IstroRomanian Movie Reviews

Unrelated to the 1936 Tod Browning movie of the same name; DEVIL DOLL has a similar story to the (later) famed segment of DEAD OF NIGHT and also to William Goldman's later novel MAGIC, which was filmed in 1978 with Anthony Hopkins.
Scripted by George Barclay and Lance Z. Hargreaves, and based on a story by Frederick Escreet Smith; DEVIL DOLL is a compact but enjoyable little chiller.
The Great Vorelli (Bryant Halliday) is a charismatic hypnotist/ ventriloquist who arrives in London to do his famed show, in which his dummy Hugo can walk and talk by himself- but there's one hitch: This is no trick.But the audience don't realize that. Of course no magic show would be the same without audience participation; and co-incidentally one of the chosen patrons is Marian Hore (Yvonne Romain), the attractive daughter of one of England's richest men. Vorelli uses this opportunity to offer to do a charity performance for her.
But during the act Hugo gets carried away and he reveals his homicidal tendencies. Would it have anything to do with his "Master" locking him in a cage and goading him into committing murder? There's an amusing bit at this performance where Vorelli makes Hugo drink wine, saying to him: "Don't drink too much, Hugo. It might make the sawdust in your stomach swell".
DEVIL DOLL is more funny today than frightening, but Halliday is perfect as Vorelli; helping make a silly idea into a fairly good chiller, albeit one with a wholly predictable resolution.

Although less well known than a lot of it's contemporary horror films, DEVIL DOLL is a remarkable effective production that deserves a place in any afficianado of the 'golden age' of British horror.
The title is slightly misleading, as the doll of the title is not the evil protaganist - That role falls to the dummy's 'master', the Great Vorelli. The story is fairly routine - A journalist (William Sylvester) wants to debunk noted stage hypnotist/ventriloquist Vorelli so eggs his girlfriend into going on stage to take part in the act. Vorelli then plots to place the woman in his thrall (and as played by the stunning Yvonne Romain, who can blame him?), but help comes from unexpected quarters.
It's the stylish direction of the film that makes it so amazing - Director Lyndsay Shonteff was young & inexperienced when fellow Canadian Sidney Furie had to step aside, but it certainly doesn't show on screen. The use of freeze frames, negative images & accelerated motion are all experimental for a film of this type and they add enormous atmosphere to the prceedings. The stock music is very appropriate and the sound effects are genuinely unsettling - The tension between Vorelli & 'Hugo' is palpable thanks to the conviction of the actors - There isn't a single bad performance in this film, with Bryant Halliday's extraordinary voice lending his potentially on-dimensional character great gravitas. The immediately recognisableWilliam Sylvester is also excellent, moving from sceptisism to belief throuhout the film.
Produced by the legendary Richard Gordon for around £50,000 (!), this film stands proudly alongside his more famous films like FIEND WITHOUT A FACE & GRIP OF THE STRANGLER - Highly recommended!

Two versions of the movie "Devil Doll" are available on the DVD; the American version and the alternate Continental version of the film. For some reason, the Continental version includes a striptease number in place of a key scene between the Great Vorelli and his assistant. As presented, what's left of the scene immediately following the striptease makes no sense. The makers of this DVD should have taken the Continental striptease scene and added it to the American version of the movie, creating a longer and better movie.

The Great Vorelli is a master hypnotist as well as a ventriloquist, whose dummy Hugo acts more like a real person than a puppet. Whoever designed the dummy did a great job. Hugo's smirking face is both amusing and threatening at the same time. Instead of engaging in comic banter, Hugo argues with Vorelli on stage. When Hugo insists that the audience's applause is for him, Vorelli instructs him to walk to the front of the stage to properly thank the audience. Hugo gets up off Vorelli's lap and walks under his own power, amazing the audience. Reporter Mark English, who is assigned to report on Vorelli, is determined to expose him as a fraud. He is sure that Hugo is a mechanical puppet or a small person disguised as a ventriloquist's dummy. Mark convinces his girlfriend Marianne to volunteer to be hypnotized by Vorelli on stage. Vorelli is clearly smitten by her. Marianne later asks Vorelli to perform at her aunt's charity dinner party. During that performance, Hugo is surly and disobedient. He grabs a knife off the table and brandishes it at Vorelli. I guess you could call Vorelli's act, theater of the absurd for dummies!

