On Demand Weekly

On Demand Weekly provides new movie reviews of hot movies on demand from the POV of watching from the comfort of your home. Today’s review: PERSECUTION (Eurocinema).
Email Cynthia Kane

PERSECUTION is the latest by auteur Patrice Chéreau who’s made such brilliant films such as QUEEN MARGOT, INTIMACY, GABRIELLE.  Well-known in France as a director of theatre and opera, these influences play out in all of Chéreau’s work.  

But why “persecution” and not “suffering” or “self-torture” or “intense guilt” as a title?... except it’s true, it doesn’t sound as good.   Why “persecution”?   Is the central character so intensely self-analytical that he ends of being his own persecutor?  Does he have the power to stop himself?

We meet Daniel (Romain Duris) who is torturously plagued by guilt and self-doubt, in love with Sonia (Charlotte Gainsbourg), who in turn loves him, but cannot bear to be suffocated in a relationship. Daniel puts himself out there for damaged people, such as his friend, Michel, and regularly visits the elderly in a home where his father died alone.  Whether he does it because he’s a decent guys is doubtful; it’s obviously driven by his guilt of which we get very few clues.

On Demand Weekly provides new movie reviews of hot movies on demand from the POV of watching from the comfort of your home.  ROMANTICS ANONYMOUS / Les émotifs anonymes (Tribeca Film). 

ROMANTICS ANONYMOUS
Chocolate Is Nothing To Be Afraid Of
By Kris Scheifele

Variety is the spice of life, unless it—along with most everything else—scares the living daylights out of you. The latter is the case for the two lead characters, Angélique (Isabelle Carré) and Jean-René (Benoît Poelvoorde), in ROMANTICS ANONYMOUS.

In France, this romantic comedy is called LES EMOTIFS ANONYMES, a title which doesn't really translate properly into English. In French, an émotif is not a romantic, but rather someone who has emotional issues, particularly a fear of other people. Plagued with anxieties, an émotif is deeply perturbed by mundane social situations, especially intimate ones. In France, they even have an Alcoholics Anonymous-type support group for émotifs to come out, so to speak, of the closets they literally hide in. It was as a member of this group that director, co-writer, and émotif himself, Jean-Pierre Améris, found his inspiration.

The plot is simple. Without knowing they share the same affliction, Angélique, émotif, goes to work for Jean-René, émotif, in Jean-René's ailing artisanal chocolate factory. Almost immediately, he asks his new hire out on a date. Not nearly as twee as the 2001 film, AMÉLIE, everything is super adorable and old-fashiony, but the story seems to be happening now which makes it hard not to think about the legal tinder box on which the film's premise rests. Eventually, this looming spectre fades as the two jittery lovebirds faint, sweat, and stutter through interactions fraught with self-perpetuated panic.

Obviously, variety, change, and mixing it up are definitely not the spice of life for Jean-René. Variety, however, will not be denied and spice literally saves the day. It just so happens Angélique is a brilliant, avant-garde chocolate chef, which she conceals for fear of the spotlight. Pink peppercorns, paprika, and Porcini breathe life into the unevolved, run-of-the-mill chocolates that have been both the safe staple and downfall of the business.

On Demand Weekly provides new movie reviews of movies on demand from the POV of watching from the comfort of your home. Today’s review: FOUR LOVERS (Oscilloscope Labs).

FOUR LOVERS
By Amy Slotnick

Ever wish there was a way to inject a solid, long-term relationship with the sexual hunger of a new lover? Or fantasize about having a passionate affair without sneaking around and potentially betraying the trust of your spouse? That is exactly what two couples explore in FOUR LOVERS, a couple-swap French film now available On Demand before a theatrical run.

It initially seems to happen so easily. Work colleagues, Rachel and Vincent, go out along with their spouses, Franck and Teri. The two couples become fast friends and a sexual energy soon emerges. There is little attempt to hide it, except from their kids, and soon each couple has swapped partners, regularly meeting for dinner parties, weekends away and private rendezvous’ for lovemaking.

While having a new lover intoxicates each character, they also each maintain an equal commitment to their marriages. Surprisingly, the partner swap also seems to renew the passion of the married relationships.