The Lovers on the Bridge (1991)

Director: Leos Carax

I really like this movie, but I think much of that like is based on admiration rather than actually connecting with the film emotionally or even intellectually. I love that this film is a romance between two homeless people, a small subject, but is so ambitious in filmmaking and scope. Director Leos Carax re-built the the oldest and most famous bridge of Paris in a countryside and uses it magnificently. It's obvious his camera angles were never restricted, as he gets all sort of angles, all sort of freedom on this bridge. It's most obvious in a brilliant nighttime sequence on the bicentennial celebration of Bastille Day, complete with fireworks and a wide-range of loud music. But not only does the scope give us the visual spectacle, but also a full fledged romance from the beginning to the end. Carax is given free reign and is never afraid to go all out.

The film is centered on a romance between two odd homeless people: a guy who eats fire and can't sleep without medication (played by Denis Levant, brilliant as always), and a girl who is recently homeless and is going blind (played by the great Juliette Binoche). Both actors make this odd romance work wonders and makes the films celebration of odd love work. Both people live in a brutal world, and only find solace in each other. It's a way to show that love can be a way out of brutality, but Carax is also not afraid to show that love itself can be brutal as well. At least, that's what he's going for. It all works on paper really well, but Carax walks a fine line between his massive scope and the emotionality of the story, and he doesn't always make it across. The movie can be incredibly impressive at times and Carax shows that he is a great filmmaker, but many scenes don't add much at all emotionally. But I found The Lovers on the Bridge to be a magnificent achievement, it's a film about an intimate story made large and epic, and that's what I want to see more of.

Grade: B+