While previous reviewers did not discuss the extent of Vorelli's amazing powers, describe the secret of Hugo's true nature, or reveal the twist ending of the movie, I will now divulge all of the details. What's that noise? Is that you, Hugo? Vorelli?? Whoever you are, put down the knife! Aaaaaaauuuugh!!!

I'm a film buff, and this one kicked out my former 3rd favorite movie. Of all time. It's instant placement in my top 3 was based on its colorful presentation, its realistic portrayal of studying abroad in Europe and its shriekingly funny humor. There is a place in my heart for this movie, because of the bittersweet emotions, music and cinematography that bring it to life. When I first saw it in Angers, France a year ago, I knew I would never forget the characters or its geniousness.

I fell in love with this movie from the first time that I saw it in theatres. I was disappointed that it didn't have a longer run and I have been looking for a dvd release for months. This movie is beautiful: dramatic and comedic all at once. I think that it is a wake-up call for people, showing these students pursuing their dreams while living life simply to be living, enjoying all that is life. This movie is especially personal to me, because the life these students are living has been a dream of mine. I know that it may seem a romanticized view of the world to some, but it feels so real and fresh and I think everyone should have that kind of eye-opening experience even if it is only in a movie. L'auberge just might make people question their priorities and realize all that they're missing from life. I highly recommend this movie to everyone. I've been raving about it for months.

Think European "Friends"; a French guy with a bad relationship decides to study in Spain for one more year in order to get a job in the boring French bureaucracy. In Barcelona, with housing short, he lands in an apartment with 5 other roommates from different countries, they become friends, the movie's heart being the characters themselves. It is situational comedy, romance, life conflicts, a great soundtrack; a very entertaining movie.

I'm a film buff, and this one kicked out my former 3rd favorite movie. Of all time. It's instant placement in my top 3 was based on its colorful presentation, its realistic portrayal of studying abroad in Europe and its shriekingly funny humor. There is a place in my heart for this movie, because of the bittersweet emotions, music and cinematography that bring it to life. When I first saw it in Angers, France a year ago, I knew I would never forget the characters or its geniousness.

I fell in love with this movie from the first time that I saw it in theatres. I was disappointed that it didn't have a longer run and I have been looking for a dvd release for months. This movie is beautiful: dramatic and comedic all at once. I think that it is a wake-up call for people, showing these students pursuing their dreams while living life simply to be living, enjoying all that is life. This movie is especially personal to me, because the life these students are living has been a dream of mine. I know that it may seem a romanticized view of the world to some, but it feels so real and fresh and I think everyone should have that kind of eye-opening experience even if it is only in a movie. L'auberge just might make people question their priorities and realize all that they're missing from life. I highly recommend this movie to everyone. I've been raving about it for months.

Think European "Friends"; a French guy with a bad relationship decides to study in Spain for one more year in order to get a job in the boring French bureaucracy. In Barcelona, with housing short, he lands in an apartment with 5 other roommates from different countries, they become friends, the movie's heart being the characters themselves. It is situational comedy, romance, life conflicts, a great soundtrack; a very entertaining movie.

Roman Polanski plays a timid man who takes on the personality of the previous tenant, leading him deep into the world of schizophenia. The thing that strikes me about this movie are the supporting characters, preferably Melvin Douglas & Shelley Winters as a few of the wierd neighbors. There are moments when this movie dives into laughs. But it still holds you into its grip of uneasiness.

Not much to add to any of this, except two things: One - I would just like to say that this is a COMEDY!! Two - having seen this once on VHS, I thought just for the hell of it I would try watching the French dub on the off chance that it would be the one made for the French first-run release. It is, and let me tell you, folks - the social humor that comes off as rather heavy-handed in the English version becomes subtle, muted and sardonic. The regional Parisian colloquialisms immeasurably enhance the film's atmosphere and authenticity. Sure, there are American actors in the film, we don't get to hear their voices, but that's all right as Polanski gives a fine rendition of his role in French and the actors dubbing the rest of the cast acquit themselves extraordinarily well. I am nominally a purist about foreign language dubs as a rule - meaning I don't watch them as they generally vitiate the unique character of a film. However, "The Tenant" is a French film in all but the particulars of its completion and release for American audiences. It used a French studio, French actors and technicians, and is thusly as sharp an evocation of the damp, mouldy side of Paris as has ever been seen in pictures. For these reasons, the French dub seems to me to improve on the original - superb as that track is, don't get me wrong. But I hope you won't just take my word for it - to see "The Tenant" in French is a unique viewing experience.

