He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not (2002) User Reviews (90)

dark and light and beautiful

[jonmantle · 8/10 · 23 January 2005]

Basically I'm British and am not really supposed to like the French, I'm not sure why, I think it's something to do with Agincourt, Napoleon and the Eurovision Song Contest. Despite this I am frankly enamored with them because they're so much cooler than we could ever be.

It is because they are so comfortable in their own skin that they can get away with movies which would be embarrassing if made by the British and ghastly if made by the Americans. "À la folie... pas du tout" falls into this category. Sartre had a gift for doing philosophy in a hip, wine drinking, story telling, bohemian way. This movie has done a disturbing, psychological, tragic romance in a beautiful, sumptuous, fist-bitingly lovely way. I'm sure it's something to do with being French.

The only thing that irked me was that the script and plot were both repeatedly, albeit momentarily, clumsy. For a movie so graceful in terms of acting and direction it was sad that the screenplay couldn't quite keep pace.

On the upside the acting was great. I'm probably biased as it's only a profound laziness that stops me stalking Audrey Tautou, but she was marvelous. The story moved quickly and even the marginally avant garde perspective shift was beautifully achieved. The conclusion is wonderfully dark and leaves you feeling that the plot has been going somewhere and that you've arrived there quite unexpectedly.

Had the script been a little more polished I'd have given it more marks. Having said that I don't expect that anybody involved in the movie will be crying themselves to sleep because some random internet bloke has given them 8 out of 10. Having said that if Audrey Tautou should happen to stumble across this review my address is...

Watch it you'll enjoy it.

Strong Performance by Audrey Tautou

[chron · 8/10 · 28 September 2003]

This is an interesting story of obsessive love. We first explore the story from her point of view, then his. Given the main plot idea of obsessive love, it invites a comparison to "Fatal Attraction". This is a much better film. The plot is more interesting, with solid acting. There are a lot of inferences as to what happened in the film. We aren't spoon-fed the entire plot.

I found it to be quite enjoyable.

fascinating, be careful reading these reviews, people give a lot away!

[cherold · 8/10 · 28 June 2004]

It's really hard to talk about this movie without giving something away. I'll give away as little as possible, but my recommendation would be, stop reading this or any other review and just watch the movie, it's very good.

Since I don't want to give anything away I can't say much about the story. It starts as a movie about a cute, sweet girl in love, and the movie's use of an actress who exudes sweetness and innocence makes what happens as the movie progresses all the more startling. The movie is devoted to its one central trick, and what's notable is not the trick - lots of movies have tricks - but how much time is spent in showing off the filmmaker's cleverness. This could have been annoying or self indulgent but I enjoyed it. Some people won't be surprised - I'm really not as good as guessing twists as a lot of people (which is why I consider the movie Matchstick Men to be so poor in spite of good reviews; that one I guessed straight through to the end early on) - but I was surprised and quite delighted.

Cute song of love and hate

[stensson · 7/10 · 9 June 2003]

Audrey Tautou might at first sight seem to be an actress with limitations, but most of what goes through in her character's heads are shown in the eyes.

This starts as a family comedy about the innocent girl sending her loved one flowers and other presents. But it gets worse and in the end you're watching a thriller that doesn't make you feel at ease. It becomes a story of life and death and not just in the physical way.

The story is told from two view points. It remains exciting anyway.

A flower loosing its petals!!

[film-critic · 10/10 · 1 October 2004]

I would first like to start this review with a warning. This is not a romantic comedy, as you would probably presume by looking at the cover of this box. That is what I thought when I first discovered this 'gem' of a film. I picked it up to enjoy with my wife, and strangely, I found myself enjoying it more than her.

Without giving too much away (or more than already has by others), this is a twisted story where we, as viewers, have the opportunity to see the plot unfold from both of our main characters. Audrey Tautou takes a devilishly good turn from her innocent character in Amelie to play an artist who falls in love … or so we think. As we watch her whirlwind romance with a married man hit their ups and downs like any normal relationship, we get comfortable and stable with the film … then suddenly it changes. We rewind backwards and are shown the story through the eyes of her 'boyfriend'. Our image of this film enhances as we are handed the unexpected.

This was a beautiful film. From not only the cinematography, but also the characters and the story. This was a rarity. It is not often that you find a film of this caliber in today's modern cinema. Normally, films have a very structured story with its theme defined early within the film. Not this masterpiece. If you assume that you know this film prior to finishing it, then you will be the laughing stock of the town. I have seen several films in my lifetime, and I can honestly say that I never saw this story unfolding. I was one of those that expected the beginning to be the entire story … boy, was I surprised.

