Solemplex
To me, this movie is perfection.
Jeanskynebu
the audience applauded
AshUnow
This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
Tayyab Torres
Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.
jllewell
Well, well, well...After having read so many different views about this film, I just had to add my own. Lots of people are disturbed that it's so far from the book. Usually I hate that myself, but in this instance I am somehow easily able to compartmentalize, and see the film as something separate. I think it can be viewed on it's own as a great film, and I find it something that I will watch again, and again. I've also read that many people find the erotic elements gratuitous, but I've always found that 'sex and death' is a close 'idea relationship', in the human psyche.Sex and or intimacy are affirmations of life, in the face of it's opposite. People do lots of strange things when faced with death and the possibility of death, especially when it is expected, and in such a familiar form... what reasonably educated person doesn't know what this type of disease involves? I find that I can live with the changes of story and time setting in this film, and feel that it is just a fascinating movie which it is easy to view as an entirely 'stand alone' piece in it's examination of different personalities in crisis.
Peter-174
Too talkative. Crappy acting. Pathetic writing. I could go on for a while... It is a shame that such good material was wasted. The film is clueless, since the makers had no vision. The film even manages to become boring. It also tries too hard to be meaningful and deep, but it just isn't intelligent enough. The photography is OK, though. But that's about the only good thing in this movie. As far as I know the film is only out on DVD in Asia. The DVD can often be found on eBay. Not that I would advise you to buy it, though.The DVD is 4:3.Some of the actors deliver performances that are far below their usual standard. This must mean that director Puenzo did a lousy job.
vercingetorix-2
"La Peste" (The Plague), the film adaptation of the 1947 novel by French existentialist Albert Camus, received poor reviews and was a box office bomb and rightfully so-- except for the presence of French actress (speaking in English) Sandrine Bonnaire, as TV journalist Martine Rambert (in the novel, the character is a male newspaper journalist) Her conversation with Wm.Hurt (as Dr. Riseux), in the doctor's office, must go down as one of the most superb scenes in film history: "Do you have memories? None of us has memories. or hopes. And love needs both, doesn't it?" Sandrine Bonnaire (Vagabond, Monsieuer Hire, Joan the Maiden, La Ceremonie) answers Camus' (and everyone confronted with despair) philosophical questions from a Female point of view. Yet, as in Sandrine Bonnaire's best works,she is a woman alone in a hostile male environment. La Peste is an "etalage" or showcase for the depth, range and beauty of one of film's greatest actresses: Sandrine Bonnaire.
transmet451
People seem awfully hard on this movie, and I don't quite understand why.It must suffer in comparison with the book. Granted no filmmaker could possibly match Camus brilliance, but this is a pretty solid movie. One thing that disappointed me was the descision to remove the story from the time period. The time setting is integral to the allegory. All in all, though, a good reconstruction.