Déjà mort (1998) Poster

(1998)

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7/10
young noir
ashmeu119 June 2007
Although not perfect, this movie is indeed a noir. The ambiance is here, as well as good acting and direction (most of them now have achieved notoriety). Of course Déja Mort is kind of immature in essence, but what do you expect teenagers, rich & wannabees, having parties, sex drugs and alcohol to act like ? Noir is about flawed characters making mistakes. It's a noir by a young writer/director aimed at a young audience, and as that, it is quite good.

And PLEASE don't compare it to Requiem for a Dream, dummy. I know Dahan is not Aronofsky, but unless you think the 1933 King Kong is a remake of Peter Jackson's, check out the release dates.
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7/10
Lost youth
searchanddestroy-122 April 2022
This is not for all audiences and what I want to emphasize on is Carlo Brandt's character, one of his most impressive ever. This dude has the perfect face of the perfect nasty, cruel, f...up motherf.... and he is a brilliant actor. Watch out for him in LA SIRENE ROUGE, FRANCK SPADONE,and many other films too. A real heavy in the French movie industry. A topic about porn underground industry, disturbing, violent, hopeless scheme, not Olivier Dahan's best but worth the view anyway. Good young actors whose careers were here launched. But, again, look out for Carlo Brandt....
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Shakespeare on cocaïne...
juanmed23 January 2001
Cocaine, guns, porn flicks, and the french riviera. A bunch of young people on their way to hell, a tragedy with the human scope of Shakespeare, and without the wordly moral common sense he was bound to. A great film encompassed by the unstoppable desire of the characters, where it seems everything is going out of control. The score by Bruno Coulais underlines it, like a regretful and ambiguous complaint, suggesting the tragic beauty of young people being consumed.

One of the boldest, best french films of the last years.
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3/10
Waste of time
me2223 October 2005
Warning: Spoilers
After watching about thirty minutes of this film, that's exactly how I felt: already dead.

Despite what other reviewers seem to feel about this film, it isn't noir, it doesn't come across as sincere and it most certainly is not "great stuff".

This is just one of those "add a dash of sex, stir in some drugs, and set it in a good location and you have a film" films. The only things they forgot was the script, tight direction and good acting. There are far better films in this genre.

By the time the guns come out a blazing, you'll wish they hit you as well as everyone else within sight. Anything to be put out of this misery. To avoid.
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3/10
A very disappointing movie
marxisdead25 July 2002
Warning: Spoilers
After reading a comment here, on IMDb, I was expecting a film Noir. Now, I don't exactly know why that person thought that this was Noir, but really, I can't find any element in the whole movie that could fit it in that category. I felt like I was like a French, cheap version of Requiem for a dream. Except for the fact that, in Déjà Mort, the main male caracter is a total idiot that seem only capable of doing one thing : ruining other people's life and/or kill them. SPOILER : the worst part of it all is the fact that he is just about the only one who doesn't die at the end, something I had been expecting...
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10/10
Quintessential noir !
Phroggy22 March 1999
This is a gem of a "noir" movie showing various character in a self-destructive descent into hell. This is not really a portrayal of the porn business, but much more. A young guy is fascinated by two poseurs taking snapshots and agrees to introduce to them a girl, Zoé, he watches from afar. The two rich brats accept him as Zoé's "chaperon", but they soon turn her to the porn business. This could be sub-Tarantino territory, but Dahan actually fleshes out his characters, introduces real humanity and, if we know this will all end in tragedy, the "how" remains fascinating. This is great, sincere stuff.
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9/10
Already Dead
PoppyTransfusion26 October 2011
Warning: Spoilers
That's what all the characters, with the exception of Andrea, are - dead, emotionally; as one of them says 'I'm like a dry river bed'. A group of young men with a penchant for drugs, girls and parties decide to try and break into the heavily controlled pornography industry in Nice with a cynical ingénue called Laure as their main product. The film charts the disintegration of all the characters as drugs, guns, sexual excess and the pornographic industry take their toll on each life. Even Andrea, the film's conscience, is eventually consumed by this world and its trappings.