Tautou carries this film on her bare shoulders. She gives a stunning performance as a woman with a heart full of love for a man that she encounters. Her turn from Amelie proves that she is a very versatile actor.

She emotionally pulls you from your seat and glues you to the screen. Add to this the sheer brilliance of the story; with all of its twists and turns, and powerful cast that only accentuates Tautou's absurdity only helps propel this story from average to amazing.

This is one of those films that I can watch time and time again without it loosing its appeal. I would suggest it for anyone that has ever had a secret admirer. For anyone that has obsessed over anyone from afar, this is the film for you. A-la Sliding Doors, this film was impressive.

Grade: ***** out of *****

Thriller Lite

[imdb-3022 · 17 July 2004]

This "thriller lite" tells of innocence and victimization, and relies as much on its structural twists as on Audrey Tautou's saucer eyes and Samuel Le Bihan's hunkiness. You might even call it a black comedy, with lots of freshness and style. The best way to view this is to go in cold, relax, and let it grab you by the arm and gently drag you in.

That said, it is not really a romance, although people who like romances will find enough roses and hand-drawn artwork here to please. If you are one of those who generally refuses to see movies with "love" in the title, consider that "love" isn't in the original French title, so rest assured you can watch this without reservation.

Le Hollywood...

[ThurstonHunger · 6/10 · 6 June 2004]

I feel most discussions of this film would more than dabble in the realm of SPOILERS, so for those of you who have not seen this yet...I'd recommend stop reading this and other reviews, and check out the film. It's alright...not fantastic or even fantastique but in short I feel worth viewing overall.

Okay....so fellow viewers, are we alone now?

Or aren't we? This film plays with the audience, setting out a tantalizing trap with not only the adorable Audrey as bait but a saturation of color as well. Audrey, as the ironically diabolical Angelique portrays a successful art student, much to my pleasure the art this film proffers as hers does come across as interesting. That's a small success in itself. I wonder if it was just the art department, or if they hired an artist to come up with the few items we see.

Along those lines I loved the scene wherein she defaces the "nude" portrait. Actually someone else on this list wrote that the model posing for that was nude, but as I saw the film, he clearly had shorts on. I found myself briefly wondering if for the sake of the all-American fear of male nudity, an alternate shot was inserted for stateside DVD's. We've the right to bear arms, but not to bare penises?

Anyways the scene is meant to underscore the absolute devotion Angelique has for Loic, she only has eyes for him. Regrettably we learn those eyes are turned completely inward. If language is a virus from outerspace, then love as represented here is a mental disease from the galaxy as well. The film is strictly split in two, Venus going first and then Mars following its floral path.

I've recently read Ian McEwan's "Atonement" and that like "He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not" was another piece of fiction that hinged a great deal upon its construction. In reflecting back upon both, the construction is what I consider most... the main female character in both ends up being to a degree untrustworthy and well, unlikeable. Instead of her personality, perspicuity or perfume that lingers, it is the sense of manipulation involved. In this film, both the manipulation by the sweet stalker on the target of her love...and the manipulation of the director on us the, somewhat unwitting, audience.

It is interesting to me that so many people complained about "The Swimming Pool" and none here gripe about "A la folie..." To me, the former is a far better film and its ambiguities give the film more resonance. Oh well, vive le difference...

As always with foreign films, I worry that living in the subtitles I may miss some witty dialog. More so with this film...still the translation did include some pointed phrases and echoes. Yet I cannot even find a literal translation of the French title... it cannot be as tidy as the English titling.

Oh, okay here it is

http://www.splicedonline.com/03features/lcolombani.html

Interesting, it actually comes from the same ritual, but I think the English is even more succinct for this film.

Even before the title, the film rating mentioned something about "obsessive behavior." It sorta cracked me up, I'd never seen that before. I actually thought it was a joke included by the filmmakers, but mpaa.org shows it as part of the official warning. Too bad in real life, the people we meet do not come with such guidance tattooed on their foreheads.

I see some reviews refer to this as a "horror" film, I think it is much more in the "suspense" category, although that isn't quite right as the film is built upon a dream then takes an abrupt u-turn into a nightmare. The scariest thing about "A la Folie...Pas du Tout" is that the director was only 26 and able to craft something so glossy. With IMDb showing nothing in her current queue, I hope she has not frightened off all of the producers.

