiew Amalric and Carmen Maura fare better in their supporting roles.

"Alice et Martin" is a slow moving film that will get in the nerves of viewers. Better luck to M. Techine in his next effort.

Not the best French film, but decent nonetheless

[almalone · 7/10 · 13 August 2000]

A weirdly inconsistent film, mixing hamfisted direction with an occasional obsessive attention to telling detail, seemingly shallow interactions with deeper thoughts, and Juliette Binoche's acting with Alexis Loret's acting. Loret can't act at all, even though he is pretty. This is not a great French film, but there's a lot to like about it nonetheless. Juliette Binoche is in fact that pretty, and she can act too. It has some (but not all) of the unforced naturalness that distinguishes French cinema. And it does not look upon its audience as a bunch of slack-jawed troglodytes, always a plus. Seven of ten, not the thing to convince someone to enjoy French cinema but pleasurable nonetheless.

Disappointing

[ravers · 5 December 2001]

With Techine directing Binoche you would expect something special, something emotionally involving, something...good. But, sadly, this movie is, for the most part, disappointing. First of all we don't truly care about the characters, Loret, who plays Martin, is wooden and distant, and the blossoming relationship between the two leads is unconvincing. Binoche is on top form, a beauty to behold, but every time she's off the screen the film nosedives. Perhaps Alice's past should have been explored too. The psychological leash Victor has on Martin isn't tight enough to convincingly escalate into patricide. However, it isn't all bad. The cinematography is beautiful, in particular, when Martin opens his window, as a child, and is greeted by the snow falling. Golden Spain too. Alice Et Martin isn't diabolical, but with the talent involved, you would expect so much more. 6/10

A banal story after all

[valadas · 6/10 · 20 September 2005]

It's not exactly what we might call a bad movie but this story of the young illegitimate son who kills his father somewhat involuntarily during a fight and for that reason becomes neurotic since the fact was hushed up by the family to avoid a scandal, is rather weak and banal. The best part of the movie are the characters themselves and the acting of those who play the respective roles who do their best to make the story more impressive than it is in itself and not to appear as too stereotyped themselves. Special prominence must be given to the great Juliette Binoche who plays her role in a wonderful way. Her extremely attractive face, the gentleness of her expressions and the strength of her acting are unforgettable. The cut doesn't help either since its rhythm is also banal and uninteresting. The flash-back introduced in the middle does nothing to add anything valuable to the movie in terms of form and style. Its story could be told in the normal chronological sequence maybe with advantage. But to see Juliette Binoche in one of her best performances it's perhaps worth to go and see this movie.

A Downer French Romance ***Spoilers***

[gbheron · 7/10 · 22 August 2003]

When we first meet Martin, he's the 12 year old illegitimate son sent to live with his father at the family estate. In the film's second scene, the now 19 year old Martin is fleeing the same estate. Literally. Running blindly into the countryside, we follow as he hides from imagined pursuers, subsisting (barely) on what he can scrounge, completely exposed to the elements. In a few days he's arrested while pilfering from a farmer, but his family bails him out. He doesn't return home, but makes his way to Paris where he asks to live with his older half-brother, Benjamin, and his roommate, Alice, a musician. They reluctantly agree to take him in.

Soon, due to luck and his good looks, Martin is a world-class male model earning tons of money. He's also successful at courting the older Alice, which causes conflicts with Benjamin. Not romantic conflict, Benjamin is gay, but professional. Martin is the family bastard, his father's child by his mistress. Benjamin and the other siblings are children by the legal mother. Martin is the outcaste, but now he's a great success, more so than any of the siblings, especially Benjamin.

But Martin is harboring a great secret, the reason that caused him to flee, and it's tearing him apart. The family refuses help; they don't air their dirty laundry in public, and they don't like Martin. Martin begins to go mad. Alice, now in deeply love with Martin, begins a quest to unlock Martin's hidden demons and exorcize them.

Enough said about the plot, I've spoiled about half the movie. Is this movie any good? It's not bad. The film is French, so, except for Juliette Binoche as Alice, none of the actors are recognizable to this American; but they are all very good. The direction by André Téchiné is also quite good. The story? It's an odd little downer of a story that I suspect doesn't resonate well with the middle classes. But anything with Juliette Binoche in it is worth a rental.

