Description

A medical intern finds himself drawn into a world of international intrigue after discovering a shrunken human head in his luggage. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Subtle, symbolic
The son of a diplomat (read espionage agent) chooses to become a pathologist and in turn treats the individuals he meets with more dignity and respect than the world of diplomats that surround him.

Mathias is not easily shaken, as one imagines a pathologist would be. Caught in the middle of international espionage, he acts with confidence and consistency, keeping the spies at bay while he hurries to identify the head that has come into his keeping.

The film has a subtle yet deliberate pace that weaves romance and light-humor in with some very macabre content -- reflecting Mathias' own life. This is not an easy story to dissect. In the confusing post-cold-war world, everyone is uneasy it seems, except a humble pathologist.

I was left wanting a bit more resolution, not of plot but of characters. Still it is a charm all its own that makes it worth watching again.

I can't even begin to imagine how an American director would butcher this delicate story -- so many little details that would be brushed aside for suspense or gore or sex. I can see Ben Affleck now in a high-speed espionage thriller...that completely misses the point.

Head Games.....
This review refers to the DVD(Fox Lorber)edition of "La Sentinelle"......

Mathias, a reserved, quiet student of Forensic Pathology, is returning to France after completing his studies in Germany.Before reaching Paris, he is stopped for what seems to be a routine but threatening border check. After being questioned by a mysterious agent, he is found to be harmless, he is released,and as far as he's concerned it's over and done with...that is until he finds a very unusal item in his luggage...a human head!

At first he is so taken aback by his discovery, he can hardly think what to do. But eventually, being trained in Forensic Medicine,his curiosity gets the best of him and he puts his talents to work to piece together this mysterious puzzle. Curiosity soon turns to an obsession that has Mathias, spending every waking moment on this "project". At times, it almost seems like he is a sentry, standing guard over it. His findings also involve him deeply in political intrigue that has now turned him into a target for the French Secret Service.

It's a terrific French thriller, but not in the way you may think by looking at the cover art of the DVD. You won't be jumping out of your skin by frightening images.It's more of a suspenseful psychological thriller,along the lines of something like "Three Days of the Condor". Director Arnaud Desplechin expertly keeps you involved and intrigued every step of the way.The marvelous cast includes Emmanuel Salinger, Thibault De Montalembert and Jean-Louis Richard, all turning in excellent performances.

The DVD presents a very nice picture, and good sound in DD2.0 surround. It is in French with English subtitles and you will also find filmographies on several of the actors.

If you are in the mood for something French, something suspenseful, or something different..check this one out.
Get the popcorn ready and enjoy....Laurie

Fine Excellent Non-American View of the Cold War's Last Days
This movie is ambiented in the months before the natural(provoqued?) collapse of the Soviet Union in a country (France) where the last dirty battles between West and East are being played at expense of lifes and fortunes on both sides. The film is not short in denouncing snippets of high level corruption in the West (eg. Churchill conniving with Stalin in the WWII and the 'necessary' elimination -in the West- of 'dissenting' refugees of the East). This fact alone distinguish the film of

thousands of spy trash movies made from the point of view of the winner of the Cold War game. The narrative quality of the story is appalling and make this movie exceptional in the french cinema. If you have brainwashed preconceptions about how this conflict was fought please do not see this film. ... Read more

Description

Paul Dedalus is standing at the crossroads of his life. He must choose his direction in life, in his career, and in his love life as he sits in fear of the despairing life that his father is unable to escape from. Featuring an extraordinary cast of France's most promising young actors and actresses, "My Sex Life" is a witty look at a group of twenty-something grad students trying to cope with life, love and everything in between. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

hmm
the first hour of this movie satisfactorily grabbbed my attention, and based on the comments of other amazon customers, i expected it to improve considerably. it didn't.

i knew a great deal of the movie would be conversations. unfortunately, most of them were rather banal. for substance, there was one glib quote by kierkegaard and one by kundera. some of the main character's reflections on the nature of relationship were somewhat insightful. however, most of the other talk centered, unfortunately, on the other characters' sexual ups and downs, which is not necessarily awful, if you like that sort of thing.

aside from that, the acting was good, the actresses rather enchanting. although i did find the contrast peculiar, in the scenes in which they were totally nude and the males fully dressed, which was the standard within the film.

disappointed, deeply...
This is a lovely film, at least it was when I saw its premier screening at the MFA in Boston. I loved the characters & dialogue, had been eagerly awaiting its appearance as/on a dvd, but, while it's here, the transfer/compression of it blows. The image quality's so poor & the colors incredibly bleached out. I wan my money back & or a better transfer (preferably). To whom do I bring my complaint to? Do the europeans lack for technology? A poor transfer was also done to another great (foreign) film, a Spanish one, titled "Vacas", which is a great film, though, not on dvd.

