The House by the Sea

This movie proved much more interesting than I had assumed beforehand, after having read the various plot descriptions. This is not a movie with three talking heads, reviving old memories and related discussions, and so on. The threesome gathering around their ailing father, form the center of several related protagonists. Each has a useful role to clarify what is on everyone's mind. All of them bring ample extra story lines to make up an assortment of relevant human drama and unexpected developments. Especially the latter turned this screening into a positive surprise. Even the stranded fugitives who have a side role near the end of the running time, did not feel as unnatural nor introduced solely to add a contemporary issue like immigration to the mix just for the sake of it. Similarly, euthanasia is another contemporary topic, creating an extra story line that is introduced at a natural place, where it was understandable that the people involved arrived at a certain "useless" point in life (nevertheless, I had not expected them really doing it). Apart from these two examples of unexpected plot lines, several other people came around to liven up the overall story and causing even so many unexpected developments, yet the collection of protagonists did not feel over-crowding the plot.

Nice, deep, good actors, great story, beautiful paysage

I have a fondness for picturesque and/or very beautiful views. And "The House by the Sea" gave me both. I also liked to follow the main characters Angèle, her brothers Armand and Joseph and Bérangère, Josephs fiancé as they navigated through life.

This movie portrays a couple of different things. For example, the siblings when they try to take care of their elderly and gravely ill father. Because of a trauma in the past this proves to be difficult. I admire them for their strength.

Another theme in this movie is when the main characters help three refugee children. And that isn´t very easy because the adults doesn´t speak the same language as the children.

All in all I must say that I enjoyed this movie. I suggest that you give it a honest chance.

How to ruin a movie with artificial theatrical dialogues generously sprinkled from start to end. Guédiguian and Valletti apparently found the way. What a nightmare it must have been for these actors, most of them talented, to go through these ridiculous scenes. On top of that, there is nothing really original in the plot itself and the camera work, similarly bland, does nothing to at least make it esthetically beautiful. To top it up, none of the overly stereotyped characters is developed enough to summon even a little bit of empathy or give some much-needed relief. Same impression about the silly social and political commentaries randomly thrown out of the blue, that are supposedly spicing up this tasteless salad. For a Mediterranean dish, it is a quite a spectacular failure.

First, I saw this without subtitles in my native language, so I may have missed a bit, but the poignant story came through anyway. It's time-tested: family dealing with pending death, but much more slips in: love, politics, real estate exploitation, to name just a few. The sites of the Mediterranean are delightful, as are visions of a life that is disappearing there. At the end, I thought, unlike another reviewer here, that these actors truly inhabited their characters; they caught me up. I did find the smoking disturbing, but that people resort to smoking again in a time of crisis is not unusual. The only consistent smoker was a young person, so go figure. Enjoy this film, if you can. It does not disappoint.