Unforgivable (2011) User Reviews (11)

Why Should I Care About These Unlikable Characters?

[larrys3 · 6/10 · 8 January 2013]

This French drama was directed and co-written by one of the stalwarts of the French film industry Andre Techine. It has an all-star cast which includes the veteran award winning actor Andre Dussollier and the very talented Carole Bouquet.

At the outset, Dussollier portraying Francis a famous crime novelist, has come to Venice to rest and hopefully write his next book. He meets Bouquet, the real estate agent showing him possible living accommodations, and they seem to hit it off. This takes place amidst the spectacular cinematography of the outlying waterways of Venice, where both ocean liners and small boats co-exist.

He says he will rent the very expensive home she's showing him if she will move in with him. After thinking about it and consulting with a friend, and former lover of hers (portrayed by Adriana Asti), she accepts.

However, we quickly learn this idyllic setting in the early parts of the film will not last long. As various characters come in and out of the movie, I found almost all of them to be very unlikeable and some of their actions to be actually despicable.

For example, when Dussollier's daughter (portrayed by Melanie Thierry) comes to visit him and Bouquet, who are now married, she ends up completely disappearing and abandoning her young daughter and husband. When Dussollier hires Asti, a former Private Investigator, to find her Asti discovers she has run off with a drug dealer. Later, Thierry ends up sending her father a porno tape of her and the drug dealer just to infuriate him, as apparently they've had a long history of conflicts.

This is just one example of many. The acting and the dialogue are strong and as mentioned the cinematography is wonderful, but I found by the end of the movie I really didn't care what happened to any of these people.

Also, a note of caution: There is a scene in the film where a dog is suddenly murdered and I found this to be brutal to have witnessed.

In summary, this French drama left me as cold and unfeeling as the people in it.

Unforgiven

[jotix100 · 5/10 · 1 June 2013]

Andre Techine's 2011 film "Impardonnable" was shown recently on a cable channel. The idea of a new production by M. Techine, as well as the people involved in it, was a deciding factor for our interest in watching it. Sadly to say, the film is a disappointment, compared with better, more accomplished films by the director.

The main problem is one of credibility. The premise sounds false from start to finish, but we went along hoping for the best, a promise that alas, did not pan out as expected. Supposedly, this picture is based on a novel by Philippe Dijan, which of course, we have not read. M. Techine and his collaborator, Mehdi Ben Attia, have tried injecting some life into the proceedings, with mixed results.

The excellent Andre Dussolier, seen as Francis, has the unfortunate task to give life to the blocked crime writer who comes to Venice to get out of his funk. Instead, he gets involved into an affair with a younger woman, Judith, played with multi talented Carole Bouquet. Their love affair does not make much sense, and since doubt enters his mind, the writer engages Anna Maria, a private investigator, a woman who was Judith's lover to look into her imaginary affair that has been bothering Francis.

Andre Dussolier had the difficult assignment of baring it all in a couple of nude scenes, where a much modest Carole Bouquet keeps on her clothes. One can hope the next film by Andre Techine will find him in a different frame of mind.

Anyone for Venice?

[bob998 · 5/10 · 16 September 2015]

For forty years now, Andre Techine has made films that have delighted me (Les roseaux sauvages, Les voleurs) or annoyed me (Le lieu du crime, Rendez-vous). He seems to be on safe ground when he deals with homosexuality, the need for family ties, and beautiful surroundings (here he can film Venice in all its splendour). He flounders when dealing with straight relationships: what is going on between Dussolier and Bouquet, anyway?-- they seem to be in different films.

Carole Bouquet is so splendid to look at that I can forgive almost any deficiency in the script in order to drink in that lovely face. Adriana Asti (Gina in Before the Revolution, the film that moved me more than any other) has the best line: "You turn everybody on but nobody turns you on!" It's so true, you admit ruefully. Melanie Thierry has a small part as Dussolier's daughter and leaves a good impression.

