Bob Taylor This is my third Larrieu brothers film. I like their work because they have found a way to work within the film industry that does not involve the streets and houses of Paris (however beautiful these streets and houses may be). The peace and quietude of the Pyrenees are their environment, and the source of the pleasure these films bring me.The acting by Amalric, Viard, Maiwenn and Forestier is strong. The occasional unlikely development in the script doesn't bother me because the actors are on target all the time. How about Forestier as the nightmare co-ed of the decade, if not of all time? And Karin Viard whose neurotic sister is very well drawn. Amalric always impresses me, he's really the strongest actor in France now. Only trouble: 10-15 minutes could easily have been cut to make a tighter story.

writers_reign When I see the names Mattiau Amalric, Karin Viard, and Maiwenn as principal players in a film I've never heard of (and which turns out to be two years old) I'm happy to trust in what I know of them based on films in which I have seen them and which I have enjoyed and all three have a decent backlog with in the case of Maiwenn and Amalric director as well as acting credits on their respective CVs. Throw in Denis Podalydes and you have a formidable quartet so it's pity that all four chose to squander their talents in a piece of glossy fluff that does credit to no one involved. Essentially we're talking third-rate Chabrol in a highly scenic setting which is all it really has going for it. In a nutshell Amalric is a latter-day History Man, teaching creative writing as a Major with a Minor is Sex Education with his nubile female students, one of whom disappears following a liaison with him in the first reel cue the girl's 'stepmother' an undercover cop happy to sleep with Amalric to get a conviction and cause ripples in his incestuous relationship with his live-in sister Karin Viard. The whole thing is a terrible mish-mosj but the scenery is good and the actors better than this trash deserves.

johnklem Three quarters of the way through the film, I decided that everyone had misunderstood it and the filmmakers had their tongues firmly in their collective cheek. And therein lies the problem. I was wrong, as a late twist reveals. This film wants to be taken seriously. That tonal inconsistency is a deal breaker. Matthieu Almeric is miscast and everyone else, even the wonderful Sarah Forestier, for the most part wasted. Only Maiwen gets to have some fun with her character. For most of its running time it plays like a very subtle comedy, a kind of "Scream XX" for the psychological thriller genre, with a cast of characters straight out of a cheap melodrama. The philandering professor, his incestuous sister, the endless nubile students and the drop-dead gorgeous bereaved mother. Phillipe Djian, who wrote the novel on which this screenplay is based, also wrote Betty Blue, the novel. That's relevant because Betty Blue the movie is a lot better than Betty Blue the novel. The novel reads like a bad teenage fantasy. That film is in most ways true to the book but it succeeds because it sets the right tone from the start and is perfectly cast. Love is the Perfect Crime has neither advantage, the director simply not understanding the subject matter. I read recently that Paul Verhoeven is planning to adapt a Djian novel. Now that might be worth seeing.

Bo Atdrinks The film is in French with English subtitles and was shown as part of the Glasgow Film Festival.The film opens with a night ride in a car up a snowy mountain. The driving is somewhat erratic and the occupants seem a little drunk. It is clear that this is an amorous liaison. The first of many in fact. The film, 15+ certificate, could in fact be subtitled: 'More Sex Please, We're Swiss'.The film continues with the drive down the mountain. Again, and perhaps even more so this time, we get the sense of how dangerous it is to drive on these mountain roads. This is emphasised by the filming, which is very well done. It is further emphasised by the music, but sadly the music is just too loud and intrusive at this point. It is the only problem with the music, after this, all music is perfectly placed in the film to highlight the scenes. Much of the music is ambient and psychedelic and fits in very well with the feel of the film. There are also some well placed love songs with ponderous lyrics, and these also fit in well.Film is about that walking cliché; the literature professor with the roving eye. And boy! does his eye rove! We see this clearly as he arrives to take his class. Entering this very modern place of learning, we find our very modern professor's eye roving around. Again, this is shown well in the filming. Much of this movie is shot from the professor's POV.The professor seems to occupy two worlds. He lives up the mountain but works down the mountain. His home is an old-fashioned wood-built chalet, like that of 'Belle and Sebastian' or 'Heidi' and 'Goat' Peter. Down in the valley his place of work is so modern and futuristic looking, it would not look out of place in a SF film. Throughout the film these contrasts are shown well. The mountain scenery is stunning and is also shot well. There are scenes with a fresh look to them, others with a colder and darker wintery-look to them.Travel between the mountain and the valley takes up a lot of time, especially if you stop off for a bit of recreational sex, but our professor does entertain us with his excuses. However this film is no French farce but rather a Hitchcockian suspense film. In style it reminded this reviewer of Sidney Gilliat's 'Endless Night' (1972) and Danny Boyle's 'Trance' of last year.The acting in this film is universally superb. The male lead, playing the role of the professor, really seems to be able to convey his character to the audience, be it wolfing down his food, or just by looking or staring. A tour-de-force! He is however well supported by the three main actresses.If therefore you like an erotic, raunchy, sexy, suspense-thriller, with tense twists, hanky-panky, hankys of blood, and buckets of sex, then you will enjoy this film. As the main protagonist in this film is a French-speaking, student-seducing, literature professor, there will be lots of philosophical and ponderous speaking too.Good stuff! Oh la la! 10/10.... and the scorpion said to the frog ...