“And when I was on the edge of the abyss, there was a miracle, a salvation, a real ritual. My life is in someone's hands. And I thought that was the will of the gods.
She was bedridden after the accident. She needs a nurse, but even more needs a shadow of hope, at least a ghostly incentive to move on. He needs a job to survive. She is a strong, formerly free woman, unable to beg for compassion even now, even on the brink of despair. He's a former boxer whose best part of life has become history. He drowns the pain of his memory in alcohol.
She likes to read books, it's the last time he's read "never." She fills the pain of reason with reading, he is alcohol, there is a very remarkable scene in the film when he drinks sitting on a bench opposite a huge garbage heap, in which, by the way, someone also “lives”.
Her pain finds an outlet in rude and arrogant behavior. His uncouth and detached appearance, at first glance, impenetrable, hides the inner essence of a real person who has seen the worst aspects of life.
They're very different. They are so different that they could never be close to each other under other circumstances. But now they are different, not what they once were. The very circumstances of their lives make them see in each other hope for salvation, and therefore, I want to quote another important passage from the dialogue:
- How do you like me?
- Like the sun.
They convinced me, both Lambert and Marceau. I believe them, I don't see an ounce of falsehood. I do not see the characters of famous actors. They are so natural and convincing in their unusual roles. Lambert completely erased the signature smile “down” from his face, and in this case, the absence of this particular smile is only for the benefit of the role. Marceau perfectly coped with a difficult, and to some extent, even risky role, because if the audience for some reason, will not believe this role, and cruel criticism will not take long to wait.
The film is sincere, but at the same time, touching on complex topics, does not manipulate feelings, this is its value. The script reveals secondary characters, does not forget about them, and they have their own problems, fates.
It’s a film that reminds you of things that are more important than anything else.
The film is a masterpiece. His beauty lies in the play of the actors and the relationship between their characters. I have not seen it in Russian, so I will not talk about it. Protagonists 2: Muriel (Marso) and Leo (Lambert).
She is a wealthy beautiful Frenchwoman with a complex and sophisticated inner world, educated, sublime, accustomed to rule the world and humbly bear the cross of eternal rightness and last resort. From a certain point on, it became more difficult as a horrific accident chained her to a bed in Colombia - forever. Her character from this became worse, which led to a frequent change of staff. True, she has a friend Lucia (de Francisco) - she hedges when there is no choice.
He is half French and half Colombian. He speaks all the required languages. He was a European boxing champion. But he didn't appreciate his wife. Through this, alcohol entered his life. Now he's looking for a job in Colombia. And he's hired as a nurse for Muriel. She wants to be read to her, and he doesn’t understand what he read, but he smells bad. But he can cook. And at the same time trains a black prostitute who tried to rob him in her free time. She doesn’t even mind marrying him.
On the subject of the obvious, albeit imaginary, discrepancy between the nurse and the disabled, the reader may have already seen the more famous and also French film Intouchables. “Cartagena” is notable for its lack of comedy, the best cast and was released 2 years earlier.
We know that Lambert is a strong man who can convincingly cut off his head and punch him in the face. But in this film, they give him a face in the face, and he convincingly portrays a man beaten by life, lowered in her stable, but not become an animal. Patient, kind, removing the crust from the stale female souls (there are 3)! And so still strong, but different. He's persuasive in that role. He wants to imitate. Do not repeat your mistakes.
Marceau is fascinating as ever. As always, she plays a strong woman. But here her heroine does not make her life, but drags it on. Bitchy, selfish, confident, unapologetic and stupid. Muriel is a French lily that creates problems for herself and others in poor soil with a beautiful fence. Thanks to Leo, she comes out of prison – figuratively and literally. Her way to freedom was long, and if it were not for her money, it would have become uncomfortable. Although, it seems to me that without them it would become shorter: if you do not go down, then you do not need to go down.
Colombian Marguerite Rosa de Francisco is known in the world as Gaviota from the TV series Coffee with the Scent of a Woman. She is a beautiful woman and plays well. I’ve loved her since I was young, when that show was here, and I wanted to see this movie because of her, because she’s filming almost exclusively in her own country. Her role is secondary, but passionate and necessary. The eyes of her heroine burn with the fire of dissatisfaction, dissolved in principle. Lucia is no stranger to drugs, but that doesn't stop her from criticizing Leo for drinking. At some point, she falls for him, but the friend is more important, so this does not create problems.
Characters are multidimensional, live sincerely and their problems are not contrived. They're not supermen, but they're not scoundrels. Their behavior is consistent. They understand the need for compromise and forgiveness in the relationship. The story went smoothly, I didn’t see any failures. Colombia in the film looks informative.
