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L'Enfer

L'Enfer (2005)

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Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 2
Fresh: 0 | Rotten: 2

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User Ratings: 1,032

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Movie Info

Director Danis Tanovic picks up where the late-Krzysztof Kieslowski left off by taking on the second installment of Kieslowski's "Heaven," "Hell," and "Purgatory" trilogy (the first was adapted by Run Lola Run director Tom Tykwer) with this tale of a family whose dark past returns with a vengeance. Loosely modeled by screenwriter Krzysztof Piesiewicz on the second act of Dante's Inferno, Hell tells the story of sisters Sophie (Emmanuelle Béart), Céline (Karin Viard), and Anne (Marie Gillain),

Unrated,

Art House & International, Drama

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All Critics (15) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (6) | Rotten (3) | DVD (4)

A decidedly cold, protracted work marked by solid, but passionless performances and a preference for polished, fashion-magazine imagery.

September 13, 2005 Full Review Source: Variety
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

For all its literary references, the thing certainly looks like a shallow though slick French melodrama.

September 9, 2005
Hollywood Reporter
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The spectre of Kieslowski flutters through the film, but his eye and touch aren't there%u2014it's hard to watch L'Enfer without wondering, what would he have done?

December 1, 2006
Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Canada)

The characters fascinate yet confuse. Surprisingly, the film keeps us at arms length. On reflection, I enjoyed the film more after it had finished, when I could dip back into this claustrophobic world and relive the unfolding of events in my mind.

June 5, 2006 Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile
Urban Cinefile

Tanovic turns the drama of three damaged sisters... into a full-blooded opera with performances to match.

June 4, 2006 Full Review Source: GreenCine
GreenCine

A multi-layered tale that's as compelling on a surface level as it is laden with food-for-thought underneath.

September 12, 2005 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com
eFilmCritic.com

Gave me goose-bumps from both its content and its quality.

September 10, 2005
Planet Sick-Boy

Audience Reviews for L'Enfer

Hell (L'Enfer as it's known in its native France) is the second film in a planned trilogy that began with the underrated Heaven directed by Tom Tykwer and starring Cate Blanchett and Giovanni Ribisi, based upon scripts by the late, great Krzsztof Kieslowksi (the Three Colours trilogy). The two films share little in common aside from their 'unclassifiableness' and their emotional power.A difficult film to analyse, Hell, directed by Academy Award winner Danis Tanovic (No Man's Land) is overflowing with ideas concerning philosophy, psyche, and emotional detachment and yet is still accessible, unpretentious and, whilst it takes itself necessarily seriously, it is also sometimes blackly funny. There's an exceptional eye for detail that's appropriately worthy of Kieslowski himself; even the opening credits concerning the plight of a bird and the eggs she is watching is gripping and gives the first insight into some of the horror that lies ahead. Although, in all probability, as with Heaven, the title is meant to be ironic, for despite some excellently shot shocks, a pervading sense of dread and a creepily effective final scene, there is some hope to the characters' lives as the film unwinds its secrets. Stunning cinematography, a thoughtful color scheme (each story thread seems to have its own tone), featuring a nicely dramatic music score and complimented by a trio of leading French actresses giving nuanced performances (Emmanuelle Béart, Karin Viard and Marie Gillain), Hell is very impressive.
November 20, 2007
danieljparsons

Super Reviewer

I think I saw this way back on Wednesday 26 July!! Only just finishing post - better late than never as they say. Didn't know much about this beforehand except that it was based on idea by the Three Colours Trilogy cineaste, Krzysztof Kieslowski. Afterwards learnt that l'Enfer is actually part two of another trilogy - the first instalment was called Heaven and starred Cate Blanchette and Giovanni Ribisi.

During the opening credits a background scene plays - 3 eggs; one baby bird hatches and pushes another egg out. While trying to get rid of the next egg the first bird (the "pusher") accidentally goes over side. A man spots the baby bird on the ground and puts it back in the nest. The bird immediately continues on with the job and the last egg splatters on the ground.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/reviews/review_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001095972
"Danis Tanovic's ... second feature, "L'Enfer" ("Hell"), draws upon Greek mythology, Euripides' "Medea" and the interplay of destiny and coincidence. ... musings on fate vs. coincidence, tragedy vs. drama."

Key scenes in the film that relate are: 1) the professor's speech about fate & coincidence, and; 2) the youngest daughter's interview before the university board - she picks Medea as her topic and proceeds to deliver a monologue about Medea killing her own children in retaliation against their father for transgressions against her. The daughter's thesis is comparing the format used to perform Greek tragedies vs. those acted out in life today - alludes to (modern) human tendency to create our own personal life dramas via subconscious choices and to repeat scenarios "learnt" from our past experiences.