Binoche and Téchiné should have been magical

[Red-125 · 7/10 · 10 June 2020]

The French movie Alice et Martin (1998) was shown in the U.S. with the translated title Alice and Martin. The film was co-written and directed by André Téchiné.

Juliette Binoche portrays Alice, a professional violinist who lives with Benjamin Sauvagnac, a gay playwright and actor. (Benjamin is played by Mathieu Amalric.) Alexis Loret portrays Martin Sauvagnac, Benjamin's half-brother.

Martin comes from the countryside to Paris, and moves in with Alice and Benjamin. Naturally, he falls in love with Alice. The rest of the plot spins out as a relationship story between Alice and Martin, as the name of the film implies.

Téchiné is a great director. Brioche is a great actor. This should have been a don't-miss movie. Sadly, it didn't work out that way. I think that part of the problem is that Alice is depicted as unsure and dependent. That's not really the way we usually see Juliette Binoche, and she appears unsure and dependent playing that role. Anyway, the magic doesn't happen.

We saw this movie on the small screen, and it worked well. It has a dismal IMDb rating of 6.3. I thought it was somewhat better than that, and rated it 7.

Too disjointed

[hsma · 4/10 · 14 August 2000]

Although the performances were good, this movie is quite frustrating. While a non-linear narrative can be effective and compelling, the disjointed plot or lack of one leaves the viewer bored and confused. The story line is further strained by the lack of development of much of Alice's and Martin's characters. For instance, one can't understand why Martin's father was such a brute or why Alice would choose to stay with Martin. It's a shame because this movie could have been a lot better.

Very Original Take on the Couple Made for Each Other Genre

[noralee · 8/10 · 20 December 2005]

"Alice and Martin (Alice et Martin)" is the anti-Hollywood relationship movie of the summer. (It's French so you have to say it like you went to National Lampoon's famous School of ze French Akzent: "a-LEES ay mar-TAHN").

Act 1 gives you background on Martin growing up, yeah you think as you get restless, the usual dysfunctional family, the usual fights with dad, so he ends up in the big city.

Act 2 is the usual couple in the Big City (in this case, of course Paris) and quite a few people in the audience yawned quite loudly. There's a few sophisticated touches -- she's pals with gay guys, he falls into being a fashion model for the easy money (and the metaphor for his blankness) so there's arguments about commercialism.

This is my first Andre Techine film so I don't know if the crucial Act 3 is unusual, even though the central plot development was not a complete surprise.

So many Hollywood "meet cute, fall into bed, fight then realize they're made for each other" movies have the couple existing in a bubble, separate from family or the sources of how they got to be like they are. Here coming to terms with their souls means coming to terms with their family and seeing through all the implications. So there's a bit of a gimmick in cutting back and forth with flashbacks to reveal background to us, but it's done sort of like an amnesia victim gradually remembering.

Juliette Binoche really rises to the Act 3; I wasn't all that impressed with her in "The English Patient" but she's gut-wrenching here, going through very complex emotions--and nice non-Hollywood touch that she's the older of the pair.

If Hollywood were to remake this movie, they'd cut to the last 10 minutes, and turn it into a courtroom drama where the heroic defense lawyer goes around interviewing everyone to get to "the truth," but coming to peace with yourself is not something that litigation can solve, and Binoche's face shows that.

Nice repeat use of Jeff Buckley song.

(originally written 9/3/2000)

a film of two halves

[atmanda · 7/10 · 30 December 1999]

ah its not bad. There's a moment in every French film, where you suddenly think - but how can they afford all this. Thankfully, it does not come till half way through in this one, when Martin has spent up his modelling money and is going mad on a Spanish beach.

Luckily the best part is come at this stage, as Alice struggles to unravel Martin's messy past. The family especially Carmen Maura as the mum are excellent. You get a real feel for the bitterness and intimacy that a big family filled with secrets and lies generates.

