The Devils (2002)

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

To Karl, who practically took a swing at the director of this fabulous film, honestly you have no idea.Please do tell me why this film was so bad? I found it inspiring and uplifting in a sense. I myself have an autistic brother and your dreadful use of the word "feral" was quite offensive.To say it was one of the worst films you have ever seen is a complete utter joke. The director and actors have put countless hours into this film and the intriguing storyline was moving. Many movies out there either have no storyline or lack of effort in not only the directing of the film but the lack of professionalism on the actors behalf.Again, I think you need to look at this film from a different angle as it seems you have only looked at it from a selfish point of view.For the record, I thought it was an astounding film, absolutely magnificent performances by Vincent and Adele. Top work!

Chanced across this movie on the ever-reliable SBS television network tonight, and got hooked very quickly.After the "prison break-out" scenes at two-thirds of the way through I honestly thought that this movie should end. In fact I started to get annoyed with it at that point, but the relationship between the two leads was in fact extended in a completely different direction and the conclusion - that you only "have to sit down and push with your own two feet" - was well worth what seemed like a lengthy epilogue.In fact for me it was really the performances of the two leads that made this movie special. It's great to see such convincing performances from such young actors. It's certainly no Rain Man - thankfully. Joseph is particularly powerful as the Tom Cruise equivalent in the lengths that he goes to defend his "sister" - to the point of losing his own sanity. It's also no Shine - Chloe's almost wordless performance is really quite convincing without any of the effort that Geoffrey Rush had to make. I just hope she doesn't get type-cast.For the record, I don't think it's ever made clear that there is any direct family relationship between them, and in fact Chloe continues to seek her true "home" with Joseph's assistance - while he rejects his own.And ultimately it thereby becomes a story about family. Joseph rejects his true "family" when it is found, perhaps because he isn't satisfied that Chloe has found hers. When she wanders into her final ideal home and and hugs her final ideal parents (who Joseph holds at knife-point) it really gets rammed home that the only family they've ever had is each other.Sniff.Of course if you don't understand French and have to read the subtitles it's probably only a 7.5. And then I could spin a few more paragraphs about the story this tells about how we treat our children. But I won't.And having said ALL of that I do have some issues with some of the nudity in this movie. Having grown up in France I understand that it's "purely artistic" but I'm not sure that those standards apply in other countries.

Wow, where did these actors come from? Throughout the film, I was in turmoil who was the better actor, Adele Haenel or Vincent Rottiers. She did an outstanding job in an almost non-speaking role and he was very morose, gloomy and violent as well. I do believe that to get children (although they're almost teens) to act this way is very hard. And to accomplish it in two actors, is very admirable. Ruggia did an excellent job, maybe the casting alone was 90 percent of that.Without spoilering anything, I would like to comment that the let's say, 'least boring scenes' between Haenel and Rottiers, to use a heavy understatement, have not been shot in a mainstream film, since Maladolescenza (1977) ( http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0076749/ ). I suppose Ruggia didn't care about American distribution, and rightly so. Take into account that Maladolescenza was shot in a very different era, where a lot more was possible, a much more permissive epoque when not EVERY bit of skin was declared porn as it is now, we have to salute Ruggia even more, and Haenel and Rottiers as well. Although ... I don't know what the reason is that Haenel has not made a film since Les Diables, and Rottiers has. If it is because of those 'least boring scenes', then that surely would be a pity, because then we would have lost a potentially great actress.

I don't know if you have seen Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange", but maybe you are aware of the scene where the lead character is forced to watch gruesome film sequences under the influence of nausea-inducing medication, whilst being tied down and having his eyes forced open by a speculum-like contraption. I mention this because it somehow is a very apt description of what watching "Les diables" felt like to me. I actually saw it when it first came out, about two years ago, and although I have forgotten most of the plot that feeling is still with me.Without "giving away" (in the widest possible sense) too much, "Les diables" is a film about two feral, orphaned siblings (the girl is supposedly autistic, and feral, while the boy is just feral) who run away from their orphanage and essentially go on a rampage, committing every monstrosity in the book of cliché'd filmmaking, including murder, arson and incest. I can only speculate about what the director, Christophe Ruggia, was trying to achieve, but at some point he must have decided to patch over the undeniably weak script with scenes of crassness so that the film would be labeled "disturbing" -- and quite a number of viewers seem to have fallen for this gimmick. The only thing it did for me was to make an already mediocre movie memorably bad -- "disturbing", no doubt, but not in the way the director could have intended.To give credit where it's due, and without taking anything away from the film's god-awfulness, I thought that the acting of Vincent Rottiers, who plays the brother ("Joseph"), was quite remarkable. Overall, this could quite possibly be the worst film I have ever seen in my life. May god will that it remains thus.