A Movie for Young Intellectuals
If you're looking for steamy sex scenes, forget it; while this movie does deal with sex, it does so through discussion and debate, two highly-regarded French art forms! (Perhaps a lot of the disappointment surrounding this film is due to the fact that the title was inversed when it was released in the U.S.: The French title is "How I Got Into an Argument (My Sex Life).") But don't write the film off yet; it is an excellent thinking-person's romantic comedy.

Mathieu Amalric is superb as Paul Dedalus, the central character of the film. (Amalric is excellent in any movie, actually.) Paul is a graduate student instructor who is brilliant, but lazy, and undecided in all the major areas of his life. He is too afraid to dedicate himself to a career as a professor, so he has been delaying writing his doctoral thesis for years. Though he has been with Esther for ten years, that does not indicate any form of commitment on his end, as he will not let the relationship mature or change in any form; he cannot break up with her, and he cannot remain faithful to her. Paul idolizes his only friend, Nathan, a professor of the same age who is not as brilliant as Paul, but has had the admirable drive to at least complete his thesis and secure a teaching post at the university. At the same time, Paul despises his ex-best friend Frederic, who is nearly as bright as Paul, but has an obsessive ambition and forceful ego that have propelled him to department chair over Paul. Paul has affairs with Nathan's girlfriend Sylvia, and her sister-in-law Valerie (both of whom have emotional/mental problems of their own), justifying that each one is better than Esther because they either have a job, a place of their own, and/or educational goals (none of which Paul really has for himself). Paul fancies himself Esther's rock, and eventually dumps her because "no one can carry the weight of someone else's responsibilities." The story, which switches between the present time, a few months earlier, and a year earlier, shows how Karma whips Paul around a bit, and forces him to come to terms with his insecurities, his future, and most importantly, his love for Esther.

Paul may be the main character, but Esther (a wonderful performance from the little-seen Emmanuelle Devos) is the true hero of the film. Desplechin's direction is so subtle, yet precise, that at the beginning of the film, we aren't even aware that we are seeing Esther through Paul's eyes: At first, Esther is needy, whiney, suffocating and ugly (a reflection on his esteem for her). But in the middle of the film, after the break up, we see Esther bloom. She all of a sudden becomes stunning, but not through any superficial changes. We see Esther as she truly is: Beautiful, intelligent, and completely self-sufficient, with an amazing and quiet courage. Paul may not be able to carry her responsibility, but all along, it was actually she who carried his. Her greatest fault, as well as her best quality and strength, is her love for Paul, which he is too blind to see at first, then later realizes. (Another credit to Desplechin's direction: Even when Esther is most angry at Paul, you unconsciously see him through her eyes, and see just how charming and intelligent she thinks him to be.) If you're a girl whose heart has been broken, you will relate to Esther's silent moments, her wailing moments, and her struggle to move on with her life.

Don't expect things to tie up neatly; real life never resolves itself in simple, concrete ways, and neither do French films. Along with Esther and Paul's doings, we also peek into the lives of Paul's friends and family members, who are all in their mid-twenties and early thirties, and are similarly at crossroads-with-no-signs points in their lives. This large cast of characters plays out the problem of intellectual youth: As bright as they are about academic matters, they are ignorant when it comes to human relationships, including the way they view themselves. Probably also attributed to the otherwise admirable French qualities of discussion and debate, they rationalize or theorize too much on their problems and situations in order to avoid making decisions or taking responsibility for their actions.

Do not be put off by the serious and cerebral topics of this film: It is extremely funny, but in an intelligent sort of way. Very little of the humor is physical or circumstantial (although it does have its moments where you will burst out laughing, such as the scene where the monkey gets stuck behind the heater, which a previous reviewer mentioned).