Well, let's start with the fact that, as always, distributors are handsome. The film is French, the original title is at the bottom of the same poster, for example, and even a person unfamiliar with French understands that it is not written "Cartagena". In the original, the film is called “Bedridden”, the English distributors for some reason called it “Cartahena”, but our insanely translated already from English. What does Cartagena have to do with this? It's not about the city. With the same success, almost any Russian film can be called “Moscow”. Or there is “Moscow 2”, “Moscow 3”, “Peter”, “Zazhopinsk”.
Next, abstract. There is no hate in the picture. Initially, Lambert’s character was compassionate and patient with a disabled woman. And even though she harmed a little (which is understandable in her position), she did not hate him at all.
Now the next facet of the film is the excitement, the scores and allusions. I did not understand them after watching. Why did I decide to watch it?
1) It was compared to the wonderful 1+1. And as if the general outline is really similar.
2) I feel good about Lambert since the days of Mortal Kombat and Highlander.
(3) Not bad scores: KP / imdb - 7.1 / 6.8
(4) Good reviews of people who watched - no negative reviews, 9 positive, 4 neutral. But among the positives, there are some delights.
What's the reality? In reality, this is not a 1+1. And it's not even that the films are different in mood: "1+1" life-affirming and positive, but here grayness and hopelessness, although despite this the film ends still well. I knew it was more dramatic than 1+1. But the problem with this movie is that it's absolutely average. He did not bring any of them to mind.
To begin with, the character of Sophie Marceau was apparently conceived as an aunt with a bad character (after all, several dozen nurses have already left her!). But it doesn't show up in the movie. The usual quirks, the usual requests, the usual whims of a completely paralyzed person. Absolutely no overbending. Will Leo survive this job, will he leave? They expect him to leave the next day! The maid is sitting on heavy drugs because "without this there is no way," they say, so hard, so hard. But all that is shown on the first working day is that you need to make the usual manipulations with the duck and tapping on the lower abdomen a couple of times a day and actually cook. Among other things, you sometimes need to bring / carry something, clean up, wash dishes, go shopping. And remember, they pay good money for it. And even in the film show that the servants do not work in the sweat of the face: they quite manage to thrash among themselves in the kitchen and sit, quite smoke / drink / prick drugs and even find time to lie in the master’s pool. Well, it is absolutely unclear what is difficult in this work and women.
Next, the love line. It was thought that the character of Marceau is a disappointed person in life, depressed and no longer enjoying the usual joys of life. Leo gradually reveals all these joys of life to her. But it's superficial again. Muriel's kind of a housemate-no-no-for-no-go-out-the-street, agrees to Leo's first offer for a walk, even though he didn't really insist (well, he offered her two times). All their love happens quickly and spontaneously, once! - and she kind of loves it. After what? After a week of his stay and regular housework? Well, yeah, he cooked her a fish and picked out the bones, well, he took it out in the fresh air. Any nurse before him could do it without any problems. I do not think that all the nannies before him were so indifferent and uninitiative about their work and the hostess. I never saw any special treatment from him again. Notice that Leo looks like a homeless person, smells like a homeless person, drinks, skips work. However, in the film, almost all women stick to it: the hostess, the servant, the girl with the ghetto. Why would I? I don’t believe in great love here either.
Next, drama. It shows the difficult fate of people: one is a disabled woman, the other is a drug addict, the third is an alcoholic, the fourth is a prostitute. But there's no depth in the drama. And kind of pity the characters, but no more than any homeless person on the street.
Plot. In general, a normal story, without much delight. The only thing to complain about is a line with a boxer prostitute. Like most in this movie, that line didn’t end. It seems that here should show heavy training, re-education of a person, the transition to the “light side” and the like. But they show us a couple of minutes of jogging, weak training, 10 minutes of talking about nothing, a disco, winning a fight, sleeping with her. Okay. This line can be thrown out without prejudice to the film and nothing will change. It is clear that they must reveal the character of Leo, they say, conscience stuck, remembered the past, found a goal and kind of helped another person. Again, it is painful and superficial.
That it's bad? Well, no. There are good acting works by Lambert, Marceau (by the way, at the time of the films they were husband and wife) and Marguerite Rosa de Francisco (the servant of Muriel). There are also beautiful shots of the city / sea, a couple of really good romantic episodes (for example, a thrilling episode with percussion and Leo’s revelation about his life, and after walking on the grass in the park).