You will have a bad time if you don't like Juliette Binoche though. The camera lingers on her in every shot. She is a good actress, but nowhere near as pretty as Techine (and many others) think.

Horribly Unsatisfying

[Villemar · 2/10 · 5 August 2007]

This film is extremely tedious...it took me several days to get through it. What is most annoying about this picture is the character of Martin. I gave him a chance to find himself through Alice. When he melts down in Spain, I said to myself, well lets give him a chance to sort himself out. Since he gets himself locked up in an asylum, it is up to Alice to sort out the root causes of Martin's problems. She does this by visiting his family, who are not terribly pleased with her visit. But she does all the heavy lifting for Martin anyway, however unpleasant.

By the time she gets back she gets him out of the asylum and offers him a challenge. She challenges him to be happy and to be with her, and to finally make a break with his past. Our dear Martin, when finally given a chance to start anew with the beautiful Alice and their unborn child, literally bolts away and sprints to the police station to turn himself in. The end.

Martin is one of the most pathetic characters in film history. He has no character arc. He doesn't learn anything. All he knows how to do is brood and run from things. I really wanted to strangle him. Juliet Binoche is wasted as this lovely, caring woman who offers pure unconditional love to this idiot. All for nothing...completely in vain.

Dreadful.

Téchiné's most assured film - Contains Spoiler

[donalohanlon · 8/10 · 31 October 2002]

When "Alice et Martin" was released in France in November 1998, one of the more positive comments was in relation to its unorthodox narrative structure.

In Dec 1999, upon it UK release the film was again highly praised for its structure, editing technique and bravura score.

In Jul 2000 when "Alice et Martin" was released in the US it was heavily criticised for its narrative structure, which may critics labelled confusing and non-sensical.

Are we at a point that even critics need to be spoon feed a 123 narrative. The flashback in "Alice et martin" is admittedly disjointed at first - it's meant to be as it reflects Martin's psycological state.

"Alice et Martin" is a simple story which breaks up into two distinguishable parts. We are introduced to Martin (Alexis Loret) in a prologue which sketches his troubled childhood relationship with his father. We then see Martin flee from his home and live rough in the countryside before landing on his brother Benjamin's (Mathieu Amalric) door. Benjamin share a flat with musician Alice (Juliette Binoche). initially Alice is a brittle presence and resents Martin for disturbing the equilibrium she has found in a sexless relationship with the gay Benjamin. Martin quickly become infatuated with Alice and eventually she gives in and allows herself to fall in love. this first section of the film is episodic and set over a year, although on screen it is approximately 45 minutes long. The changing seasons are reflected by scenes showing summer, autumn and winter views of Paris.

The second part of the film begins when Martin is taken ill in Spain at the news that Alice is pregnant. We soon learn that he killed his father and cannot function as a human being or become a father until justice takes it's course, and he is punished. His stepmother was the only witness and Alice travells to Martins old home to convince her to testify at Martin's trial.

Techiné's film is unorthodox in many ways. The relationship between Alice et Martin is un-even from the beginning with her taking the lead. It is also shown as a deepky sexual relationship. Alice's strength again come to the fore when she is fighting Martin's family. however it is the issues of law and punishment, as well as family hurt which again haunt Techine in his work. As well as the law of the land we are presented with a family law. Indeed all the characters are shown to construct families of their own - ala Benjamin and Alice'e "Zoro - Zero" relationship.

The performances in the film are great. Amalric, Carmen Maura as Martin's mother and Marthe Villalonga as his stepmother are great. Alexis Loret in his first screen role is blank and his performance has been criticised for this. Yet I think this is exactly how he should be. His entire life is stunted by his guilt. In her first role since winning an Oscar, Juliette Binoche does what she does best - underplays the drama and steals the film, coming into her own in the second section. Caroline Champetier's cinematography of Paris, Granada and South West France is ace, while Philip Sarde's score is assured and complimentary.

Alice et Martin is not perfect. The final act labours a little too much on Martin's guilt rather than portraying how it affects his relationship with the pregnant Alice. He is also shown at the end in prison, a step to far, we dont need to know that - we only need to know that he is taking responsibility for his actions and being allowed to do so by his family. Interestingly while all of Martin's brothers all have major issues with their father, who is described as cold, distant and hard, Téchiné does not present him as a monster - instead the relationship between father and sons is a lot more ambiguous and interesting.