Do we accept responsibility for our life choices and believe that we possess some measure of control or do we surrender to an invisible "fate" or "destiny"?

Wikipedia definition of tragedy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_tragedy
[size=1][QUOTE] [/size]
[size=1]...throughout much of [/size][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_culture"][size=1][color=#0000ff]Western[/color][/size][/url][size=1] thought, tragedy has been defined in more precise terms, following the precepts set out by [/size][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle"][size=1][color=#0000ff]Aristotle[/color][/size][/url][size=1] and based upon Greek tragedies: it is a form of [/size][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drama"][size=1][color=#0000ff]drama[/color][/size][/url][size=1] characterized by seriousness and dignity, usually involving a conflict between a [/size][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fictional_character"][size=1][color=#0000ff]character[/color][/size][/url][size=1] and some higher power, such as the [/size][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law"][size=1][color=#0000ff]law[/color][/size][/url][size=1], the [/size][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God"][size=1][color=#0000ff]gods[/color][/size][/url][size=1], [/size][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fate"][size=1][color=#0000ff]fate[/color][/size][/url][size=1], or [/size][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society"][size=1][color=#0000ff]society[/color][/size][/url][size=1]."[/size]
[size=1]... [/size]
[size=1]"Greek literature boasts three great writers of tragedy whose works are extant: [/size][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophocles"][size=1][color=#0000ff]Sophocles[/color][/size][/url][size=1], [/size][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euripides"][size=1][color=#0000ff]Euripides[/color][/size][/url][size=1] and [/size][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeschylus"][size=1][color=#0000ff]Aeschylus[/color][/size][/url][size=1].[/size]
[size=1][/QUOTE][/size]

One of Euripides greatest plays is "Medea" based on the myth of Jason and Medea, which is referenced later in the film.

During the course of the film there are flashbacks to specific past events from the family's history that relate to the above themes; sacrifice of children to gain love, passion and vengeance (woman against man). The 3 daughters all seem to be struggling with their personal relationships in different ways and this appears to relate to the violent breakup of their parents marriage years ago.

The sisters noticeably do not interact onscreen until toward the end and even though the sisters live separate lives and rarely see each other they each share a common event with another family member.

Parallel scenes are shown to emphasis the intergenerational connection between the siblings, their parents and offspring ... and also to show the continuous cycle of dysfunctionality or is it mere coincidence that certain events seem to reoccur?

Examples of this phenomenon are:
1. Sophie (played by Beart) repeats her mother's past action - adulterous husband shut out of home, kids witness violence in background.
2. Sophie's husband is rejected by his new lover when she finds out he has kids, makes reference to the same thing happening to her as a child.
3. Celine repeats scene between naked boy in her father's office (which kicked off the chain of events back when Celine was a child that led to the family breakup) - they each strip and offer themselves to the bemusement of the object of their affection.
4. Anne (youngest daughter) - commits adultery & is fixated on an older man, betraying a close friend in the process.

Toward the end of the film the 3 daughters visit their mute & wheelchair bound mother in a home. The youngest daughter (the university student) makes a comment about her mother "killing" her daughters in reference to the Medea myth. The women want to tell their mother about the new facts that have come to light which absolve their disgraced father (now deceased). When the mother hears the story explaining how their father was wrongfully accused she writes "je ne regrette rien." FIN.

Wasn't sure I "got" this one or even really enjoyed it when leaving the cinema - it definitely left me feeling strange and unsettled. It's quite a complex screenplay and I think maybe the central themes had gone a little over head. It wasnt until later and after a little internet research that I came to appreciate the story more. In terms of direction / cinematography - I wasn't moved like I was with the 3 Colours Trilogy, but I'd be interested to see the other two films in this new trilogy.

----------------------
L'Enfer ("Hell"), 2005, France, Director: Danis Tanovic, Screenplay: Krzysztof Piesiewicz. Based on an idea by Krzysztof Kieslowski (Trois Couleurs), Krzysztof Piesiewicz. Playing the sisters: Emmanuelle Béart (Sophie), Karin Viard (Celine), Marie Gillain (Anne) with Jean Rochefort in guest role.

Trivia: Emmanuelle Beart acted in a 1994 film also called l'Enfer (no relation to this 2005 version). Most famous role: Manon des Sources in 1986.
October 3, 2006
anmarika
Annetta Karam
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