For the person claiming that we should judge the work of an artist by his personal failings, especially those that are imposed by the culture of the moment, I would ask that you at least libel with authority. Yes, Polanski had sex with an underage girl, however the underage girl and the mother have always maintained that the sex was consensual and therefore Polanski while being a pedophile(not pedephile) is not a rapist. That being said, this is one of the greatest films to ever be produced. I saw it only once in 1978 and I am still telling people that they need to see it.

I was delighted to find this DVD - the film, in its original release, had haunted my childhood dreams for months after I saw it at a Saturday matinee! Watching it again, I was amazed I still remembered many images as clearly as if I'd seen it yesterday. Great fun, the picture's an unholy brew of sex and sadism; Anton Diffring's chilly intelligence as the crazed plastic surgeon turned ringmaster provides a disturbing center to the film's moral universe. CIRCUS is pleasingly peopled with large-busted European starlets constantly in a state of undressed distress, sports luscious color photography by Douglas Slocombe (presented by Anchor Bay in a stunningly crisp transfer), and features an insistent pop ballad that's repeated so often, Helen Keller could leave the theatre humming the theme! Like many horror films, this one's a mixture of intelligent handling of trashy material; it manages to transcend the genre and become truly memorable, like EYES WITHOUT A FACE. Grab this CIRCUS while it's in town!

I love this movie, which is why I probably wound-up with several copies of it. It is an excellent movie with an unexpected twist at the end (you won't be able to guess at the ending). BEAUTIFUL EUROPEAN WOMEN in various states of undress, but still suitable for family viewing. The movie is in brilliant color. Recommend this movie to all horror/sci-fi/mystery fans.

Anchor Bay outdid themselves with this DVD. I hadn't seen this Euro-shocker in years and it's flawlessly preserved on disc. It's a grisly tale of plastic surgeon Dr.Lassiter (a deliciously over-the-top Anton Diffring) who messes up on a wealthy socialites's face and, fearing ruin and/or jail, takes it on the lam with his nurse and her brother. They discover a broken down circus kept by the drunken owner (Donald Pleasance) and his war disfigured little girl. After the convenient death of the owner by bear mauling and miraculously fixing the daughters' face, Lassiter seizes a golden opportunity and creates his own circus. Over the years he enlists disfigured shady ladies, restores their beauty and puts them to work as performers. If they try to leave, they meet with violent death in "accidents". The little girl is now grown into the gorgeous Yvonne Monlaur who is devoted to Lassiter and training to be in the show. She knows nothing of his grotesque business arrangements. The beautiful Erika Remberg is featured as a temperamental trapeze artist who resorts to blackmailing Lassiter for star status. Her theme song is a syrupy pop tune "Look to a Star" that is repeatedly used to creepy effect. This film is British/European horror at its' most luridly bizarre and is wonderful in color. The circus atmosphere is vividly captured and Remberg's routines are an eyeful. Yvonne Romain ("Devil Doll", "Curse of the Werewolf") is also featured as a disfigured (but what a figure!) doll restored to her stunning beauty and put to work as a lion tamer. Horror fans should treasure this glorious excercise in the macabre and it's a must have for collectors.

What is striking about any Rivette film is the intimacy of his style. The way the film is cut emphasizes that we are just eavesdropping in on select scenes. And the scenes chosen say a lot about what Rivettes intentions are. He is less interested in scenes that tell us about history and more interested in scenes which tell us about character. The story is familiar to us all so that is a great advantage to him and allows him to forego the obvious scenes full of historical significance for the intimate telling ones. Rivette's Joan wins over anyone who comes in contact with her but the way Sandrine Bonnaire plays her its her warm and genuine nature that wins them over moreso than her "visions" and ideas of destiny. And this is the Joan that Rivette is interested in. What quality she has that no one else does is her naturalness and of course thats what Bonnaire too is known for, her earthy outdoor demeanor. Those who befriend Joan admire her convictions and her purity but more than anything they like her. And those figures of authority who feel threatened by her utter sincerity are those who are themselves lacking that quality. I think its impossible to say one portrayal of Joan of Arc is more accurate than another, there are just different interpretations of what this girl was like. Rivette purposely avoids creating yet another mythic version of her and chooses instead to show her as a person. Rivette shows that the men that fought beside her had great affection for her. Some of the men believed in her calling, some didn't, but they all admired her beauty and her bravery. She herself did not do much more than wave a banner but she proved to be just the right kind of muse--her simple earthy presence won the men over. I think this is an interesting take on the Joan of Arc character but more to the point what is most interesting is not the history telling be it accurate or not but Rivettes unique way of storytelling which emphasizes the incidental over the episodic. A more subtle form of revisionist history you will not find.