All in all one of the best French movies of 1998. Téchiné's most mature film and a terrific turn from Juliette Binoche.

Borrrrrrrriiiiiinnnnnggggggg

[tmeyer · 3/10 · 7 September 2000]

I'm a big Binoche fan but could not have been more disappointed with this film. There is little or no justification given for the demonization of Martin's father and the flat, bland relationship between Alice & Martin leaves one wondering why they'd stay together in the first place. Sure, Techine wants us to think Martin's father was a harsh on his illegitimate son but there's little or no supporting evidence. Standing in the rain, big deal. Punishing him for pretending to be sick. Ho hum. This reminded me of Bresson's "The Devil, Probably" as I really didn't give a damn about any of the characters or why they were in such supposed anguish. Speaking of anguish, you would think Martin's mother would have felt a little remorse about the consequences of her fateful decision (after all, Martin was happy w/ her and didn't want to go) but she didn't seem care about him anyways. In the end, I didn't either.

All quiet on the Western front

[ygee · 1/10 · 21 January 1999]

I have seen this movie in a preview during the French week of Munich universities. Thank god, I didn't have to pay for it. This is a movie which could have been shot during the late sixties, early seventies and it's is not a classic, it's dusty.

The plot is unbelievably boring, the actors do their very best to save the film from bad camera, directing and cuts. Juliette Binoche shines like a single star in an otherwise growse movie. Whoever wrote the script, he had absolutely no idea what drama or conflict is about. There is a single witty scene in this movie, when Alice tells Martin that she thought about his wooing and yes, she would like to sleep with him. He freezes, then panicly locks up the door and turns off the light before undressing her. Afterwards, he explains is behaviour with the sentence: "I wanted to do it, before you change opinion again."

You don't think it's good? Beware, it is the only good scene in the movie. You think that's good? Now you know it, you don't have to see the film.

Before I get flamed by the connoisseurs, yes I do like good French movies, but this movie surely isn't one. No I am no Hollywood fanatic, but this film deserved more of everything.

If you want to see an excellent non-Hollywood drama, which shows you what tragedy is about, try Wintersleepers by Tom Tykwer...

I warned you! 1/10 (1 for Juliette Binoche participating)

excellent

[stribog77 · 8 December 1999]

In her review of 'Alice et Martin' in Cinopsis, Marina Bergamelli states that the reason why Techine made this film remains obscure.

For those people who understand and know that such emotional worlds exist, it is a cathartic masterpiece of great value.

It takes courage to make a feature film of this nature and am grateful to the people who undertook such an artistic endeavour.

Film would be dead without them.

Julian Flynn

A great French movie! Binoche and Téchiné at their best!

[Marc-38 · 10/10 · 11 January 1999]

Have you been waiting to see Juliette Binoche again in her first role after her Academy Award winning performance in "The English Patient"? Are you interested in the new film by the director of "Les voleurs / Thieves"? Do you want to see a young actor he promises to be great French movie star? If so, you should definitely go and see "Alice et Martin" which I consider one of the best films I've seen in a long time. It's the story of Martin, a young man from a small town in the "province" and the way his disturbing past effects his first love to an older woman (Binoche). Although the screenplay sometimes doesn't deliver the most realistic dialogues and scenes, it's an highly emotional, artistic and intelligent movie, brilliantly acted and well directed. French cinema at its very best. Not to be missed by all fans of French films.

