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Children of the Century (2002)
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Reviews Counted:41
Fresh:18
Rotten:23
Average Rating:5.3/10
Consensus: This romance is more soapy than historically compelling.
Theatrical Release:Sep 13, 2002 Limited
Synopsis: A sweepingly romantic and historic tale about two 19th-century writers and their trials in work, travel, and love, CHILDREN OF THE CENTURY is a daring period piece from director Diane Kurys. The... A sweepingly romantic and historic tale about two 19th-century writers and their trials in work, travel, and love, CHILDREN OF THE CENTURY is a daring period piece from director Diane Kurys. The love affair between George Sand (Juliette Binoche) and Alfred de Musset (Benoit Magimel) is brought to life in fits and bursts of creative impulses, passionate interludes, and emotional blowouts. Writers who met in 1833, Sand and de Musset were both well-established in their careers. Sand's feminism, masculine style of dress, and boldness rendered her works utterly readable for their controversy if not their quality. Likewise, de Musset's poetry was highly regarded in literary circles. Unfortunately, Sand was married (to Casimir Dudevant, who she left when she moved to Paris alone) with two children, and so her affair with de Musset--like her fierce independence, liberalism, and frequent romantic trysts--was considered a scandal. But as the story unfolds, Sand remains committed to de Musset even as his words and actions spin rapidly and frightfully out of control. CHILDREN OF THE CENTURY depicts an artistic bloom in Paris and Venice in the mid-1800s, colored by the changing hues of love and grief shared between these two major creative figures. [More]
Starring: Juliette Binoche, Benoit Magimel, Stefano Dionisi, Karin Viard
Starring: Juliette Binoche, Benoit Magimel, Stefano Dionisi, Karin Viard, Isabelle Carré, Patrick Chesnais, Arnaud Giovaninetti, Denis Podalydes, Michel Robin
Director: Diane Kurys
Director: Diane Kurys
Screenwriter: Francois-Olivier Rousseau, Murray Head, Diane Kurys
Producer: Alain Sarde, Diane Kurys
Composer: Luis Bacalov
Studio: Empire Pictures
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Reviews for Children of the Century
Children of the Century, though well dressed and well made, ultimately falls prey to the contradiction that afflicts so many movies about writers.
Befuddled in its characterizations as it begins to seem as long as the two year affair which is its subject
The story drifts so inexorably into cliches about tortured (and torturing) artists and consuming but impossible love that you can't help but become more disappointed as each overwrought new sequence plods on.
It’s not thirsty, consuming passion which drives this movie. No, it’s the repetition of said behavior, and so Children of the Century is more mindless love than mad, more grating and boring than anything else.
A bit of a downer and a little over-dramatic at times, but this is a beautiful film for people who like their romances to have that French realism.
Kurys seems intimidated by both her subject matter and the period trappings of this debut venture into the heritage business.
While the production details are lavish, film has little insight into the historical period and its artists, particularly in how Sand developed a notorious reputation.
Abandons all pretense of creating historical context and waltzes off into a hectic soap about the ups and downs of the heavy breathing between the two artists.
It all drags on so interminably it's like watching a miserable relationship unfold in real time.
Like many such biographical melodramas, it suffers from the awkwardness that results from adhering to the messiness of true stories.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
| 25% 25% | Four Christmases |
| 68% 68% | Funny People |
| 95% 95% | Star Trek |
| 14% 14% | The Ugly Truth |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 32% 32% | Terminator Salvation |
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| 86% 86% | A Christmas Tale |
| 60% 60% | Paper Heart |
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