Koh
Regular
Posts: 53
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Post by Koh on Jan 9, 2013 1:16:06 GMT -5
I'm curious to see what everyone thought about this movie after they had seen it. I see a lot of speculation/theory posts on the forum but not many movie reviews, so I thought I'd make a thread for that purpose. =)
I didn't know ANYTHING about this movie when I saw it. I saw no trailers for it, didn't realize there was a forum for it, no spoilers, so I had no idea what to expect. The only thing I could draw from was the title: "A Monster in Paris" so I went into this movie with little expectation, except that I was expecting a monster movie.
The first 20 minutes or so of the movie was probably my favorite part. I fell in love with the character interaction between the main characters Raoul and Emile. They're such a hilarious bunch! And when the monster came to life, I was like "HELL YEAH SCARY MONSTER MOVIE HERE I COME"
... Then the remainder of the movie was a mix-up mess of singing, dancing, multiple plots, and a singing flea. Well, I sure didn't see that one coming. After watching the movie a few times over, I can get over the fact that it didn't turn out to be a true monster flick (although Maynott is one hell of a jackass!) and the giant flea is sorta cute in his own way I suppose... but I just don't feel any connection to Francoeur. I honestly preferred Francoeur when he was just that, a mysterious monster. But hey, I know a lot of fans of this movie are crazy about the giant flea. Everyone's got their own tastes. I sorta wish this movie was more about the human characters, because they had such interesting backgrounds and dynamic relationships which could have easily been developed much more. For instance, the beginning of the movie leaves you to believe that the movie is focused on Emile, and while he does get some kind of resolution in the end, it doesn't feel as fleshed out because this movie decides to go in SO many different directions. It's a monster movie, it's a romance, it's a musical! With the movie's flaws, I still enjoyed it tremendously.
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Post by Sailor Yue on Mar 23, 2013 4:59:03 GMT -5
I too came into this movie not expecting much and with no knowledge. I found it on a stteaming site, just looking for some background noise while packing. Around when francour was singing "monater in parie" i started paying attention. It felt to me like i definately needed a rewatch to understand the plot. Second rewatch i loved it. 3rd rewatvh i was hooked. Its been a while since i felt "obsessed" anout something such as this. Not much of a review sure, but my feelings. Hell, it took me to the fifth rewatch to go from thinking peop who shipped francxluci eerr weird and erong cux obviiusly she ends uup eith. Rraoul...to thinking the MOVIE was in the wrong and the rxl was...fakeish.
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Koh
Regular
Posts: 53
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Post by Koh on Mar 23, 2013 10:38:51 GMT -5
I'm not a fan of LucillexFranceour myself, but I can see why a lot of people would be. =)
(I had to be the oddball and pair EmilexRaoul instead LOL)
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Post by Sailor Yue on Mar 24, 2013 23:10:25 GMT -5
Remind me never to post on my droid. The spell corrects off and the screens cracked... Sorry for the horrible spelling in that post I'll stick to using my good ole iPod and computer...
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Post by Kiera Namir on Mar 26, 2013 20:54:10 GMT -5
I was first made aware of this movie back around the time it came out in France- two webcomics I follow both had a page involving something or someone from it. I didn't give it much though til I recently re-read both, and wondered why both the artists seemed to like it so much. My very first exposure to it was watching the La Seine clip in French. Aaaaaaand I was hooked. |D I fell in love with Emile almost immediately XD Raoul, though.... didn't make the greatest first impression on me, though I'd warmed up to him too by the time they get to the professor's lab. I was rather disappointed that it took almost half the movie for the title character to show up... Overall, though, I loved it. sailoryue: That threw me for a loop too :/ they just didn't seem to have the right chemistry for it to be believable. I can see friends, but lovers?? They fought too much like siblings XD
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Post by Drawberry on Mar 27, 2013 22:59:17 GMT -5
I came across the film via a post on Tumblr that featured the English dub of La Seine.I thought it looked like a beautiful and interesting film so I searched around for it and was able to come across it. I knew the general plot by that point and loved the movie immensely.
My complaint however is that the film feels extremely short. I believe that due to the various money issues that plagued the production certain things had to be removed and only the most vital scenes and plot devices where kept in. I know that the director wanted a whole scene of the underground metro flooded to be filmed but money was simply not going to cover something like that. Because of these issues I think more character building scene's where lost and the film ends up feeling only half an hour long.
I personally feel like due to the shorter length of the film it could have done with reducing the roles of certain characters. Namely Emile and Raoul and Maude. I feel like keeping them around for their vital participation in the beginning , their hand in helping Lucille keep Francoeur hidden, and to a lesser extent their role at the end could have been all that was necessary. Raoul and Lucille's relationship felt forced and unnatural, if it was to be kept in the film perhaps putting the flashback scene somewhere much earlier would have been more appropriate since it literally was dragging along at the very end of the film.
When you have Emile getting with Maude, Raoul with Lucille, Pate and Carlotta, it felt like "Gosh does everyone need to hook up or what?". It felt a little 'too much' for me and just not necessary for building characters or vital to the story. That said, I did find Raoul and Emile to be amusing characters who played their 'roles' well. I also enjoyed what little of Maude there was to know, but I don't find her role particularly essential at the end of things.