Laure is a commodity amongst all the men except Andrea, the guy who unwittingly introduces her to the other when they are dabbling in soft porn photography. Laure, described as 'purity in a brutal world', is used as the film's narrator to reflect on life. Her reflections are frequently accompanied by repeated visuals of her removing make-up after the making of one particular pornographic film that we are left knowing is destroying Laure.

This film is a critique of pornography's production and the feckless upper (middle) class of Nice who have money and influence enough to seduce and take advantage of those vulnerable with ambition and aspiration, such as Laure. It is most certainly not a film noir and it is really bizarre that it has been described as such by others. The director critiques the belief that 'straight or porn {films}, the camera's the same' and Laure's naive belief that posing topless is no different from making a pornographic film. It is and the camera of a porn film does not treat its actors well. The women of the porn industry want to make it as mainstream actresses or like Laure be a big name, someone significant. Their expectations of achieving this through porn are disappointed.

Early on Laure asks: 'isn't fate the assertion that the game is up?' The ending has an inevitability that seems fated as life calls time on the game the characters play. The concluding events whilst unsurprising are still brutal and shocking.
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8/10
It has this little something
rompre12 March 2019
"Déjà Mort" tells the story of young and lost mid 20 year old people getting started with photoshootings and porn. Everything begins nice and it's becoming a trip to hell for them.

I found this movie spontaniously and didn't hear anything about it before watching it and I was surprised. Such a shame that this movie is so unknown because it is really worth the watch! The Actors are fabulous. Some of them are great actors in France today. Especially Magimel, Duris, Felix and Sibony are a great and convincing ensemble. The movie is well done and produced and has a nice Score. What I really appreciated is, that even if the movie is about the porn industry, it's not showing unecessarily nudity the whole film long. It's only showing what needs to be shown. The Story is gaining intensity with each minute and even if the movie does not necessarily tell and show you new things, it has this little something. This little something that is giving you a punch in the face. This little something, where you cannot say what it is, but it makes you like this movie.
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9/10
How trivial encounters can change one's live
edouard_verhelst2 August 2001
Although the girl thinks she is the one who makes the decisions in her live it is fate that is in control. More so if drugs are involved.

This film shows us that often it are the most honest of young people that can get trapped because they want to be part of the swinging live. They become too late aware that it is all make believe.
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10/10
One of my ALLTIME favorite movies
ml1006761 October 2001
Too bad, that not many people have seen this movie. It just happened that I lived in Paris when the movie came out - and it was the right movie at the right time - exactly reflecting certain feelings I had. It's hard to explain a certain mood to others, for me this movie was just perfect ... if you get the chance to watch - take it ... maybe you will like it as much as I did.
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10/10
# 05 : Zoé Félix *
lamegabyte29 October 2016
Warning: Spoilers
I first notice her in the movie La Beuze in which she shows funny kissing skills. Then, recently i just picked her glamour pictures for her 12th Marrakech International Film Festival Photocall in 2012 and it's the instant hard-on : this fine brunette wears a exciting see trough with black leather jacket, full red lips on a red carpet ! In addition, i notice that she is again a look alike of my famous coworker who was already the inspiration for Crystal Klein (#39), Laure Sinclair (#43), Rebecca Hall (#75), Jade Nile (#89) and the one shot [12] Nomi Malone ! Sure you will tell me that they are all different but that is the proof that feminine beauty has multiples angles…

Here, Zoe plays a no feeling, opportunist model who does cheap erotic photos and who is offered better opportunities by making adult movies. As it's a french drama, the story is the expected treatment : drugs, bad deals, exploitation… At the end, it's a tragic, bloody shoot them up… It's very limited, as dull as Zoé tells it too, but the cast is cool with Romain, Maginel and real porn-stars (i have recognized Olivia (#79) but not Laure). As for Zoe, she exposes her cleavage for a few seconds only and dressed not sexy! So it's not really hot but you can watch it if nothing else, all the more it happens in Nice that is indeed a real jewel city ! NB : the movie opens on the 14th July and when you see the big crowd everywhere, you still wonder as a French how a mad truck could go there years later with all security forces on alert ????
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