Frantz: A Creative Love Story With An Overdose Of Melodrama
"Frantz" has the elements of being a truly great film, that includes impressive acting, a lovely soundtrack, and a skillful director. But it falls short of greatness and ends up being a fine film that falls into the trap of being overly melodramatic.
The film takes place during the aftermath of World War 1, where a young German girl grieves about her recently deceased fiance, who died fighting in the war. And soon after finds a mysterious Frenchman hovering around her fiances grave.
French director Francois Ozen has generated a truly unique visual style. Not since the 2009 picture "A Single Man" have I seen such an alluring transition between black and white to color, done in such a compelling and interesting way, it's truly a marvel to watch. And the chemistry between the two leads, Pierre Niney and Paula Bear, is genuinely lovely, as their scenes embark a genuine romantic chemistry.
While "Frantz" teeters on extreme melodrama in the first hour, it never fully succumbs, until the last act of the movie. Strip away the creative direction and the great acting, and in it's simplest form, "Frantz" was born to be a Lifetime TV network film. Thankfully even though the graceful dialogue turns in sappy nonsense, its still a pleasure to watch the two leads.
I left the theater feeling somewhat cheated in the end. Not because of the acting or the visual style, but how this beautifully realized, intellectually sound movie turned interesting characters into schmaltzy balderdash. It's disappointing to say the least to see a film shoot itself in the foot, but I still enjoyed my time with it, and it's worth a watch just to see how well that first hour is crafted.
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