I Love You, I Love You Not (1997)

I love this movie so much

Powerful

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Racism isn't always violent, verbal or obvious. It is usually so subtle and invisible that even those who have racist tendencies don't even realize that they are there. This deals with subconscious feelings of antisemitism, still prevalent more than 70 years after the end of the Holocaust. It's a story of one's own need to accept their heritage, to face their own prejudices towards their own background. Troubled teenager Claire Danes has trouble with her Jewish heritage even though she loves her Holocaust surviving grandmother (Jeanne Moreau) more than her own parents. Their relationship is one of a brutal honesty, and Danes must undergo her own hurts to come to terms with the legacy of decades before.While Danes is excellent, it's the very real, haunting performance by the legendary Jeanne Moreau that really strikes gold here. She wears the Auschwitz numbers on her arm, not because she has no choice, but because she has to, for her own survival, to teach the lessons of tolerance, to educate to prevent future atrocities, to help her beloved granddaughter accept herself. I once knew a lady who does what Moreau did here, going to school to share her experiences, always with a glow on her face, that victory over death, simply because she survived. I often wondered if she was asked all of the dumb questions from naive and insensitive high school students. Questions like, Did you know Anne Frank? Did you ever see Hitler?, etc., and more realistic, caring questions like, Did your family survive?There's the subplot between Danes and hunky Jude Law, the most popular boy in her class, who awakens Danes to her feelings and allows Danes to reveal who she is. He isn't revealed to be antisemitic, just frustrated by her inability to relax, and it is his frustration with her that leads her to finally un-bottle all of the insecurities inside her. While her sufferings are minor compared to get grandmother's, she needs something to pull her out of that shell.

I saw useful comparisons between Daisy and my acquaintances's daughter at a time when her mother was baffled by her daughter's behavior. Sent a copy to my friend, but she didn't see any connections. Oh well, I received insight into the daughter in question. I had been mystified before I saw the movie.Such a TREAT to Jeanne Moreau: so stalwart!! What seemed to non-equities in the Nana's portrayal, actually turned out to be an adaptation to a healthier outlook. I was most taken, when Nana says in reply to Daisy's question, "What is going to happen to me?", "Everything!!" I was able to take this movie line and get comfort from it.The settings for the film were beautiful, charming, idyllic, old-fashioned, and European. (I think Sweden, Finland, Switzerland?? Just guessing.) I found this film to be a treat for the eyes.

Seriously, after I watched it, and all I could think of was how hurtful to Daisy it was having such a grandmother, who constantly absorbs her life and makes her unwilling to connect to anyone else, and creating such snowball effect. "Weirdness" aside it's not normal anyone would pick a park, with your acknowledged beau nearby, to just ignore him and read alone. Why go there at all? She seemed more anti-social than shy. You'd also think that someone who read so much would be more tolerant to the fact that others may not enjoy books, and be more eloquent.Also the holocaust themes were badly tied into the movie, more like "hammered in", and some things don't even make any sense, like how that piece of paper got glued in her locked locker. Who would want to keep their stuff in those if they are that easy to open? the logical way would have been to toss the paper inside through the locker openings. But somehow they managed to find the time to leave class, bust open the locker during Daisy's gym class, glue it in, close it and....return to classes without their teachers noticing their absence? Even if we assume that they did get busted and lied about their whereabouts, it still doesn't make any sense they'd risk it like that.I still don't get what was the point of the movie, all I know is that I had a lot more sympathy for the holocaust survivor speaker, who only appeared a few minutes, than Daisy.

"I Love You, I Love You Not" is an ambiguous and confused movie about a Jewish prep school girl in NYC (Danes) who spends a lot of time hanging out and acting oh so very "girl" with her "nana" (Moreau) and falls for a too charming and over-acting Jude Law. A mess of a movie which spins nonsense around solid performances by Danes and Moreau, this flick has little to offer. Hey, if my grandma told me scary bedtime stories about the Angel of Death and the horrors of the holocaust at that tender age, I'd have issues too. Pass on this bit of fluff.