6/10

This was actually a GREAT FILM!

[bostonboy · 9/10 · 7 July 2005]

I didn't know what to expect when I saw this. I'm an American living in France and my girlfriend is French and rents all the French movies for me. This is one of those mixed genre movies that actually works! Audrey Tautou is so charming and capable as an actress that she makes you root for her even when you know she's playing someone completely crazy. She's already the biggest, most successful actress here in France and she's going to get even bigger. She's got what it takes to play different characters and she shows that in this movie.

The director brilliantly pieces together the two halves of this movie and by the end, it is believable. We almost wanted to watch it again so we can catch the tricks but we didn't have time.

Anyway this is a great French treat and for those of you who liked Tautou in "Amelie" and "A Very Long Engagement" you're going to like her in this one too.

Amelie + Psycho = fun!

[rooprect · 7/10 · 8 February 2007]

Be careful about reading these reviews because almost anything can be a spoiler. I'll just say that the DVD cover, the movie posters, marketing and even the movie title are deceptively breezy. No, this ain't Amelie. Rather, this movie delves pretty deep into the twisted workings of the human mind. It's very cleverly done in a non-linear fashion (like Citizen Kane, Rashomon, or my favourite Gilligan's Island episodes where we see the same thing from different points of view).

The acting is superb, and the direction is right on par. The only gripe I have with this film is that due to its stealthy presentation it sometimes suffers from an identity crisis. I believe this could have been remedied with a more dynamic musical score (that is, it would have been more powerful if the music reflected the changes in the film's "personality"). There may have been other minor flaws which prevent me from giving this film a higher rating, but overall it was a worthwhile experience.

Interesting Film, Superb Actress

[dromasca · 8/10 · 15 February 2003]

Audrey Tautou is in my opinion the greatest rising star of the French cinema. Coming from a tradition that does not lack great actors, beautiful divas, living legends, and huge comedians, Audrey seems to bring together talent and beauty, huge interior and exterior beauty. Some compared her with the other Audrey - Hepburn, but in my opinion the French star talent exceeds by light-years the one of the American.

'A la folie...' is an interesting film by itself. An apparent tragic love story is being told from one of the partners angle in the first half of the movie - just to be re-told from the other partner perspective in the second part. The second half and the end hide a twist. Both script and film are cleverly written though made by a script-writer and director (Laetitia Colombani) only at her second film. I am expecting good things from her in the future.

Worth seeing - 8/10 on my personal scale.

An interesting adaptation of an old theme

[illusoryjane · 6/10 · 30 July 2004]

The age old story of unrequited love, and all of the torture that it brings...or is it? This is the story of Angelique (Audrey Tautou of Amelie) who is desperately in love with Loic (Samuel Le Bihan). Loic is married and refuses to leave his pregnant wife for Angelique.

The story is told first from Angelique's point of view, and shows the pain she suffers, and the attempts she makes to win her love. Then, we see things from Loic's point of view, which is astonishing.

This is a fascinating example of story-telling. The plot has a very interesting and unexpected twist. I hesitate to go into much detail about the plot for fear of spoiling the surprise, but I will say this story stands distinctly apart from the drab, predictable plots, and neat endings that we are so used to in American movies. Audrey Tautou is wonderful. She has such an expressive way about her. My prediction is that her popularity in film will only continue to grow.

My chief complaint in regards to this film is that apart from the way the story is presented, it lacks originality. However, the execution of the story is often 80% of it's value, so I find this to be a fairly minor complaint. I was also a little disappointed with the ending. It seemed a trifle contrived. Overall, I don't hesitate to highly recommend this film, but watch it from the beginning, don't tune in on cable halfway through the flick. As I said, without the plot twist, the story lacks originality. Don't miss how the story unfolds.

