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Movies / On DVD / Emile
Emile

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Emile (2004)

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57 %
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Reviews Counted: 23

Fresh: 13

Rotten:10

Average Rating: 5.8/10

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for language

Runtime: 1 hr 33 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Feb 18, 2005 Limited

Synopsis: Accomplished British actor Sir Ian McKellen stars in this Canadian picture as Emile, a 65 year-old man torn apart by memories of his troubled past. Consumed by guilt over abandoning his family when... Accomplished British actor Sir Ian McKellen stars in this Canadian picture as Emile, a 65 year-old man torn apart by memories of his troubled past. Consumed by guilt over abandoning his family when he was young, Emile makes a last attempt to reconnect with his only living relatives. Director Carl Bessai seamlessly blends the past and present in retelling Emile's life story. Much of the film's key events are examined through flashbacks, with the real and imaginary intersecting throughout. Emile's fragile state of mind is reflected through this interweaving of the past and present, suggesting that he may never escape the past enough to really be present in the current moment. Exploring the conflict between wanting to be independent from one's family, and feeling the need to be connected, EMILE is a well-written and extraordinarily well-acted drama that deals with the complexities of human emotions. [More]

Starring: Ian McKellen, Deborah Unger, Tygh Runyan

Starring: Ian McKellen, Deborah Unger, Tygh Runyan


Studio: Castle Hill Productions

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Release:

Nov 30, 1999

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Emile

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
01/26/06
Time Out

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Film Threat

A routine memory piece about long-buried family secrets that bubble back to the surface to wreak havoc.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
03/04/05
Scott Foundas
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Confusing the profound with the pretentious, director Bessai packs the story with elliptical, ominous flashbacks that undercut all the advances he makes with the contemporary tale.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
03/04/05
Elizabeth Weitzman
New York Daily News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Tenderly touches our emotions.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
03/04/05
V.A. Musetto
New York Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Sensitively played but ultimately undone by its unconventional approach.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
03/04/05
Ken Fox
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Sir Ian McKellen is at his tweediest and most persnickety as the title character in Emile, the portrait of an eminent scientist who returns from England to his homeland, Canada, to receive an honorary degree from the University of Victoria.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
03/03/05
Stephen Holden
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's appropriate that the director calls this the final chapter in a trilogy about struggling with one's identity -- he shows none of his own while mishandling someone else's.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
03/03/05
David Blaylock
Village Voice
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Poignant and well acted, though not very memorable.

Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | comment Comment
02/17/05
David Sterritt
Christian Science Monitor

It's ultimately more simplistic and contrived than provocative.

Full Review Source: Reel.com | comment Comment
02/04/05
Timothy Knight
Reel.com

While this dreamily photographed piece contains fine performances by all, it loses its way as it lingers too long in the past and moves too slowly in the present.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
02/04/05
E! Online

At heart a reverie, a meditation on the past and its treacheries, the ways in which people become flawed, and the eternal though often elusive possibility of forgiveness and redemption.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
02/03/05
Kevin Thomas
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

McKellen and Unger do a wonderful trudging through the dirt (and, finally, cheese), Emile never quite gets off the ground.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
12/27/04
Ed Gonzalez
Slant Magazine

An honest and intelligent look into real relationships, impressively original in its execution and breathtakingly remarkable in its delivery.

Full Review Source: FilmFocus | comment Comment
07/20/04
Joe Utichi
FilmFocus

The films of Carl Bessai are remarkably similar on two fronts: (1) They all have a single name for a title -- first Johnny, then Lola, now Emile; and (2) They just aren't getting much better.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
06/04/04
Rick Groen
Globe and Mail
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

a film of tender hues, quiet intensity and elegiac melancholy that you may well find lingering in your own memory.

Full Review Source: Movie Gazette | comment Comment
05/22/04
Anton Bitel
Movie Gazette

Technical shortcomings aside this is a good story well told, elevated by McKellen on top form.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
05/22/04
David Hughes
Empire Magazine

Reminds us that Sir Ian McKellen is used to playing more complex characters than Gandalf or Magneto.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
05/11/04
Jamie Russell
BBC

A small but excellent cast supports McKellen in what is a beautiful and intelligent film.

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
03/30/04
Ashley Cooper
Film Threat

Beautifully filmed and edited by Bessai to take us into the mind of a man who has made too many life-changing decisions.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
03/16/04
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
 
 
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