ciNeUROPA Reviews Bel Ami
I really enjoyed reading this review. Bénédicte Prot gives an overview of the film & shares her POSITIVE opinions with us. So nice to see a review that doesn’t sway to the negative. Someone who didn’t go in with any pre-conceived notions & actually gives us a proper review. More of these type of reviews please!  Thank you Bénédicte – THANK YOU.
Bel Ami: a great hommage to Maupassant’s boldness and modernity
by Bénédicte Prot
It’s not by chance that Guy de Maupassant’s novel Bel-Ami (in English also called The history of a scoundrel: a novel), first published in the magazine Gil Blas as a series of episodes, keeps popping up on the silver screen. His character Georges Duroy, a handsome and ambitious young man in Paris during the Belle Epoque, who navigates between debauchery at the Folies Bergères and politics, capitalism, and scandals in the city’s salons, is eternally fascinating. Bel Ami by the British directors Declan Donnellan et Nick Ormerod features a handsome yet unashamedly lecherous Robert Pattinson who does not hide his humble origins, but neither masks his ferocious ambition to escape his lack of fortune.
To succeed in 1885, you don’t need talent but connections. Thus, at the beginning of the film, when Georges comes across Charles Forestier, the editor-in-chief of La Vie Française, he does not hesitate to remind him that they served together in Algeria, and unblinkingly accepts a few coins to buy an evening outfit without which he cannot decently accept his dinner invitation.
That very night, this falsely candid young man, who lives in a tiny maid’s room, starts his social ascension all guns blazing. At the dinner hosted by Forestier, he meets three women who will soon nickname him “Bel Amiâ€, “Handsome Friend†in English, and in turn (then simultaneously) each serve him as stepping stones. Very theatrically, the directors successivley seat each of these three very different beauties in front of him.
First there is the cold Madeleine Forestier (Uma Thurman) whose independence and determination are almost masculine, even if she explains to him that in Paris it’s the women who are in charge and that she will never be his mistress even if she will help him and even write his articles for him. The fresh Clotilde de Marelle (Christina Ricci) is very different from her friend Madeleine. She confesses to prefer frivolity to politics, and is the one to spontaneously make George’s first arrangement, as everything here works through connections and arrangements, by meeting him in a furnished apartment for which she will pay. Finally, Virginie Rousset (Kristin Scott Thomas), older and not such a good negociator, remains more discreet until she falls madly in love with Georges, and leaks information on possible insider trading to him, only to be inflicted with the worst of broken hearts in return. From one woman to the next, even if we do briefly believe that “Bel Ami†might truly love Clothilde then Madeleine who he ends up marrying, we soon realise that he is not these ladies’ new toy, or even their gigolo as it might appear, but instead a foul opportunist who would do anything to climb the social ladder, with his greedy, pretentious, and Machiavellian pout.
The film’s decor is rich in details, from the flowers on the wall to the bed sheets. Donnellan and Ormerod’s actors shine in this satire of a vile and corrupt society in which we recognise today’s vices, to the point that the seductive young man that we meet at the beginning of the film ends up seeming absolutely despicable. Their film shows the cynicism of the novel Bel-Ami, and is adapted with loyalty and such human and social realism that it remains extremely relevant today. (My emphasis)
7 comments on “ciNeUROPA Reviews Bel Ami”
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Maria
Well what do you know – a critic who is actually a freakin critic. See morons no references to any previous characters from any of the actors. No preconceived notions of who it might appeal to. A true review of what the person saw.
And I’m not gloating because its a positive review. I’m gloating because IT’S A REVIEW of Bel Ami. One when I read makes me think I might go and give this movie a go to make my own opinion.
I’m guessing the American reviewers just didn’t get it – nor had they read the book to understand the undertones. Further proof that anything written in tabloids shouldn’t be believed.
Jules
Thanks Michelle – this was a lovely read. So refreshing to leave the personal attacks and unnecessary Twi references out….sounds like the reviewer actually knew what they were talking about re the story. Bonus. 😉
liz
Nice!
You’re right @Michelle – she seems to have watched a movie and reviewed it based on that!- its weird that it seems to be such a rare occurrence nowadays – I thought that was the point of a review.
I wish she hadn’t given away so much of the story line though…
Maria
@liz sorry about the storyline – we forget not everyone may have read the book 🙂
Sue
Thanks for posting, Michelle. Let’s hope the general public get to read more reviews like this one!
Cindy
ITA With all you girls have said it really does reinforce what Rob said about those “templates” This reviewer has a Brain in their head and wrote a review of the movie Bel Ami Read it and hopefully weep talentless hacks.
Vertigo
There now. A little research, open mind and honesty goes a long way.