Joan the Maid is the clearest and least judgmental version available. It is also the least Hollywood version. The screenplay is a straighforward, chronological narrative, and Rivette gives us a series of tableaux along the lines of a medieval passion play. The abrupt blackouts are a little distracting, but the scenes themselves are beautifully played and shot. Joan is a challenge to any actress - the audience all have ideas about her already. Leelee Sobieski is the credible teenager; Ingrid Bergman the classic heroine. Sandrine Bonnaire's girlish behavior sometimes seems out of place - too casual for divine inspiration - but her very human reactions to events, particularly to her first battle, are moving. The simplicity with which she pleads her cause to Beaudricourt and later the Dauphin is also effective. The DVD includes a timeline and source material that are interesting and helpful. The subtitles are poorly written, giving "sow" for "sew", "spacious" for "specious", and sometimes rendering literal translations of idiomatic French expressions - a film so carefully made deserved better. That small problem aside, this is easily the best of the contemporary movies about Joan of Arc.

"Jeanne la Pucelle 1. Les Batailles[Joan the Maid: the Battles]" begins with Joan's efforts to obtain permission to see the Dauphin in Chinon and ends with his coronation. It starts off badly with an actress hamming it up as the Mother of Joan and telling what a perfect child she was. Most of the early scenes come directly from the rehabilitation hearings where she was portrayed as a faultless saint in keeping with the newly restored French government. Many of the actors in this beginning section seem to pose and speak directly to the camera rather than to each other like they were in a tableau or an elementary school Passion play. It may have been deliberate, but it didn't work for me. What did work was the great attention to detail and the settings. Jacques Rivette went out of his way to stay with documented facts and to take advantage of the true French landmarks and countryside. I loved the way he played each scene out regardless of what happened with the horses, props, or men, letting the accidents happen as part of the action. "Jeanne la Pucelle 2. Les prisons[Joan the Maid: the Prisons]" stayed with documented facts, using a fade-to-black after every scene, to give a flawless view of Joan and the people she encountered. Sandrine Bonnaire was outstanding in every respect. Her interpretation of Joan did honor to both the warrior saint and the human girl caught up in a tragedy. The prison and trial sequences worked in every respect because the director did not do more than let each character speak his or her mind. I especially loved the early prison sequences where Rivette contrasted the world of women with the world of men, again, giving each character a full and believable voice. It is the best historical treatment I have seen in a long time and by far the best Joan.

"Corridors of Blood" takes us back to the early 19th-Century, when operations were performed without anesthesia. Boris Karloff plays Dr. Bolton, a surgeon who wants to eliminate the pain and suffering patients endure during surgery. However, while experimenting on himself, Bolton becomes addicted to the drugs. Then, during a demonstration of his anesthetic gas, Bolton's patient revives and goes beserk. In disgrace, Bolton ends up in partnership with Black Ben (Francis De Wolff), the owner of the Seven Dials, a disreputable tavern. Black Ben and his hulking assistant Resurrection Joe (Christopher Lee), want to make money selling cadavers to hospitals, so they trade Bolton the drugs he wants in exchange for faked death certificates. This 1963 film was originally entitled "Doctor from Seven Dials" and was shot back-to-back with "The Haunted Stranger," both films directed by Robert Day. This is one of several films in which Karloff tries to do good things for the benefit of mankind but evil ends up as a sort of inevitable result. However, "Corridors of Blood" is one of the few films in which the actor's character does not end up going off on a killing spree. The film starts off well, showing the barbaric surgeries of the day, but once Karloff ends up at the Seven Dials it is just a question of waiting for the final killing spree to begin. A below average film despite Karloff's best efforts, today "Corridors of Blood" is remembered only because it has both Karloff and Christopher Lee.

