Masmi

Julie Kavner's low key, but warm acting as the nurse Eleanor gives nice, grounded feeling to this movie. De Niro and Williams are good, but their actings are both very charged, and tend to overheat from time to time. Add Julie Kavner, and the tension disappears and atmosphere cools down. We get back into touch with the reality, which, as represented by Kavner, feels comforting. Many of other supporting roles are also played with the right tone.

I'd never seen Binoche really act before. In "Blue" and "English Patient", all she needed was to do her photogenic pose. The camera and director took care of the rest. They created the illusion of depth of emotion from one static expression she knew very well to display. I admit that that "Binoche look" is enchanting. Hers is a very attractive face. But calling what she does in these movies acting seems to me an insult to the actresses who know their trade really well, like Emma Thompson. In "Couch" she is required to more than looking pretty. She actually talks and show emotions. And the effect is so amateurish, the personality she plays is so phony, it disrupts the pace and the harmony of the movie. With the basic material, which is right for a light comedy, and with another actress, e.g. Julia Roberts, this movie could have been charming. With Emma Thompson, it could have been memorable. With Binoche, the movie did not live up to its potential.

I've watched this 3 hrs+ movie a dozen of times already, and I am sill thirsty for more. This movie is packed with beautiful acting by nearly all casts. These English actors seem to know how to control their facial expressions, vocal tones, body movement with remarkable precision to convey all degrees of emotions and personalities. Directing, music, costume, editing, cinematography are all equally good as well, and together with the great actings, creates a beautiful harmony. This movie is made of one piece. Like "Lawrence of Arabia", whereever we slice it, the piece has a harmony, like the music by great composers.

If I have to live in a desert island and can bring one video with me, I guess I'll choose this one.

To me, TEP is like an expensively made, decorative photo-Roman. Some people may actually enjoy it if they are not used to movies of different kind; the kind that have not just talking mannequins shot photogenically against filterd posters of desert sunsets, but with real people in them.

For others who can't forgive themselves for the time they spent watching this movie, I recommend "Fortunes of War", a BBC production (1989 ?) about the life of people, including, but not exclusively, an English couple during WWII. Similarity of the film with TEP ends there. "Fortune" has real story and acting, and good ones on top of it, thank heavens. It's 6 hours long but very enjoyable 6 hours, so you can make up the 3 hours you wasted for TEP.