Criminal Lovers (1999)

Such a frustrating disappointment

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

By the time François Ozon released this film he was better known for his short movies and the "Les amants criminels" definitely lacks both quality and intensity to last for 90 minutes. Jérémie Reniers' character was mighty unconvincing and contradicting. Natacha Régnier, on the other hand, has delivered but her effort is diminished, due to the fact, that her role is not central. On the bright side, film contains pecularities and details only attentive and thinking person can spot and analyze. Overall, in my humble opinion, I think that 30 to 45 minutes is more than enough for that particular movie, due to the fact that, acting is not great, details are scattered too widely and outcome is predictable.NOTE: I did not read or watch "Hansel and Gretel".

Alice a young student in France, is a tease. She loves to flirt with one athletic youth who appears to be of Arab descent, Said. This young student likes Alice, but she plays hard to get, and for all purposes, she has a thing in mind for him. Luc, another student, likes Alice as well, but he is too shy to act on his instincts. This girl is bent in getting her revenge on the more confident Said and she enlists Luc to be the one that will carry it for her. After Alice insinuates herself to Said, Luc appears on the scene and stabs his rival to death.Luc and Alice have to dispose of the body and for that they must take him away. For that, Luc has borrowed his father car and the body is taken to a forest to be buried. Unknown to them, they are being watched. The killers lose the way to the car, but they find a lonely cabin that appear to he empty. Little prepare them when a strange man comes into the hut and overpowers them to a filthy lower part of the house.The man has plans for the couple. When Alice plead with this person by offering sex for their freedom, he tells them he likes his boys fattened and his girls thin before he eats them. With that, it is clear it is Luc who is the chosen one to fulfill the forest man's own sexual appetite. Luc in fact, is sexually turned on by this crude man in ways one did not expect. When they eventually overpower the ogre, and only then, they engage in sex as the animals of the forest surround them in a sort of Disney reverie.Francois Ozon, one of France's best new directors, wrote this film of 1999 with the idea of perhaps retelling the fairy tale story of "Hansel and Gretel". The story parallel the children's narrative with a more menacing and cruel reality. Mr. Ozon's version clearly shows that it is Luc who is the one that awakens to the kind of sex that he has lusted for, but never was able to get. The film has a little bit of everything including cannibalism that comes into play in this update of a Grimm's brothers tale.The excellent Jeremie Renier, who has worked repeatedly with the Dardennes Brothers, clearly demonstrates he is one of the most interesting actors working in Europe today. He is perfect as Luc. Natacha Regnier, a beautiful actress, is seen as Alice, the calculating girl too sure of what she can do to the more impressionable Luc. Miki Mnojilovic does a good job impersonating the strange man of the woods."Les amants criminel" is obviously not for the great masses, but it will reward Mr. Ozon's fans in unexpected ways.

Fascinating film, loosely derived from the Grimm tale Hansel and Gretel, in which two white teens (virgin boy and intense, poetry-loving girl) conspire to kill a gorgeous Arab boy at their school. After the crime, they enter a forest to dispose of the body, which puts them into the power of a mysterious woodsman who kidnaps and keeps them prisoner, using the boy as his sex slave and shoving the girl in the cellar with their murder victim's dead body. Bizarre sex games, inter-generational buggery and even cannibalism come and go before the kids escape, enjoy a brief moment of sexual consummation before falling into the hands of a faceless Law.The film could be interpreted by Freudian or other symbolic means, but it is best seen as a series of provocative affects, in which the viewer is goaded, poked, prodded, aroused, repulsed and emotionally involved with what s/he sees in order that they be taken on a journey to the furthest and wildest reaches of their desire. Do we want the Arab boy's lithe body, alive or dead? do we desire the punishment of the murderers? do we blame the girl for leading her boyfriend astray? are we turned on by the woodsman buggering the boy? are we wanting them to be prevented from ending the film as a happy heterosexual couple? do we desire the girl's death? are we touched by the glances of romantic collusion between the woodsman and the boy? All of these questions are provocative and suggest what an extreme ride into transgressive thought Les Amants Criminals really is.Ozon directs beautifully, each moment given its proper weight, with lighting, sound and camera angles perfect at every point, conspiring to give the viewer a wonderfully disorientating experience.

Francois Ozon has made a name for himself in modern foreign cinema for being more daring and more inventive than most directors would dare to be, and Criminal Lovers is a film that belongs towards the top of his already impressive list of director's credits. Criminal Lovers is a modernisation of the classic Hansel and Gretal tale, which is fused with the 'criminals on the run' theme of which such earlier films such as Badlands and Natural Born Killers utilised so well. Typically for Ozon, there is more to the film than just what it's plot presents and with this common theme the modern day genius has put together a multi-layered work of art, that will be seen differently by whoever sees it. On one hand, it's an exciting crime thriller, but on the other hand it's a tale of redemption, forgiveness and/or retribution. The way that you take the movie will definitely depend on your views on the movie's themes, such as the central one that depicts murder. The film is almost too skillful for it's own good, as it masks it's underlying themes behind it's visage of a shock movie; but if you're smart, they're more than evident.The man who dared to insert a musical number into a Rainer Werner Fassbinder screenplay hasn't exactly been reserved with the shocks in this movie, and the easily offended should still make sure that they steer clear of it. The film has homosexual undertones galore and the way that the murder happens, along with the amount of sex in the movie, isn't exactly restrained either. The acting is largely good, with the two leads, Natacha Régnier and Jérémie Renier, standing out the most. They both bring exactly the right mood to their characters, which are fascinating specimens in themselves. The way that Ozon has handled the screenplay is superb, as the dialogue is believable and so are all of the character's motivations. Making your audience believe you is one of the hardest things to achieve when penning a screenplay, and Ozon has proved time and time again that he is capable of doing just that. The idea of updating the classic children's story of Hansel and Gretal is definitely a good one, and this film draws much of it's appeal from that central backbone. All in all; kudos, Ozon!