Poor Dr. Thomas Bolton (Karloff). He's a compassionate, elderly British surgeon in the days before anesthesia. Tired of seeing his patients undergo excruciating agonies on the operating table, Bolton is working doggedly to concoct a drug which will banish pain and allow his patients to feel nothing during surgery. A failed and humiliating demonstration of his new drug before his professional peers makes Bolton even more determined to prove them wrong when they insist, "Pain and the knife are one."

Alas, as Bolton conducts experiments upon himself in pursuit of his dream, he becomes addicted to his own formula. His hands - once known for their speed with a knife in the surgical theatre - shake and betray him. His memory fails him; he can't remember what happens to him while under the sway of his formula. He begins to deteriorate.

The hospital's executive committee denies Bolton another chance to prove his work's validity and puts him, more or less, on "informal leave", suspending his privileges at the hospital's dispensary - the only place he can get the drugs necessary for both his research and his addiction.

Bolton falls in with a reprehensible crowd of no-gooders, including the elegant but menacing Resurrection Joe (Christopher Lee), a soulless killer with a penchant for smothering his victims with pillows. In return for getting Dr. Bolton the drugs he now craves both for his experiments and for himself, these body snatchers, who have been murdering drunken alehouse customers and passing them off as natural deaths, manipulate Bolton into a Faustian bargain to sign the death certificates of their hapless victims so they might sell the bodies to the hospitals for teaching purposes and collect the money.

The reason I gave this DVD only 4 stars, rather than 5, had nothing whatsoever to do with my total enjoyment of this film. Indeed, the print is excellent and the sound quality clear and distinctive. The one complaint I have is that there is only one "extra" on the DVD - the film's original theatrical trailer. I would have liked to have seen at least an interactive cast listing and additional information on the film itself.

Other than that, it's great to see Karloff and Lee in the same production. They just ... belong together in a movie frame, I think. The violence is more implied than shown, making poor Bolton's situation even more tragic, and Karloff plays him sympathetically yet strongly.

I think anyone who is a fan of Boris Karloff, Christopher Lee or horror films in general will delight in seeing "Corridors of Blood".

this film is excellent from a Historical point of view, Times of events, ect are changed, but for detail, correct in everyway. I only have one complaint at the end of the film it says 1840 instead of 1846, but that is a personel fault of mine, !I'm too picky for Medical Historical correctness" Definately based On Horance Wells, (His attempt at painless surgery failed in 1844, too litle gas). there are not enougth Medical History films and this one I watch a lot, Never mind who is in it if you like History films, especially Medical ones add this to your collection.

Well, To tell you the truth, I am french !! and I can tell you something else : I saw in each personnage a member of my family !! So true, so real,.... so hard to believe..... Best part of it, the subtiles are pretty close to the french version and it is very important for this type of movie.... If you like true people ordinary life story, buy this movie !!

Another fairly recent fantastic French movie that I would like to recommend to American viewers. There is nothing in it that nobody cannot relate to: a little family birthday celebration that turns simultaneously sour, funny, angry or tender. There are only a few true comical scenes, yet it is a comedy with a slightly bitter aftertaste. The precision of the dialogues, the exactitude of observation of the characters (the spiteful mother, the successful son and his neglected wife, the warm-hearted bartender, the depressed bar owner-not so succesful son, the rebel sister...) and the excellence of the actors' performance make it an astonishing picture. Jean-Pierre Bacri is simply wonderful; his Henri's vulnerability inspires compassion. Catherine Frot's Yolande, a slightly air-headed, lovable and unhappy sister-in-law, brings the viewers to smiles and laughter constantly. The rest of the cast offers an equally brilliant performance. The absence of a thick plot, in the usual sense of it, is of no importance: it is a story of characters and their interaction; a story of many different feelings that occur when families gather: inadequacy for some, resentment for others, jealousy, clumsiness in expressing their love... Klapisch did a wonderful job in bringing "action" to a somewhat static set. A must-see.

If like me you like French films, you will like this one. There is no plot to speak of and no time wasted in car-chases and violent action sequences. There is just fascinating dialogue and the interaction of intereresting characters, plus the expression of real emotion and nuances of feeling. There is an intimacy with the characters that is typically French and which the Americans rarely achieve. At the end of the film you feel you know and understand these people and are wiser for having known them.

I loved the performance of Catherine Frot in the film. She was delicious and made the character of Yolande incredibly appealing and lovable. What a crying shame she should have shackled herself to such a self-centred, unappreciative husband. He was the luckiest man alive and yet too obtuse to realize it. How appallingly sad.

