Declaration of War (2011)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Good concept, poorly executed.

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

a puzzle from many, many crumbs. subtle performances. a real story. and fascinating definition of love. a film about family. about hope, angry, relatives. about expectations, cries and decisions. about the innocence. and about the sacrifice as basic ingredient of fight. about lost feelings and too high expectations. about the reflection of the other in yourself. a special more than beautiful film. strange and delicate. convincing in a manner who has the gift to remind new forms of the well known things. a film as testimony. and as poem about a war who changes all. a war who transforms and becomes the map for gestures, words and beginnings. a film about a couple against the ambiguity of the evil, and about a presure's form who transforms everything.

At the beginning, I didn't want to see this movie, even if I read it tried not to be just a sad movie about a couple and their poor kid suffering of cancer. The movie is sad, even if end in a fairly good way, but it's bearable. But it also shows that life in this circumstances should also be positive or least one has to make an effort to make the story positive.Said this, this movie moved me almost to tears, imagining the poor kid, even if the movie never shows his suffering.And it's a movie that shows normal people, with a normal life, facing a tragedy. It could also be a movie that shows again we never have to give up and loose hope, but well, that's a true statement.

@ 36th Hong Kong International Film FestivalBy being the opening film of the 36th Hong Kong International Film Festival, Declaration of War is a film that touches the audience hearts, but more importantly it talks about real humans, real events, real emotions and real surroundings. For that alone director and main actress deserves a simple round of applause. It is not easy to go through a traumatic experience and come out strongly by telling her life story through films. This film works because the director never stray away from its core issue of a couple dealing with their child having a brain trauma and all the other issues that goes along with it – losing money, jobs, lifestyle, relationships and ultimately themselves. It should be complimented that the film yet is about to play with a sense of humor along the way.Valerie Donzelli not only carries the film as the mother and wife, but directs a film that is so personal to her. It was my honour to meet such a strong lady at the festival. In the scene where she ran and ran in the hospital corridors until she collapses is a perfect example of originality in her camera work and her ability to depicts and communicate a difficult moment. Likewise her former partner Jeremie Elkaim excels in a role that compliments Valerie and two display amazing chemistry that cannot just be manufactured.All in all, Declaration of War is very much a personal film, about how a child's illness can affect almost everything in his parents life. Dealing with difficult times like these is never easy and often the wear and tear will stop any couple from living their lives. Points should be given to Valerie for being able to so convincing portray these emotions. Although the film seems raw at times, War is very much a perfect example of how an extremely personal film can still affect the audience. While the film may never be a masterpiece, Valerie have certainly created and shared something special…Neo rates 8.5/10www.thehkneo.com

This is an incredible movie. Just imagine: two young people are attracted to each other, live together happily until they realize the child they have had happens to suffer from a particularly malignant brain tumor, a fact abruptly plunging them into a terrible four-year ordeal, leading them to breakup because of the hardships inherent in the situation, only to..., some time later,... make a film out of this excruciating experience! And not only do they write the story and direct (at least the woman) but they play their own characters as well, carefully replicating a reality that almost destroyed them. How courageous, how daring! A move close to sheer madness... How on earth can one go through the pangs of such an unbearable ordeal... TWICE? And how the devil can one make such a luminous film, able to deal with such a risky subject without falling into the many traps it contains? And how can one manage to give people hope and confidence by talking about death during most of a film? Well, miracles exist, since Valérie Donzelli (director, writer, main actress, makeup artist and hair stylist!) and her former life companion Jérémie Elkaïm (co-writer, main actor) have done just that with "La guerre est déclarée", giving an example that such a feat is within the realms of possibility.They manage this achievement by immediately finding the right tone and by never falling out of tune afterward. A winning principle announced in the title "Declaration of War", for both the characters are seen fighting instead of crying and moaning. This does not mean they never express their suffering - how could they help it? - but it is the dynamics of their struggle that is put forward, not the apathy their grief and anxiety are likely to generate.Valérie Donzelli is to be given special credit for her inspired direction. Not only does she pour her heart and soul into the filming of this painful chronicle but she also proves imaginative and creative, making use of an amazing variety of registers, devices and techniques which wind up making this movie unique: incongruous gags including during the most dramatic times; classic documentary (the way the little boy is treated in turns in Marseilles, in Paris and in Villejuif); original montages; inspired use of musical pieces creating the unexpected but effective cohabitation of Vivaldi, Delerue and pop music; resort to musical comedy (with the characters occasionally singing their feelings); use of metaphor (Juliette's disjointed run through the hospital corridor). And those examples are only a sample of all the personal touches Valérie Donzelli brings to this exceptional work.Never indulging in pathos or sentimentality,"La guerre est déclarée" nevertheless contains very moving scenes or sequences, my personal favorite being the one in which the unfortunate couple, unable to find sleep on the night before their son's operation, tell each other their fears to best calm their fears.A great shock, but a salutary one, "La guerre est déclarée", both the sincere account of a personal drama and a talented work of art for all, is one of the year 2011's masterpieces.