Only If you're not tired of overly sexualized French relationship drama's

[MdlndeHond · 4/10 · 22 November 2012]

Nothing new at the French Horizon. Former player/writer with a writers block passes his time spying on his wife, his ex wife and his daughter. Meanwhile 'shocking' scenes are intended with a little bit of homosexuality for every character, un peu de violence of course, and let's not forget unsettling parent/child dialogues you can always count on. Maybe this is all needed to fill up the rather lengthy runtime.

I seriously can not stand another French dragon like this. What is their obsession with homosexuality, sex and sour relationships in their cinema. For me this is the last one. It probably is a hit at the festivals but I can do without it.

Complacent look at ugly feelings

[jrocheman · 1/10 · 28 November 2013]

This movie is about love relations with voyeurism. Husband and wife, daughter and father have no other aim than the blunt show of their sexual ineptitude going adrift. Add to this that the other themes are about hopelessness and dissatisfaction, disrespect and bad communication, etc... This is boring, just a bad idea, bad ideas. Venice is great, nevertheless, as a character in itself, beside that the actors are great too. Bad time spent watching this even if Dussolier plays perfectly the sad father and husband, hiding feelings with bitterness so well, but Sorry All the other movies of André Techiné are better than this one.

Two Hours of Crap

[ajlane04 · 2/10 · 19 April 2013]

Oh goody: more neurotic people to watch ruin their lives and those around them. I love foreign films as they depict other views but this one left a lot to be desired.

The adorable dog being slammed against a wall to kill it was especially brutal. I'm sure the male who wrote this into the script is a brutal, evil person. Isn't there enough violence around us? Do we really have to call it entertainment?

The scenes of boating and Italy's waterfronts were interesting. The soft light in some of the scenes seemed kissed by the sun. But be forewarned: your time would be better spent taking a two hour nap.

Violence is not forgiven

[jromanbaker · 8/10 · 16 March 2021]

This is a very good film about the violence we do to others, emotional and physical. It is complex because there are many people in this film, some dependent on drugs, or the need of others, and those who cannot ultimately be touched physically or emotionally. The core of the film is Jeremie, a young man just out of prison who is often cruel, even to the point of not going to his mother's funeral. He only loves a dog, and by sheer bad luck a gay man tries to touch him and he throws him off a bridge in Venice where the film is set. The man finds him and kills his dog, and the young man goes into meltdown. End of spoilers. Andre Dussollier plays a writer who gets involved with a bisexual woman, and of course there is too much need on one side and also on the woman's side and this too has its cruelties. Techine is ruthless in dissection of how difficult the shifting sands of commitment are, either between parents with their children, and also with the children in relation to their parents. A self made porno film sent to a father by his daughter says it all. And this unforgivable behaviour towards others is like a cobweb, catching all of the characters into the loneliness that is perhaps the human condition. It is not quite Techine at his best, and the change from French into Italian seems tiring after a while. I also feel that some of the acting was not quite up to his standard, but to name the actors would be unfair. Beautifully filmed it catches superb moments like the storm over Venice seen from a distance, and of a wedding that shows a glimpse of mutual happiness. I have read the reviews here and am shocked at the way this film is denigrated. Like Caliban looking in a mirror we should all look to see how ugly we can be to others. This is not a comforting scenario, and for those who want to be undisturbed this film is not for them. Techine stands back and watches with his clear eyes and we should be very afraid of what he sees. I give it an 8 reluctantly as it is flawed in part but overall it is a fine cinematic experience to be put along with his other films. He is an aristocrat of film, and maybe he will be one of the last in this ever more saddening world, full of robots on the screen instead of the reality of how we as humans really are.