A Brilliant Study of Love Obsession from Two Angles

[robert-temple-1 · 10/10 · 3 January 2008]

After playing Amelie, the bizarre personal qualities of Audrey Tautou which I never thought could be so perfectly matched to any other role were once again matched just as perfectly to this extreme role, in which she delivers one of the greatest psychotic character creations in the history of the cinema. How can such a smiling, angelic, elfin creature as the delightful Audrey possibly be so completely and dangerously insane? Well, they say that psychotics smile too much, and this proves it. This is a study in extreme 'erotomania'. Lest that be misunderstood, I need to stress that there is not one erotic scene in this film, and that the word refers to a psychotic love fixation on someone you barely know, or perhaps don't know at all. I don't want to give too much away, but I need to say that the film shows the story from two points of view, hers (Audrey's) and his (Samuel Le Bihan, who is inspired and harrowing as the object of the obsession). The script is so spectacularly brilliant and ingeniously-plotted that this film joins 'l'Appartement' and 'Tell No One' as one of the best-crafted thriller scripts of the last twenty years in any country. It was written by the director Laetitia Colombani (aged 31/2, the same as Audrey Tautou) and Caroline Thivel. They should have had a Cesar for it. The direction is wonderful, paced to perfection, inspired, chilling, indeed terrifying. What a triumph. And anyone who believed Audrey Tautou could not surpass herself was wrong.

Predictable really...

[TheOtherFool · 6/10 · 23 November 2003]

Not a bad movie, for sure... Tatou is as charming as in Amelie, and no complaint either about the other actors... But you do kinda know which way the movie is going, so the gimmick of telling the same story twice from two different perspectives wasn't even necessary if you'd ask me... 6/10.

Enjoyable folly from France.

[FilmSnobby · 4/10 · 5 July 2005]

Wise career move for Audrey Tautou after the excruciatingly cute *Amelie*. Newcomer Laetitia Colombani's debut, *He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not*, appears to go out of its way to take Tautou's tendency for bug-cuteness, to say nothing of her elfin hyperactivity, to the max, rubbing our face in it. If you thought she seemed a little demented in *Amelie*, as I did, then this movie justifies your suspicions. It's clear that Tautou is determined not to be the 4' 11"-version of Audrey Hepburn, going instead for the fierce, sharp-clawed, furry-little-beast appeal of Genevieve Bujold.

Tautou plays an art student -- a young, adorable romantic who does the very French thing of falling in love with an older man, a handsome cardiologist (played well by Samuel Le Bihan). Tautou putt-putts around town on her moped, loitering at flower-shops, mooning over the man of her dreams (and slowly losing her job at a café because of it). The fact that she's house-sitting for a well-to-do couple whose house is across the street from Le Bihan's makes it all seem deliciously easy. Slight snag, though: he's married, and the wife is pregnant. But, we're assured, the separation is coming soon, and a romantic trip to Florence is already in the works.

Director Colombani is in too much of a hurry during these first 45 minutes. Events cascade at a breakneck speed, and before you know it, our heroine has gone off the deep end after things haven't gone her way: she literally runs stark-raving mad around a local park; trashes her paintings; makes a mess of the place she's temporarily living in; turns on the stove-gas in preparation for a dirt-nap. One is ready to assume that the movie has either lost its moorings or is simply inept, but then the entire thing suddenly rewinds back to the beginning for the cardiologist's perspective of the events. And what a different perspective it is! (We've been had.)

The movie slows down during the second half, adding decorative details, nuances in character, a series of red-herrings, important side-stories, and, above all, a great performance from Le Bihan as a man whose world is falling apart. It becomes clear why Colombani felt that she had to hurry things along early in the film, but I think she went a bit overboard. The narrative surprises in the second half would have been enriched by a more careful delineation of plot and character in the first half. We're not convinced by Tautou's side of the story, with the result that Le Bihan's half becomes a bit diagrammatic (despite its better execution). I'm afraid the best that Colombani can come up with is: HOW will Le Bihan catch on to things? And I'm sorrier to say that he arrives to his conclusion via that hoary cinematic standby: the flashbacks of previous scenes while lying in bed, mulling things over.

I'm usually complaining about movies being too long, but *He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not* should have been 15-20 minutes longer, with most of those minutes focusing on Tautou's narrative. Besides, I wouldn't have minded spending more time with the exquisite cinematography on display. (The flower-shop sequence is a visual wonder.) It was also nice to see a filmmaker use, and stubbornly maintain, a consistent visual motif, e.g. roses. Perhaps directors these days are too afraid to be called pretentious if they make use of symbols, or perhaps they're simply too lazy to bother, figuring the Ritalin addicts will be too distracted to notice. In any event, it was nice to see it here.

Not bad at all; good for a rental. 4 stars out of 10.

A marvelous French twist!

[noralee · 2 March 2003]

"He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not (À la folie... pas du tout)" is a marvelous French twist.

