"Bel Ami" Review by Filmstarts (Germany)

"Bel Ami" Review by Filmstarts (Germany)

1,5 / 5

Carsten Baumgardt

Each nation has its sensitivities. Our French neighbors are particular suspicious on their language and culture. The classic novel by Guy de Maupassant, Bel Ami, 1885, repeatedly brought to the screen, clearly belongs to the national treasures that we protect with care. With the new directors Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod, two British who just use the material and adapt the French novel with English-speaking actors. This operation "Bel Ami" has failed not only from a French point of view - the drama in period costumes suffer from atmospheric disturbances, lack of subtlety and a star who does not reach the complexity of his character

Paris in the1890s it's the gold rush. Opportunities to earn lots of money quickly is immense. Only the old soldier, peniless, Georges Duroy (Robert Pattinson) has missed the boat of the bourgeois class and struggles as an employee to survive. When he meets Charles Forestier (Philip Glenister), an old friend from the Army, everything changes suddenly, as he introduces the handsome young man at the leading company in Paris and gives him a job as a journalist for "La Vie Française".

George falls in love at first sight of the eloquent and erudite Madeleine (Uma Thurman), wife of Forest, he soon leaves her distracted once again by an affair with Clotilde (Christina Ricci), who is also married. When Forester is carried away by a serious illness, George fights his way and marries his wife Madeleine. It is one more step in the social scale, but it is not enough. His megalomania finally led him to a marital crisis, to the connections and professional failures.

Guy de Maupassant created with "Bel Ami" a delicate portrait of society, which until today is still valid. After all, our time is also guided by the hunt for glory, money and influence, by fierce competition, disloyalty and lack of scruples. A new interpretation of the subject de Maupassant is quite obvious, but the directors Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod fail to illustrate its relevance in the present. They are limited to a decorative period film : the staging and how to film are pleasant and re”veal good qualities, but the plot seems restrained.

Many omissions have a negative influence, moreover, there is virtually nothing left of Maupassant complex characters in the film, of the summary device and this leads to sudden changes in traits and behaviors that are difficult to understand.

Pale as a vampire in a "Twilight" movie where the acting is not demanding - and that led to his fame, Robert Pattinson tries to overcome the character Georges Duroy with not much more than charm pornography. It does not do justice to this kid who plays among the women of the Parisian society, and he ends up being tormented by delusions of grandeur. Although the British actor has proven itself in the drama "Water for Elephants," "Bel Ami" might have been more suitable to an actor like Leonardo Dicaprio. Even for him, it would have been a challenge to seem plausible playing the inconstancy of Duroy, required by the scenario.

Since it is difficult to recognize in this film actors who are particularly good but we have example with an experienced actress as Kristin Scott Thomas (The English Patient). When Oscar nominee loves suddenly, like a teenager in love with the beautiful George, then it is much the failure of an interpreter that the expression of gross dramaturgical weaknesses. The best impression is left by the experienced Uma Thurman ("Dangerous Liaisons"), whose character of Madeleine Forestier is also the one which worked more consistently.

Conclusion: "The Swedish are not Brazilians." The Football Champion Franz Beckenbauer knew it, and this analogy has escaped Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod: the British and the Americans are not French. That's why the British in costume drama "Bel Ami", which also suffers from many awkward characters, fails to express the state of mind of the French material

Source => Filmstarts / Translation => LeRPattzClub