Thinking back to the end scene on the Eiffel Tower I feel like having it be just Lucille, Maynott, and Francoeur would have been more powerful. Perhaps having Raoul, Emile, and Maude coming with Pate and the police at the end. Lucille and Francoeur felt like the strongest most fleshed out and interesting characters and everyone else sort of seemed to be taking away their chance to build more upon one another when so many characters where being shoved in the end scenes at once.
Had the film not suffered financial issues and been closer to 2hrs I feel like Raoul, Emile, and Maude would have had the opportunity to develop considerably more so and been more vital and interesting for the story. But as a movie that's less than 1hr30minutes long I think too much was held on to and things needed to be scaled back.
I personally feel like I would have liked to see the film focus solely on Lucille, Maynott, and Francoeur with the other characters roles significantly scaled down.
It is my knowledge that this is the directors first film (he worked on storyboard work for films like The Road to El Dorado if I am not mistaken) and he opened a studio in his name just for this purpose. I can feel the love and excitement and energy that this man put into this film and it's a beautiful feeling to convay. For the issues I have with it, I still absolutely adore this movie and would rate it in my top 5 any day. In a perfect world I would have really enjoyed to see what could have happened with an unlimited budget and resources but I genuinely enjoyed it as it was.
Since I know that I've pretty openly 'shunned' the 'canon pairing' of Lucille and Raoul my reasoning isn't because I fancy either of them with someone else. I am not disavowing them to support my own perfect idea or anything like that.
Addressing the theme of Lucille x Francoeur, before seeing the film I admit that I was genuinely rather bothered by the idea but that is not the case any longer. Though it isn't a pairing I myself envision, particularly in a sexual manner.
I could view them almost as 'celibate lovers'. Friends that are so close that no one else in the world could possibly love them as much as each other and in a different place or time may have become lovers but are simply content to love one another immensely in a non-physical manner. Like that state where one transcends friendship into something particularly profound and loving in a non-sexual manner.
Overall I really enjoyed this movie and look forward to seeing more from this director.
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Post by Sailor Yue on Mar 27, 2013 23:11:32 GMT -5
yeah the way i see the lucille x francoeur pairing, it doesnt HAVE To be sexual and end up with kids like alot of the fanart depicts. they can be in love with eachother deeply and not have kids jsut to be cemented. besides it would be so sweet to see some fanart/fiction where they decide to ADOPT. ;D im sure theres plenty of orphans out there thanks to the flood.
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Post by Drawberry on Mar 28, 2013 16:44:09 GMT -5
I just find it personally very difficult to view them in a sexual way. For obvious reasons. Perhaps the best example I could give might be Belle and the Beast, but even that is too outwardly romantic for how I could see them. Funny enough, Belle hated it when Beast when he transformed back into a human. She preferred him as 'a beast' because as a human he reminded her of Gaston. She thought he was now just like every other 'dude bro' I think sometimes people come into our lives and become our soul mate, the relationship doesn't have to be sexual or even romantic but these individuals touch us on a deep level that changes us for the better and they become part of who we are. It's loving someone profoundly and that kind of love manifests in very different ways.
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Post by Sailor Yue on Mar 28, 2013 20:14:21 GMT -5
onethings for sure, this movie never gets old. i never get tired of watching it lol. definatly cant wait for the bilingual dvd to arrive. even tho the subtitles will be not entirely right....
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Post by Drawberry on Mar 28, 2013 23:22:00 GMT -5
onethings for sure, this movie never gets old. i never get tired of watching it lol. definatly cant wait for the bilingual dvd to arrive. even tho the subtitles will be not entirely right.... You ordered the Canadian copy right? My French is at best pretty rusty but I own the French Soundtrack and can tell that the song translations are not direct. I am debating between getting the US release or getting the Canadian one since it should work regionally in the states and I would really like to see it in French, even if the subtitles are based on the English film. And I agree! The film has a high re-play value for me, I think it's strengths lay in character development and each time I watch it I am seeing more and more of them.
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Post by Sailor Yue on Mar 28, 2013 23:52:39 GMT -5
yeah ordered the canadian dvd right away cuz the amazon.ca seller only had 3 at the time left. its halfway here so cant wait
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Post by Drawberry on Mar 29, 2013 11:54:04 GMT -5
Really thinking about ordering that one. I live in Michigan, about 20 minutes from the bridge that takes you to Windsor, and Canadian orders arrive here pretty fast. Sometimes faster then orders within the states! Of course that depends where in Canada it's shipping from. But anyway, I hope you get it soon!
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Post by Sailor Yue on Apr 1, 2013 19:53:10 GMT -5
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Post by Kiera Namir on Apr 1, 2013 19:57:34 GMT -5
Excitement! \o/
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Post by Sailor Yue on Apr 3, 2013 19:05:28 GMT -5
definatly like the songs in the french version. M doesnt sound like he's trying to sing over Vanessa like Lennon was.
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