The re-wind technique of different perspectives, descended from the Japanese "Rashomon," has combined entertainment with philosophical insight by the German Tom Tykwer, in such as "Run Lola Run," and with socio-political commentary in the Mexican "Amores Perros." Add in the American know-how of creepiness from "Fatal Attraction" and "One Hour Photo," and the French writer/director Laetitia Colombani, mais oui, applies it all to matters of the heart.

She uses both a rational and visual approach to an enormously entertaining take on "she says, he says"/"he loves she who is in love with he who is in love with she" etc. that is an unpredictable roller coaster.

One lead character is a cardiologist (the particularly hunky Samuel Le Bihan) and the other plays on our expectations of that gamin par excellence Audrey Tautou of "Amelie." We see her at first surrounded by flowers and heart decorations so of course our sympathies go out to her. Ah, how our interpretation of those wide black eyes can change! And if only Hollywood actresses would be willing to allow their images to be so cleverly manipulated.

Our other stereotypical assumptions also lead to other surprises. Unlike Hollywood, this movie respects our intelligence, and leaves us to figure out what's going on and anticipate what will happen after the end.

Just like it took awhile to feel good about "Singing in the Rain" after seeing "Clockwork Orange" and a certain classic rock song after "Reservoir Dogs," you may get a frisson of the creepies from Nat King Cole after this.

While you not may feel good at the end about particular characters and what they have done or will do, you will feel good about moviemaking and going to the movies.

Enjoyable but easily forgettable "obsessive love" story.

[stuka24 · 6/10 · 30 May 2010]

This is a film for Audrey Tatou's fans.

The young directress, from "Mes stars et moi" does very feminine films, not in the best sense. Perfect setting, chic everything, Art is all around, romance is all that matters, nutty, hysterical women, catchy pop tunes... Tatou does Angelique, but supposedly "mad" now. As she's not convincing at all, the movie falters.

Beautiful Isabelle Carré, who starred "Maman est folle" and played the little girl in the gifted "Les enfants du marais", plays the doctor's wife, a character which never really leaves ground. Interestingly enough, she starred "Anna O." where she's, guess what, a loner who becomes in mad love with her doctor. ...

Clément Sibony, who starred "l'envol" with Isabelle, is reportedly pretty handsome according to my female company while watching the film. He's very convincing in an unconvincing role. Nice Élodie Navarre, from Reporters (TV) and Love, etc. is wasted here, her character suddenly gains importance, for then disappearing. Héloïse's character is insipid, which is a pity for it probably was supposed to serve as counterbalance to Angélique, but goes off the story at the time it should be more present, that is, in the last 1/3rd of the movie.

I've been told from a reputable cinema buff this film is a rip-off from "Fatal attraction" and the less obvious "The Crush (1993)" starring Alicia Silverstone as a 14 year old, the same mental age than Ángelique.

I never understood the genre of the film. Creative Amazon reviewer Simon (ON) writes "romantic thriller" which is probably even right, although it proves that him as well as other reviewers can be more intelligent than the film itself.

an exceptional film--especially the 2nd half

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 13 November 2005]

For about the first 40 minutes of the film, I was irritated. The main character seemed like a woman with no self-esteem and I really hated her boyfriend. In fact, I almost turned off the DVD because I HATE films about stupid women who let men walk all over them. And then, came the BIG surprise in the second half when the same story occurs but is shown from the evil boyfriend's point of view. And WOW did the entire story change and take on an entirely different direction!! I was thrilled that the writers and director had fooled me so much into believing everything I saw in the first half! I really can't say more, as it would definitely ruin the picture. Suffice to say, it was an amazing psychological thriller masquerading as a trite romance.

Interestingly, showing the story from two different viewpoints makes this film very reminiscent of the great Kurosawa film, RASHOMAN. My advice is see them both, since they are both exceptional examples of great film making.

It's well-made...but don't be fooled.

[gridoon · 6/10 · 23 May 2004]

"He Loves Me...He Loves Me Not" is a glowingly photographed, seamlessly directed, and well-acted (especially by Samuel Le Bihan) French thriller... but the script isn't quite as clever as it thinks it is; most of the surprises in the second half will be transparent for attentive viewers (the fact that nearly every review discusses the central concept doesn't help). The movie basically serves up the old "Fatal Attraction" tale in a slightly new way, and expects us to be wowed. Well, we aren't. (**)

Audrey Tatou, perhaps not so sweet?