Summarizing. Not a bad film in general, with a weak plot love line and not deep enough drama, as I thought. Rejection does not cause, it is possible to look to the end of the solo or paired with a girl. By the way, I did not watch the film alone and my wife was also not particularly impressed and hooked. So to talk about the fact that since there is drama and love, all women will like, and men will be bored, is not necessary.
“How do you feel about it?” and “How do you feel?” Like the sun.
Not so long ago I saw this film in one of the collections of Kinopoisk, immediately became interested and added to the folder “I will watch”. Then, literally after a short period of time, a friend highly recommended to watch. Usually, with such a “double sign”, I watch the film without fail.
In fact, before I was very fond of films about tragic love, reviewed them in a huge number, there are a number of favorites in this genre, but probably the key word – “reviewed”, because I can’t say that I was imbued with this particular film from the top to the toes. There was one moment where tears rolled over my eyes, I think that impressionable girls – lovers of this genre – will also celebrate it, but otherwise I have already seen it somewhere. I can even name a film about a boxer and a girl with a physical defect - this is a Korean film "Always", which, by the way, pierced to the core of the soul. Also, fans of Asian TV series can recommend 16-episode Korean dramas "The Snow Queen" (former boxer and sick girl) and "Love that kills" (boxer and actress, but all about the same and also tragic). And that’s just what I called immediately. I have a huge collection of tragic love. Anyway, I mean, maybe I didn't get into it the way I should have because I looked at it too much and nothing was new. I am sure that many people will find the film very soulful, bright and deep, which in principle is the objective truth.
I did not like the fact that they put a great emphasis on the life of the main character, and not on the disclosure of the relationship between the characters. I didn’t even have time to catch the moment when everything turned around. This is all implicit, no doubt, was clear from the first seconds, but I would like more disclosure. On the other hand, two minor characters were interesting to me, especially the daring boxer: not character, but fire and passion. I think it was introduced in opposition to the main character. If Line is the personification of brightness, spontaneity and complete freedom, then Muriel’s main character is conventions, rules, aristocracy and prison. And the fact that the main character Leo chooses Muriel even under such conditions is in itself proof of his love.
And Leo for Muriel is the personal sun, the energy, the strength to live on, he is the water that belongs only to himself. And she's like that. And she belongs to herself and not to the immovable body to which her soul is chained.
I want to say bravo for the game Sophie Marceau. To be honest, I never understood why everyone loves her so much, although I’ve watched enough movies with her in the lead or important supporting role. But here -- it was brilliant! It was so sincere, so natural, I believed her in 100! Highlander Duncan MacLeod from my childhood Christopher Lambert revealed to me from the other side, I did not even know that he could do this when it comes to matters of the heart. Although, you know, maybe the point here is that this movie was the beginning of the beginning of feelings behind the big screen. It was after this film that they became a couple in real life (sorry that Sophie and Christopher have already divorced). And you know, it felt like that. I already have a nose for that. After watching, I immediately went to see information about their personal life, because there was so much chemistry in their views that I personally immediately lit up a light bulb “between them there is something”. I love these things very much, because in this case it turns out exactly as it should. For this alone, I will raise the score by one point.
The ending is clear to me, but we clearly wanted to confuse. However, I think that an attentive viewer will understand the first time. In general, here is the intrigue and incentive to look to the end, because you can get confused.
In my opinion, fans of the genre should definitely see, because it is a good contribution to the collection. The rest can be under a suffering mood and / or at a time when you need to realize the value of life, the value of each day.
6 out of 10
Wanting is a matter of bodies, a we are a friend of the soul. M. Tsvetaeva.
This film is all sparkling, light, soaked in sea moist air. You soak up the yellow sunset light with Leo as he sits on the waterfront; or you smell the clean crisp sheets on which the mutilated Muriel lies. But crippled souls - that's what's much scarier. This film is not about them.
He is all about health, straightening, straightening. Straightening fates, healing souls from loneliness. It’s no secret how hard it is for an alcoholic to stop drinking. But here it happens, a person is cured, finding incomparably more than a passion for alcohol.
There are more changes going on in Leo than in Muriel, but it's also changing. The nurses who came to her needed money, she herself was not pleasant to them.
She needed a man who would need her, who would love her, cure her of despair, irritability, loneliness. He will be healed by this love.
The sexual side of the relationship is given little space. On the contrary, the viewer’s attention is drawn to the spiritual component in the relationship: Leo, a healthy young man, is next door to his protégé, a dark-skinned young beauty, but there is no intimacy between them (which in reality is not real in most cases). So reigns paralyzed Muriel in his heart.
