Le Refuge (The Refuge)
Mousse and Louis are young, beautiful, rich and in love. But drugs have invaded their lives. One day they overdose, and Louis dies. Mousse survives, but soon learns she's pregnant. Feeling lost, she runs away to a house far from Paris. Several months later, Louis' brother joins her in her refuge.--©Official Site
2.9 out of 5 based on 12 reviews
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Omniscore:
|
| Certificate |
15 |
| Genre |
Foreign, Drama |
| Director |
François Ozon |
| Cast |
Louis-Ronan Choisy, Pierre Louis-Calixte, Melvil Poupaud Isabelle Carré |
| Studio |
Artificial Eye |
| Release Date |
August 2010 |
| Running Time |
88 mins |
| |
Mousse and Louis are young, beautiful, rich and in love. But drugs have invaded their lives. One day they overdose, and Louis dies. Mousse survives, but soon learns she's pregnant. Feeling lost, she runs away to a house far from Paris. Several months later, Louis' brother joins her in her refuge.--©Official Site
Reviews
The Independent
Geoffrey MacNab
“The film is as much a celebration of pregnancy as it is a drama about addiction and bereavement. Carré, who was herself pregnant during the shoot, excels as the defiant, rebellious but acutely sensitive mother-to-be.”
13/08/2010
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Time Out
Dave Calhoun
“It’s short and even slight, more of an observational short story of a film than a rich novel, but it’s entrancing and moving nonetheless.”
12/08/2010
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The Times
Kevin Maher
“The performances are seemingly effortless, and even in its quietude the entire movie is never less than gripping. ”
13/08/2010
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The New Statesman
Ryan Gilbey
“Paul and Mousse's relationship never sparks to life; the groundwork hasn't been laid, either in writing or rehearsal, to corroborate their mutual affection, or to allow the film to get away with a rather flippant ending. Little that the characters do feels convincing beyond the bubble of Ozon's films, with their inbuilt layers of self-reference. Instead of following in Almodóvar's footsteps, he has come to resemble Michael Winterbottom.”
12/08/2010
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The Evening Standard
Derek Malcolm
“...possibly the quietest, most thoughtful film Ozon has made. If The Refuge doesn’t amount to coruscating drama, it works its way under the skin simply by maintaining a complete sympathy with its characters.”
13/08/2010
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The Guardian
Cath Clarke
“There is perhaps not quite enough to flesh out a full film in the vignettes between this grieving and lonely pair, and the pat resolution makes it an incomplete pleasure. A pleasure nonetheless.”
12/08/2010
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The Daily Telegraph
Tim Robey
“Carré, pregnant in real life, gives François Ozon’s film a semi-documentary fascination, even if we never wholly buy her relationship with Poupaud’s gay brother (Louis-Ronan Choisy).”
12/08/2010
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Total Film
Simon Kinnear
“A slight but sensitive study...”
09/08/2010
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The Observer
Philip French
“The film's thrust is that some men are better equipped to cherish and care for babies than the women who bear them, a message Dr Seuss conveyed rather more entertainingly in his masterpiece, Horton Hatches the Egg.”
12/08/2010
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The Sunday Times
Cosmo Landesman
“The fine performance from Carré can't make up for a film so understated - to put it kindly - and meandering that the drama seems to disappear before your eyes. This is a slight and inconsequential work.”
15/08/2010
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Empire Magazine
Damon Wise
“Lyrical in style and presentation, this drama alludes to serious issues but does not address them. Enjoyable stylistically, but not substantiated beyond glossy advertisement.”
17/08/2010
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The Financial Times
Nigel Andrews
“Delicately naturalistic acting; musings on love and death; atmospheric locations... So why is it so synthetic? I reckon I disbelieved it from the moment that pretty heroin addict Isabelle Carré comes back whistle-clean a few weeks after her boyfriend’s death from an OD.”
11/08/2010
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