In "L'Ennui," Martin(Charles Berling), a philosophy professor, has not had sex in the six months since he got divorced from his wife Sophie(Arielle Dombasle) in the hopes that he can now focus on writing a book. It's not working. What he does instead is drive around the seedier parts of town, eventually coming upon a
bar where Leopold(Robert Kramer), an artist, cannot pay. Martin rescues him by paying his tab and accepts a painting as collateral. Three days later, he returns the painting only to discover that Leopold has died in the interim, finding Cecilia(Sophie Guillemin), a 17-year old model and lover of Leopold's in his place. "L'Ennui" is a graphically sexual movie about obsession that gets tedious long before the drawn out conclusion. No matter how good a performance Charles Berling gives, there is no getting away from how truly tiresome Martin is. The simple truth is that he thinks too much and his being a philosophy professor cannot excuse this(we are all philosophers). He was most likely responsible for driving away Sophie and cannnot totally put his old life behind. At the same time realizing that he is too old and wrong for the much younger Cecilia, he cannot get away from the hot sex. By contrast, Cecilia just goes along with the flow, simply agreeing to whatever is suggested.
March 10, 2011
