Bergorks
If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.
AshUnow
This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
Marva
It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,
dvdm504
I selected this film from the Blockbuster new release shelf b/c I like foreign films and well crafted horror/suspense movies.Catherine Deneuve was very impressive as mother Laura's friend Sybille,a lady who is disarming yet distant,she is easy to picture as quite comfortable strolling a white beach on a winter morning."the Stone Council" is effective in it's climax,timing,and presentation.I would recommend to fans of older films of the genre such as "Rosemary's Baby" and the original "the Wicker Man".Monica Bellucci deserves honorable mention for her portrayal of a mother who won't be stopped from saving her adopted son Liu from his kidnappers,who believe their ancient sorcery will make them immortal (come on you creeps - who really wants to live forever....?)
misskudzu
first, i'm not sure those who commented previously (and badly) on this film have seen other Jean-Christophe Grangé's adaptations - if you had, you'd admit LE CONCILE DE PIERRE is by far the best. Grangé's books - besides sucking - are hard to adapt, caus way too dense and not cinematographic; that's why directors/writers usually take lots of liberties w/th the storyline, turning it into a big farce w/th a grandguignolesque denouement (remember LES RIVIERES POURPRES and L'EMPIRE DES LOUPS?). knowing that, i expected the worse, but was pleasantly surprised. Guillaume Nicloux managed to keep his own distinctive style, creating a sticky, haunting atmosphere. now about Monica Bellucci... she's good, period. yes, she moans, cries, looks sad/lost, but damn, she's credible. it's totally refreshing to see her in a different role. as for Catherine Deneuve's being over the top, i never thought she was that much of a good actress, so no comment. rest of the cast was OK, and it's nice to see Moritz Bleibtreu in a french film.so basically don't expect too much from this movie and (maybe) you'll be pleasantly surprised.
TheStarryNight
I could not agree more with Frederica Boldrini in her comment. It has been a long time that I haven't seen such a bad movie.. I reach to a conclusion: Monica Bellucci is a good actress when her role doesn't oblige her to speak. For example, in the movie "Malèna" she was great because she didn't speak much, in "Irréversible" likewise, etc…As regards to Catherine Deneuve I never liked her very much but I was surprised to see her in such a bad movie and doing an awful acting… More surprised I was with the German actor Moritz Bleibtreu. He is an outstanding actor, and during the film I kept asking myself what the hell is he doing in this movie?..Does he understand fluently French when he read the script?..Well, I hope that I'll never see him again in a movie like this. Please, don't go see this movie. I'm sorry for the director..but even me as a humble spectator I'm able to see that it's a bad movie with bad acting, so how is it possible that the rest of the crew didn't reach the same conclusion?...
Federica Boldrini (federicaboldrini1984)
Some months ago, Italian TV showed a French miniseries called "Dolmen". It was very bad, and they very soon cancelled it and rescheduled it at improbable hours. This film reminded me pretty much of Dolmen. It has the same dark and anguishing atmosphere, the same mythological, esoteric background and, unfortunately, the same bad computer generated wild animals that oppress the characters. The film casts Italian diva Monica Bellucci as the lead character. Quite unusually for her, she wears very short hair and doesn't show much of her celebrated sex appeal. Her acting basically consists in screams and panting. She does the wildest, most improbable things, like crawling in an air conduct and fighting with the previously indicated animals. The most surprising thing in the film is that a great actress like Catherine Deneuve agreed to appear in it. I wonder why - maybe she just needed some money. However, she is barely recognizable. At a point her character turns in a (bad, computer generated) bear (!!). Monica Bellucci even stabs her with a ritual knife. This should explain how ludicrous some scenes are. More, the film is full of clichés, like the Chosen little boy with a mark on his body and magical powers, or as I said, people crawling in air conducts (classic clichè!) and snakes appearing everywhere. At a point I really wanted to leave the theater, I stayed just because I'm learning French and I thought it could be useful for the language. I just hope that if I work very hard, one day I'll speak French as well as the Mongolian people shown in the film... 'cause of course, in this film every old Mongolian man living in an hut in the steppe speak perfect French! Yeah sure! If you want my advice on this film, skip it, you won't miss much. My vote is 4.5/10.