The sum of all the parts do not add up to an especially good picture

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 6 December 2007]

This was a very frustrating picture to watch--partially because it seemed as if those who created it didn't consider how difficult it would be for the audience to follow the strange non-linear plot and partially because the characters are so poorly developed. Instead of the normal style of film making, ALICE ET MARTIN is told in a way that hops about from the past to the present again and again and sometimes with no apparent transition. While changing this perspective might have worked, the choppiness in connecting these segments was frustrating and at first I thought the reels had been mixed up in the wrong order! Also, many of the characters seem as if important parts of their development had been unfortunately omitted. For example, Julia Ormond ('Alice') initially dislikes Martin. Then, when they start to have a torrid affair, it almost seemed to come from no where. Then, only a short time later in the film, Martin is falling apart emotionally and treats Alice rather coldly and cruelly. You'd expect a normal person to leave, but then Alice invests her entire being in unfolding the mystery of Martin's life--at great trouble and expense to herself! Plus, how did she get from living in Spain with Martin with not even a Euro in the bank and then a scene later she's in France and no mention is made of how she got there or how much time had elapsed? Often, by the way, scenes jumped as much as a year but it was hard to know this was happening.

This choppiness is a real shame, because if the film had been well edited, the characters more fully defined and the story told in a more comprehensible fashion, then it would have been a wonderful film. The basic plot involving the cold father and Martin was brilliant but got lost in the mess that was the film. The bottom line is that all the parts of the film never really worked together and the film should have been significantly better. I would love a remake--one that explores the relationship between the father and son as well as how the rest of the family is really part of the problem because they live in denial about the father--he was an evil and overbearing ogre, not the "great man" they claim he was.

Binoche takes a dive!

[guyb · 1/10 · 1 March 2001]

I've been a huge fan of Binoche and make a point to see everything she does. I guess it was only a matter of time before I ran into a bad movie with her in it and this is the first one. Very boring. I think she tried, but the rest of the characters never really got my attention or heart. Zero chemistry between her character and Martin. Go see "Lovers On the Bridge" instead.

I would be very sad if French cinema was always that shallow

[a2859289 · 1/10 · 26 January 1999]

For me, it was mandatory to watch this movie. On the one side, I like Binoche, and on the other, I like to see French movies. Now, this movie is an exception and an enormous disappointment! Dialogs between Alice and Martin are as flat as one can imagine, the dramatic content of the movie reduces to that of a daily soap opera. Then, on top of that, or maybe just because the maker of the movie himself felt that things are kind of slow-going, just concentrated on showing Binoche in scenes like from the fashion magazine (for the ones who saw it: that scene before she entered the psychic clinic). All in all, Binoches excellent appearance is reduced to a farce, and not even the more natural acting of Matthieu Almaric as Benjamin could save this movie going under like the big old Titanic.

I was glad when this movie was over; only the delighted memories of "The English Patient" or "the Unbearable Lightness of being" remain.

No Way Through The Wood

[writers_reign · 5/10 · 27 August 2008]

It's considered bad form in certain circles to criticize Andre Techine but what the hey, I say it's spinach and the hell with it. This is uneven at best and boasts one of the clumsiest flashbacks on celluloid. Alexis Loret as Martin is clearly paying homage - as Jilly Adair would say - to Dorothy Parker running as he does the gamut from A to B and it's left to Juliette Binoche as Alice to carry both him and the film as best she can which might have been easier had she had a half decent script to work with. Those Ivory Towers in Academia will be swaying in ecstasy at this one as ordinary cinema-goers note the lack of apparel on Techine. One to avoid.

Another attempt to redemption through love in Téchiné s film

[gaiadam933 · 14 May 2011]

Once a critic for Cahiers Du Cinéma, André Téchiné wakes generally high expectations from movie viewers, but he not always satisfied them. The interest for melodrama that distinguishes him from nouvelle vague predecessors returns in Alice and Martin which is not free from the thematic of dysfunctional family of others of his films. In this case the results are more unconvincing. At the beginning and for a long time we don't know what happens, and when we know, it does not matter enough. The disproportion between the elliptical and not few scenes of unnecessary diffuse dialogue does not contribute to go deep into the drama. Secondary characters like the tyrannical father, the mother, and the stepmother of the protagonist are delineated in the style of the stereotyped Spanish telenovela. The nicely photographed landscapes (a mark in Téchiné's pictures) add to the pleasure of the viewer but not fulfill the holes in the screenplay. The story, excessively charged with family quarrels, suicide, involuntary crime, tempestuous love, professional aspirations, madness, atonement, and final redemption, can't easily catch the spectator. Adam Gai