[Rick_Bman · 9/10 · 11 September 2007]

He Loves Me... He Loves Me Not had been sitting in my Netflix Queue for some time. I hadn't heard much about it but my love for Audrey Tautou made me curious to see it. I kept putting it off though, something about the cover and the tag line "Is she crazy in love, or just crazy?" made it seem kind of like a cutsie romantic comedy that wasn't going to interest me. However, my sister who had been putting off seeing it for the same reason finally watched it and told me how great it was. I must thank her because if not for her I might have taken an even longer time to watch this wonderful film.

The film is far from a silly romantic comedy in any way, it falls closer to a thriller than anything else and at some points in the film it even gets rather disturbing. That being said the tag line that I mentioned before should not be taken as a light hearted jest, the tag line should be taken rather seriously, because the sanity of the Angelique (Audrey Tautou) is in question for quite a bit of the film.

Audrey Tautou plays Angelique marvelously as is expected since she has yet to disappoint me in any film I have seen her in, it doesn't hurt that she is pretty damn cute as well. However in this film, that cute and innocent looking exterior may be hiding something much more sinister and disturbing. Audrey Tautou does a good job of making us wonder if Angélique is really all there for most of the movie. Sometimes she seems to be on the verge of a breakdown and sometimes she lets her anger do some dastardly things.

The whole movie is put together in a way that the audience really doesn't know what to expect from Angelique. At first she seems like a sweet and innocent girl that wouldn't hurt a fly. However when Loic, the married man that she is dating begins to leads her on and breaks promises she begins to lose it. Has Loic led her down this path of self destruction or is there something even more troubling going on for Angelique? One of the best parts of the film is that the audience gets to see the relationship between Loic and Angelique from both sides of the relationship. Only after the audience has seen both sides can they really see how this relationship came into existence and how Angelique's problems began to manifest themselves. I definitely loved this film; it was a well written and well acted thriller that kept me on my toes quite a bit. I highly recommend this to anyone, especially if you are a fan of Audrey Tautou.

Little more than a novelty

[=G= · 6/10 · 12 August 2003]

"He Loves Me..." shows us about 30 minutes of a story involving a young woman in love with a married man from her perspective. Then the film rewinds (literally) and shows us the same story from the married man's perspective. Then it finishes with a less than satisfying denouement. A good production effort by most standards, "He Loves Me..." trades character depth for story and delivers its love triangle tale in an unnecessarily convoluted way for no reason other than novelty. A coulda, shoula been better flick with only a moderate level of appreciation from critics and public alike, "He Loves Me...." compromises its Frenchness. The French make great people films. This isn't one of them. (B-)

An ingenious surprise.

[dead47548 · 9/10 · 1 February 2008]

Wow; definitely not what I expected. It starts with the very cute Audrey Tautou being infatuated with a man, who we then find out is married. Then it becomes a story of her being obsessed with Samuel Le Bihan's character and eventually being outrageously heartbroken and in the middle of an attempted suicide. And then comes the twist, which might be the greatest I've ever seen. It sets us back at the beginning of the story and shows it from the Le Bihan's point of view, completely changing everything. Tautou goes from being an adorable, naive victim to a creepy psychopath; absolutely out of her mind. Bihan goes from being an adulterous prick to a painfully sympathetic victim. It's got to be the most phenomenal, unpredictable twist I've ever seen. It perfectly shows the film's message of how every story can be completely different depending on whose point of view it's told from. And Tautou's performance is one of the best of the decade.

Madly in love

[AirPlant · 7/10 · 30 October 2009]

Audrey Tatou portrays Angelique; a beautiful and talented art student who falls deeply in love with married cardiologist Loïc. Over the first half of this movie, they plan how he will escape from his unhappy marriage, his pregnant wife and live an idyllic existence together. Initially, the story focuses on Angelique's point of view; we see her conspiring with her treacherous paramour, leaving voice mail messages and sending love letters and as such, this appears to be no more than a conventional, if rather sordid tale of betrayal and marital infidelity. However, half way through the movie, our perspective changes, and now we see the story through the eyes of Angelique's object of desire; Loïc. Without giving away the ingenious premise, I will say that the story is not as straightforward as it first appears. Our preconceptions and expectations are challenged, and the personalities of the participants are laid bare. This is a sometimes uncomfortable examination of obsession and the lengths human beings will go to in the name of love.