.. Europe just does it differently

[bjarias · 8/10 · 29 October 2014]

It took months (and numerous requests) but netflix finally put English subtitles on this movie. Worth the wait, this is an entertaining film (is there a bad one shot in Venice), with an excellent cast. They make it out to be a much larger age difference in the movie, but Bouquet and Dussolier are in fact only twelve years apart. He just looks much older, as Carole Bouquet is youthful and extremely attractive for her age... bit.ly/1jSPox2 .. Is it a stretch such a good looking woman would so desperately choose and want to be with him? You'll have judge that for yourself... European sensibilities and being in love making it a distinct possibility.

New Pseuds Start Here

[writers_reign · 20 November 2011]

Andre Techine is something of a poster boy on the Academic-Pseud circuit and clearly they're going to love this in the Senior Common Room and the BFI Boardroom - expect an article in Sight and Sound any time soon. Clearly it has something very profound to say about something. What exactly? You tell me, naval lint. Very possibly. A middle-aged writer is looking for a quiet retreat; a female estate agent slightly younger (in real life Carole Bouquet is eleven years younger than Andre Dussollier) gives him details of a house a short distance from Venice. He says he'll take it providing she will go and live there with him. She agrees. I know but this is Techine, the darling of the pseuds. His married daughter, who has left her husband to take up with a deadbeat, violent druggie, leaving her own daughter with grandfather, subsequently drops out of sight. The estate agent, who swings both ways, recommends a former lover, ex-private detective, to search for the daughter. The tec is reluctant because she is worried about her low-life son, due out of prison imminently. There's more but do you honestly CARE. Naturally, being Techine he shoots the film on location around Venice but does nothing so crass as offer any 'touristy' scenes of Venice, best leave that to the real filmmakers like David Lean and Visconti, pseuds are above pandering to entertainment. I've given it five out of ten for Dussollier and Bouquet, who deserve something for enduring this drek. Luckily Dussollier went straight from this to work with a real artiste, Ann Fontaine and significantly the film they made together is called My Worst Nightmare.

the law of unintended consequences

[lee_eisenberg · 8/10 · 21 October 2020]

I interpreted André Téchiné's "Impardonnables" ("Unforgivable" in English) as a look at how even the best intentions can go awry. The protagonist's relations with people result in some unpleasant things. Sometimes you just can't control what happens.

In addition, we get some neat shots of Venice's canals. I'd like to go there eventually.

Contains animal abuse

[jm10701 · 29 January 2013]

I rented this movie because I have loved every movie by André Téchiné I've ever seen, and I've seen most of them. After I had received the DVD in the mail but right before I watched it (Thank God!) I read several online reviews warning that it contains an appalling depiction of cruelty to an animal - a dog, evidently. I wish I had seen those reviews before I put this movie in my DVD queue; I'm just very grateful that I read them before watching it.

ALL animal cruelty depicted in a movie is gratuitous and inexcusable, by the way, and it doesn't matter AT ALL whether the abuse is real or simulated. Whether the animal hurt was alive or a very well-crafted prop doesn't matter to me as a viewer, although those who do hurt real animals for entertainment - and movies are entertainment - deserve to have the same things done to them (and, thank God, again, that's exactly what will happen eventually).

Shame on André Téchiné! What he did here is what's Unforgivable. He is one of the greatest modern movie directors, but after this he's off my list forever. Although I just got the DVD, and it's sitting in the player right now, I'll send it back to the rental company unwatched. By an act of superhuman will I am not going to crack the DVD first, but I sure would like to.

I have never before written a review of a movie I didn't see or a product I didn't use. I ordinarily disapprove strongly of reviewers who do such things, but this is not an ordinary situation. My personal experience with the movie is less important than spreading the word of the abuse it contains in any way I can.

I sincerely thank those earlier reviewers who published the warning, and I now pass it on to the next generation of movie-lovers who are considering this movie and care about animals. If those earlier reviewers were lying, if they have induced me to disparage this movie unfairly, I regret that, but it's a risk I'm willing to take for the sake of the animals and others who genuinely (and not just glibly to make themselves sound good) love animals.

To those of you who despise people like me, I say: I couldn't care less what you think. I didn't write this review for you.