And Muriel, due to her disability, lost the sensitivity of almost the whole body, increasingly loves Leo, even reaching the thought of suicide for fear that he will never see him again. The heart does not want to know what paralysis is, it cannot be told.
It’s a song about how true love doesn’t originate in physiology. And how wrong are those who think love is a chemical process in the brain. And for those who claim that love lives for 3 years, this is their problem.
Cartagena is a 2009 French drama that turned out to be a difficult and powerful film that leaves behind impressions and many thoughts. The film is really good and I liked it. His story could be filmed much more banal, but the director presented everything original and unusual. We see a paralyzed rich French woman and how she hired her to care for a man in need of work. Nobody coped with this job and everyone quit, but now everything is different, and we see the story of two people who needed each other, and they helped each other.
Several scenes are shocking in this drama, and there is some tension and awkwardness. Thanks to the pure play of the actors, we get into this difficult story and feel everything that these characters felt. Sophie Marceau is a wonderful French actress and I really like her. In this drama, Marceau played as always believable and realistic and was able to convey all the pain that her character felt. Christopher Lambert is a strong and great actor, and he always does well in dramatic roles. In this film, he also played cleanly, and the duet of these actors was interesting and beautiful. This film is about how everything in life is unstable and fragile, and everything can change at any moment. You need to appreciate what you have and love what you love. Life can be so different, but everyone has their own destiny and their own path, and someone’s step can suddenly turn your whole life around, as in this story. Watch Cartagena and experience this difficult and touching story.
8 out of 10
If you are in the mood to watch a quality melodrama, pay attention to this movie. And there are several reasons for this: a beautiful script and its excellent embodiment.
The unfading Morso and the crumbling, yet brutal Lambert represent a very organic duo, their relationship, of course, the basis of the whole action. The advantage of this story, despite the melodramatic nature of the plot - in the absence of sobbing sentimentality, here we talk about adults who know the value of words and silence, hence the dialogue, although not pretending to quotes, but clearly copied from life, and the woman is always a woman, and the man - a man, hence the truthfulness of phrases or speaking silence.
But in the picture there are secondary characters, whose portraits, masterfully sketched, with a few strokes, carry a rather large ideological plan of the director, whose idea was clearly not only to tell us another love story, but rather to tell about the search for meaning and way of being. How can you enjoy life when you are bedridden? And how can you waste your vitality in a beautiful, young, healthy body? What makes us open our eyes every morning and still smile? What keeps each of the heroes afloat? For someone, you need to find your “sun”, as the main character did, find the strength to believe, trust another person. And for another, to want to live, you have to become someone’s “sun,” and to do that, you have to believe in yourself, which can also be a test. Everyone here will find something about yourself, and similar parables, especially so beautifully shot (thanks to the cameraman) will decorate your evening.
Very strong movie! It’s rare to see such a movie in our cinema. I can’t say that we have directors or actors. Nope. And here's the unknown director Alain Monnet and show the script to Sophie Marceau and Christopher Lambert. Take it, and you'll take it. The actors loved by millions could rest on their laurels, but they are also professionals of the highest category to do things that others cannot do.
A beautiful woman is forced to spend time reading books. Her legs are paralyzed. The nurses of a woman cannot cope with her peculiar character, and therefore she stubbornly continues to look for this or that, it is like God will put on his soul who is able to care for an intelligent, beautiful woman with paralyzed legs. And one man comes to her, not God’s dandelion, frankly speaking, but a man crushed by life, who has one step left to the bottom. He comes to her to hire him as a nurse. He just needs the money. What does she need? Care, attention, sensitivity. How can a tramp, even a former world boxing champion, give it to her? Of course not immediately. That's how the story begins. It is very instructive, not moralizing, but one that can make you empathize, think and feel. And to draw the right conclusions, because everything happens in life.
For some reason, I now remember one parable that I think will be appropriate for this film.
One day a man had a dream. He dreamed that he was walking on a sand bank, and next to him was the Lord. Pictures of his life flashed in the sky, and after each of them he noticed two chains of footprints in the sand: one from his feet, the other from the feet of the Lord.
When the last picture of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. And I saw that often along his path of life there was only one chain of footprints. He also noted that these were the most difficult and unhappy times in his life.
He was very sad and asked the Lord:
- Did you not say to me, If I follow your way, you will not abandon me? But I noticed that in the most difficult times of my life, only one string of footprints stretched across the sand. Why did you leave me when I needed you most?
The Lord answered:
- My sweet, sweet child. I love you and will never leave you. When there was grief and trials in your life, only one chain of footprints stretched along the road. Because in those days I carried you in my arms.
Do not despair while your heart is beating!
10 out of 10