The dark side of Amelie

[Galina_movie_fan · 8/10 · 5 March 2008]

À la folie... pas du tout (2002) aka He Loves Me... He Loves Me Not was written/ directed by Laetitia Colombani and starred Audrey Tautou. It was made right after 'Amelie' and it looks like 'Amelie', especially in the opening scenes on the beautiful and colorful streets of Bordeaux that prepare a viewer for the light romantic story. Young and pretty Art student Angelique (Audrey Tautou) seems to have found her fabulous destiny and the love of her life in Laic, a cardiologist (Samuel Le Bihan) who seems to be as much in love with her as she is with him. But is he? And what about his wife who is pregnant with their first child? Step by step, the film takes an interesting turn and becomes a story rather dark and disturbing, told from different perspectives, Rashomon - style. What started as a light and sweet romantic comedy, very successfully turned into a well made thriller. The way the young writer/director presented and contrasted two points of view at the same events, is remarkable. We all know from Geometry classes that parallel lines never cross, at least in Euclid's Geometry they don't but sometimes when you look at the lines in space from certain POV, it looks like they cross – I kept thinking about it while watching He Loves Me... He Loves Me Not which I highly recommend. Audrey Tautou was wonderful – without giving too much out, I just say that she played a character that I found deeper, darker, and more interesting than Amelie, the dark side of Amelie.

"Love,was made for me and you."

[morrison-dylan-fan · 7/10 · 13 August 2016]

Reminded of the sweet film Amélie when talking to a fellow IMDber about the Cinema Du Look movement,I felt that it was the perfect time to catch a glimpse of its lead star: Audrey Tautou.Planning to get Tautou movies on DVD,I got very lucky and stumbled on a movie of Tautou's online (with English Subs!) which led to me getting ready to pull the petals of love.

The plot:

Running into neighbour Dr.Loïc Le Garrec, Angélique finds herself quickly falling in love.Becoming obsessed with Garrec, Angélique starts making plans for them to go on holiday and to start a family. Learning that a patient is suing Garrec after they got into a fight, Angélique decides to pay the patient a visit,which causes the patient to die of fright. Seeing these events as making their love stronger, Angélique soon discovers that Garrec has a completely different perspective on their romance.

View on the film:

Taking the bones of the Erotic Thriller,the screenplay by co- writer/(along with Caroline Thivel) director Laetitia Colombani turns the sub-genre on its head with a quirky delight,which gives the extreme distance that Angélique goes to express her love a distinctively quirky edge. Cutting the title in half on a specific event,the writers brilliantly switch the films mood from playful Comedy to dark Thriller via giving Angélique's side a lightness that keeps everything skin-deep,which digs in as Garrec starts to becoming aware of the unfolding nightmare.

Going blue for Garrec,director Colombani and cinematographer Pierre Aïm play the love game with a kind of blue,as stylish deep blue's soak up the romantic, breezy mood Garrec casts over Angélique.Opening up her private life, Colombani whirls the movie in a maze of colour, scatted across the screen in eye-catching, ill- fitting patrons matching the odds and fading ends that Angélique has used to make her dream romance painting. Trapped in an unknown romance, Samuel Le Bihan gives a great performance as Garrec, fuelled by Bihan giving Garrec busted nerves over the "gifts" Angélique sends him.Looking like a broken china doll, Audrey Tautou gives an excellent performance as Angélique,whose quirky warmth Tautou cleverly uses to boil a peculiar viciousness,which spills over as Angélique wonders if her loves me,or he loves me not.

SPOILER ALERT Abject stupidity (this review contains spoilers)

[BadSausages · 1/10 · 12 August 2021]

An interesting premise for a film. A less interesting approach. Poor execution.

!!! SPOILER ALERT !!!

The first half of the film is from a perspective of one person. The second half of the film is from the perspective of a second person.

Seriously, if you can't figure out what's going on from the first half alone, you must be brain dead.

!!! SPOILER ALERT !!!

Worse, the spouse of the second person is a lawyer. Nevertheless, despite both the second person and the lawyer spouse having evidence of crimes, including a serious act of physical violence against them, they never say anything to the police.

Furthermore, there was evidence known to several of the vicim's associates, none of whom communicated anything to the police.

!!! SPOILER ALERT !!!

The audience knows the key belongs to the door. It's not suspenseful to delay turning the key. Of course, this wouldn't be an issue if the key had been given to the police as it should have been.