"My Sex Life" also offers an alternative view to Paris; it is the setting for all of Paul's romantic moments, but the city has never looked so grey, which reflects the loneliness of the students' lives as they struggle to find love, while blind to the love that is already there. No glamourous scenes, no sunny makes-you-happy-to-be-alive moments; this movie is as gritty as real life, and just as interesting.

Mathieu Amalric and Emmanuelle Devos were both nominated for Most Promising Actor and Actress Cesar awards (the French version of the Oscar)for this film. (Amalric took home the award.)

Video Transfer is still poor for DVD
First of all, I like this movie and had seen it on VHS before ordering it on DVD. I thought it would be a good movie to learn some French by turning off the subtitles since it has a lot of dialog and is long. I was wrong.

Problem 1: You can't turn the subtitles off.

This is ridiculous for as recent a movie as this. They obviously could have found a print without the subtitles and then offered subtle options on the DVD menu.

Problem 2: The subtitles are in white.

Again ridiculous - yellow or white with a thin black border obviously work better when against a white tablecloth or sheet (which happens several times).

Problem 3: The video quality is terrible. I've watched 50 or so DVD's by now and this one is not up to par - it almost looks like it is raining in some of the darker scenes outside. They even left the annoying marks on the upper right for a film reel change in. I can't wait till all films are just shot digitally in the first place, so we never have to get stuck with these bad transfers again.

My advice is to rent it, or if you have a player for the European region, perhaps their version is better.

Poor video transfer?
I sent the VHS version of this movie back largely unseen because the subtitles were so fuzzy. The overall video quality, in fact, I think is suspect. I look forward to watching this movie when it is successfully transferred to DVD. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Esther Kahn is the intriguing tale of a young Jewish girl (Summer Phoenix) who rises to be a leading actress of her day, playing the title role in the London premiere of Ibsen's classic play Hedda Gabler. Esther's childhood is captured in strangely fragmented scenes that coalesce into a vivid portrait of life in a Jewish slum. As Esther takes to the stage, the movie's focus sharpens, particularly as she undergoes training at the hands of an older actor (Ian Holm, always magnetic). In childhood, Esther kept her feelings deeply submerged to protect herself from her family's mockery. Now, to expand her talent, she sets out to experience love--with consequences that may lead to disaster. The script and direction of Esther Kahn are intriguing; unfortunately, Phoenix portrays Esther's offstage numbness more effectively than her onstage talent. --Bret Fetzer ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Oh, to be an ACTOR
Esther Kahn is an incredible look into the psyche of an actor and the way they are affected by those who are around them. From the very beginning of this film, we are treated to a plethora of childhood experiences that shape the future of Esther. In order to emphasize certain things, irises are used, which acutely point out things that remain in the child's memory.
We see how this quintessentially perfect actress is shaped and formed throughout her life. The film delves into the exploration of what makes her tick. A certain sense of hollowness erupts from each experience. This causes one to realize that Esther didn't really embrace her own independent life to begin with. She fully emmerses herself into someone else's life and takes on other roles that are not her own. This allows her to truly be someone else on stage. It appears as though every face of Esther, since she can really remember, was an act.
When Ian Holm enters the scene, she is so impressed by his abilities, that she becomes his student and realizes that the only way that she can allow herself to become a true actor, is to feel pain and suffering. This opens a whole new door to her, in which we, as the audience are treated to a storm of emotions, erupting into a final play, in which the audience sees just how much an actor can suffer in order to please that audience.

Great acting, despite slow-moving story.
Esther Kahn could probably have been 10 to 20 minutes shorter without losing any of its depth of feeling and character. However, it still stands as a flawed but involving dramatic piece thanks to the dual performances of Ian Holm and Summer Phoenix in her first lead role. Holm is eternally reliable, hiding cascades of emotional struggle beneath an understated exterior, but as befits the focus of the story, Phoenix is the one to watch, and she rises to the challenge with a brave, uneven but ultimately engaging performance. Slightly awkward in interview (as provided in this DVD's bonus materials section), Phoenix comes to life onscreen, and her explosive moments of turmoil (such as with the wince-inducing glass sequence and Esther's fight with her mother) make for the highlights of the film.

Several pretentious art-film touches mar the film -- the overwritten, badly performed voice-over, for example, as well as the erratic pacing and often choppy editing -- but for a film that aims to explore the psyche of one character, Esther Kahn, the film, succeeds very well and paints a memorable picture of a complex, troubled, and imperfect heroine that we can identify with. ... Read more