Style over Content

Rating: 6/10 (1 September 2018)

This is another case of style over content. The look of this film is stunning , deliberately reminiscent of the European films of the 50'sand 60's however there is no substance to the story. The script jumps years and places so many times that we never care enough about the main characters and their love story which is the main focus of the film (some would say only focus) as the major political changes that took place during this period are kept so far in the background that they seem insignificant and ultimately irrelevant.The jazz sequences in a Paris cafe only seem to be included to show some great smoky black and white photography rather than to move the plot forward. I appreciate that this is a very personal story for the director but in the transition to the screen he has lost the tragedy and emotion that he wanted to convey to audiences... and what could have been a great film is only 'quite good'.