The high-light of the film for me was the little dance Yolande had with the quiet,philosophic bar-man Denis, played by Jean Pierre Darroussin, who, revealing his kind heart, offered to dance with her when her insensitive husband refused - despite the fact that it was supposed to be her birthday celebration. Denis's skillful dancing surprised them all, and disclosed a whole new aspect of his personality. There is a touching moment at the bar when Yolande, suspecting Betty's romantic interest and trying to encourage it, says to her with a lovely winsome expression; "He's a good dancer." And at the end of the film when Betty and Denis are seen to declare their love for each other, she says delightedly, to the chagrin of her snobbish and spiteful mother-in-law; "You know what this means? It means he's going to be part of the family."

This is kind of weird. It might be it was part of some genre in British cinema of the early '60s. What genre, I'm not sure. Sort of psuedo-film noir with a touch of rock 'n' roll (a couple of bizarre musical numbers in here). Herbert Lom is his usual professional self; he was always great, whether doing "Pink Panther" movies or more serious dramas. Sean Connery is on hand in all his muscular, youthful glory. This film was made about a year or so before "Dr. No" and Sean's debut as Bond, James Bond. He was quite a delicious slab o' beefcake back in his day. And not a half-bad actor. He's really the only thing that makes this DVD worth owning. If you're a Connery fan, your boy will not disappoint you in this one, in either the performance or looks department. Oh, and there's some kind of plot in this thing, too, about the London police fighting the underworld. You'll figure it out if you choose to spring for this one.

If you have a choice between doing some tedious household chores, having minor surgery, and watching this film, I would go for the chores, or even the surgery - this film is much the most painful option.
*
Emotionally it is downright repulsive. No character is likeable, and the majority are completely repugnant. If, as is touted, this is meant to be a 'study' of the differences in attitude between the French and Americans in matters of the heart, then it a cynical, superficial, and wholly uninteresting 'study' - there are no worthwhile insights into human relationships, only tired, simplistic, and ultimately false cliches and stereotypes. It seems that the writer thinks that he has deeply analysed the French, that is all the French people and their entire culture, in terms of their purported readiness to say, 'But, of course', to any event, however disturbing. It is hard to think of a less intelligent analysis.
*
As a narrative, or as straight entertainment, it also fails dismally. The focus on money, as embodied by a painting by an old master, is incredibly dull. The characters are cardboard, with not even a hint of what lies behind their surface personas, and the latter are hardly engaging in themselves. Naomi Watts struggles to give some spine to her role, but the script defeats her at every turn. Kate Hudson doesn't even bother to struggle, figuring that simpering smiles and bafflement will suffice for her to pick up her pay check. The French actors sleepwalk their way through the nightmare.
*
This film is also far too long. So if you're looking for two hours of witless misanthropy, see 'Le Divorce'. I still can't quite believe that Merchant Ivory had anything to do with a film this bad.

Saw the previews a few times,and thought, "Oh, that looks like a harmless piece of fluff!"

Actually, it strikes me as a movie very insulting to the French. They are depicted as adulterous, two-faced, and out to steal your inheritance if possible. How different things would be if only they would have supported the invasion of Iraq!

There are a lot of good performances, that's true, and that's what does make the picture work as far as it does. The woman playing Kate Hudson's sister is absolutely beautiful, too.

One scene that did make me burst out laughing (but not the moviemakers' design) was when Kate visited a lingerie shop to outfit herself for an assignation. This totally flat-chested actress told the shopkeeper she needed a 34B! Oh, sacre bleu! There's just no way she could have that cup size!

It got a little too serious and then dipped into melodrama at the end; rather like an eclair that turns out to have a heavy crust.

See it if you must, but I was vaguely disappointed.

...then you are definately, 'le American'. Okay so that's being a bit general. This movie was more an entertaining look at two different cultures--including food, wine, shopping, sex, and how they clash, then a meat-and-potatoes romance or drama. It didn't have a huge sopping love sory/action/and for that I was grateful. I have to say, most of the classic, well-loved novels and movies surround this similar premise: a young naive girl in a strange country, grows to love it, and finds herself. This movie is what it is, and it is utterly delightful, and alhtough cliched, most truthful, in fact, I should know, I'm an American who lived in Paris for years. As far as movies of 2003 goes, this is the creme de' le creme! Excellent!