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Les Uns et les Autres (Bolero) by Claude Lelouch
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DVD Cover InformationActor: Daniel Olbrychski, Geraldine Chaplin, Jorge Donn, Nicole Garcia, Robert Hossein Director: Claude Lelouch Brand: Image Entertainment DVD: Region Code 1 Audio: French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled) Format: Anamorphic, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen Picture Format: 2.35:1 Running Time: 177 minutes DVD Release Date: 2003-12-09 Audience Rating: Unrated Studio: Image Entertainment
Movie Reviews of Les Uns et les Autres (Bolero)Movie Review: Amazing,sweeping,overwhelming if not somewhat confusing! Summary: 5 StarsEvery film that I have ever seen that has dealt with pre WW2 and the during and after effects all combined together in this amazing and sweeping epic film LES UNS ET LES AUTRES (roughly translated "These people and the other people") and released in America under the title BOLERO.It is difficult to give an accurate review of such a film,directed by Claude Lelouch (A Man and a Woman) because frankly it is overwhelming in it's scope and characters,as it is also a film of music and feeling that evokes the senses,and yet tells a powerful story of people's lives affected by the Holocaust, starting in the 1930's, in four different countries,four different languages, and following the after effects into the 1980's!!!! There is A LOT to take in this movie.One viewing is simply not adequate to express all that is in this film.That it is a tribute to the human spirit and to the power of music is undeniable.The characters in this film are all based from real life, except the names are changed.Some characters I could figure out such as the German Pianist/conductor Karl Kremer, who seemed a composite of Wilhelm Furtwangler (Taking Sides-the film about his complicity with Hitler)and Herbert van Karajan. The Russian ballet dancer who defected to America as Rudolf Nureyev or possibly Mikail Baryshnikov (White Nights-a film based on his defection). The other characters were harder to identify;the failed boxer and the American singer (played by Geraldine Chaplin), and the author who was abandoned on the railroad tracks as a baby! Someone will know who all of these people were that Claude Lelouch places in this tribute to music and humanity.This film is SPECTACLE and I honestly can say that in all my years of watching films,I have NEVER seen anything quite like it.It runs for 177 minutes,just slightly edited from it's original 188 minutes.The music flows from Beethoven,Ravel and Liszt to the contemporary Michel Legrand and Francis Lai.The choreography by the French great Maurice Bejart is astounding.Bejart is well known as the choreographer for the rock group QUEEN'S Queen Rock Montreal + Live Aid.The film can be a little confusing as certain actors,James Caan, Geraldine Chaplin, Nicole Garcia etc.play dual roles.You must keep up with this this film especially in the third hour when the story shifts into the 1960's and then into the 1980's.It is all there, but don't blink.
I would have never known that this film existed unless a friend had given it to me who said,"Dedicate three hours of your life, non stop, to 'experience' this film!" SHE WAS RIGHT.This is as epic and grand as any film I have ever seen.
Summary of Les Uns et les Autres (Bolero)From internationally acclaimed director Claude Lelouch (A Man and a Woman) comes a sweeping epic chronicling three generations whose lives revolve around the magic of music. In an unforgettable dual role, James Caan (The Godfather) heads an all-star international cast through decades of global turmoil, from pre-World War II Europe to a powerful finale in the 1960s. Geraldine Chaplin (Talk to Her), Fanny Ardant (8 Women), Robert Hossein (Rififi), Macha Meril (Deep Red), Richard Bohringer (Diva), Alexandra Stewart (Day for Night), and a very young Sharon Stone also appear in this beautiful tapestry of time, memory, and melody. Dynamic musical score by popular composers Michel Legrand (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg) and Francis Lai (Love Story), studded with classic favorites by Ravel, Beethoven, Liszt, and more! Claude Lelouch (A Man and a Woman) tackles a giant canvas in the sprawling Les Uns et Les Autres, a movie full of brilliant actors and heartfelt moments. To make a coherent whole out of these elements would take a more profound director than Lelouch, however. Following dozens of characters from the 1930s through World War II and into the late '70s, Lelouch struggles to develop a grand theme based on sketchily developed people, all tied together with pop music and Ravel's evocatively used "Bolero." Not surprisingly, the sections dealing with Occupied Paris are the most compelling, with a poignant turn by Nicole Garcia (James Caan and Geraldine Chaplin, each in dual roles, hold down the U.S.-based segments). The film was well-received in Europe, although a cut U.S. release under the title Bolero flopped. If you stick around for the ambitious final sequence, look for an unknown Sharon Stone sitting in bed with Caan. --Robert Horton
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