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''Alice et Martin '' (US title: ''Alice and Martin'') is a 1998 French film, a psychological drama, directed by André Téchiné. It stars
Juliette Binoche Juliette Binoche (; born 9 March 1964) is a French actress and dancer. She has appeared in more than sixty feature films and has been the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Silver Bear, ...
and Alexis Loret. It is Téchiné's second collaboration with Binoche after the 1985 film '' Rendez-vous''. The plot follows the two title characters, Martin, a male model, and Alice, a struggling violinist. Their romance is shattered when Martin's troubled past begins to haunt him.


Plot

At age ten, Martin is living in
Cahors Cahors (; oc, Caors ) is a commune in the western part of Southern France. It is the smallest prefecture among the 13 departments that constitute the Occitanie Region. The main city of the Lot department and the historical center of the Que ...
with Jeanine, his hairdresser mother and her taxi-driver lover, Said. Martin is the illegitimate child of a successful business man, Victor Sauvagnac. Against the child’s wishes his mother sends Martin to live with his father, whom until then he does not know. Victor is married and has three sons older than Martin. The move is not a happy one and quickly Martin finds himself in conflict with his brash, cold father. Ten years later, just after his twentieth birthday, Martin flees his home following his father's death. He disappears wandering across the country side and tries unsuccessfully to drown himself. Martin emerges weeks later at his half-brother Benjamin’s apartment in Paris. Benjamin is a struggling actor sharing living arrangements with his best friend Alice, a violinist in a local quintet that specializes in tango music. More outgoing than his younger brother, Benjamin, who is gay, has a close platonic relationship with Alice. Martin finds success quickly–within weeks he is a highly sought-after model. Alice is nervous and brittle, harboring her own private grief, the tragic death at age eleven of her gifted sister. At first Alice resents Martin's presence in the apartment and she is cold towards him. Though Alice does not like the brooding Martin much, he becomes obsessed with her and starts surreptitiously following her. Alice discovers it and confronts him. She is gradually captivated by his attentions, and the two begin a passionate love affair. Leaving Benjamin behind, Alice accompanies Martin to Granada, Spain, on a modeling shoot. Their happiness is brief. During the trip Martin's behavior becomes erratic and he becomes more and more self-obsessed. When Alice reveals she is pregnant, his decline continues. Martin suffers a nervous breakdown and falls into coma. The doctors determine that his condition is psychosomatic. In an effort to restore his health, Alice rents a cabin by the sea in Spain’s south coast. Martin swims for hours each night, but remains withdrawn. He is haunted by his father’s death. A flashback recounts the period preceding Victor Sauvagnac’s death. His relationship with his sons was problematic: the aimless and withdrawn Martin failed to please him; Benjamin irritated him and a reunion about the prospects of the family's business ended up in a fist fight between François and Frédéric, the two eldest siblings. Martin celebrates his 20th birthday with Benjamin, who comes from Paris for the occasion. Their reunion is interrupted by a phone call from François who commits suicide hanging himself in the family's factory. When Martin decides to leave for Paris an argument erupts and Martin pushes his father downs the stairs killing him. Unable to deal with what he has just done, Martin runs away. After Martin reveals that he caused his father's death, unable to bear the guilt and pain any longer, he commits himself to a mental institution. Alice, following Martin’s wishes, travels to Cahors to talk to the Sauvagnac family. She befriends Martin's mother, but Lucie, Victor’s widow, is unsympathetic. Frédéric Sauvagnac, who is the town's major, is openly hostile. Benjamin comes to town in an effort to stop Alice interfering in his family affairs. However they two reconcile. Eventually Lucie decides to tell the authorities about Martin’s culpability in her husband’s death. Martin confesses his crime, surrenders to the authorities and goes to prison. Alice decides to have her baby. She appears playing her violin in a wedding. Martin is in prison but, in a letter to Alice, he seems to be finally at peace with himself.


Cast

*
Juliette Binoche Juliette Binoche (; born 9 March 1964) is a French actress and dancer. She has appeared in more than sixty feature films and has been the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Silver Bear, ...
as Alice * Alexis Loret as Martin *
Mathieu Amalric Mathieu Amalric (; born 25 October 1965) is a French actor and filmmaker. He is best known internationally for his roles in the James Bond film '' Quantum of Solace'', in which he played the lead villain, Steven Spielberg's ''Munich'', Wes An ...
as Benjamin *
Marthe Villalonga Marthe Villalonga (born 20 March 1932) is a French actress. She was born in Fort-de-l'Eau, Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capit ...
as Lucie Sauvagnac * Pierre Maguelon as Victor Sauvagnac *
Carmen Maura María del Carmen García Maura (born 15 September 1945) is a Spanish actress. In a career that has spanned six decades, she has starred in films such as ''Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown'', ''¡Ay Carmela!'', '' Common Wealth'', and ...
as Jeanine * Jean-Pierre Lorit as Frédéric Sauvagnac * Erik Kreikenmayer as François Sauvagnac *
Franck de la Personne Franck Lapersonne (a.k.a. Franck de la Personne) (born 29 October 1963) is a French comedian, actor theatre director, and political candidate. Personal life Franck de la Personne is the son of Jacques Lapersonne and Jacqueline Charlotte Poinson. ...
as The Examining Magistrate * Jeremy Kreikenmayer as Martin as a child


Production

The script was written by André Téchiné and his frequent scriptwriting partner Gilles Taurand with the help of Olivier Assayas. Filming took place on location in France (Paris and the southwest
Cahors Cahors (; oc, Caors ) is a commune in the western part of Southern France. It is the smallest prefecture among the 13 departments that constitute the Occitanie Region. The main city of the Lot department and the historical center of the Que ...
region and Duravel in the Lot valley) and Spain ( Granada), where Martin's climactic breakdown occurs.Marshall, ''André Téchiné'', p. 99


Release

''Alice et Martin'' had its world premiere at the 1998
Valladolid International Film Festival The Valladolid International Film Festival, popularly known as Seminci (short for ; ), is a film festival held annually in Valladolid, Spain. First held in 1956 as ('Valladolid Religious Film Week'), the Seminci is one of the longest-standing fi ...
in the presence of André Téchiné,
Juliette Binoche Juliette Binoche (; born 9 March 1964) is a French actress and dancer. She has appeared in more than sixty feature films and has been the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Silver Bear, ...
and
Alain Sarde Alain Sarde is a French film producer and actor. Early life Alain Sarde was born on 28 March 1952 in Boulogne-Billancourt, France. Career David Lynch's ''Mulholland Drive'', a film Sarde co-produced, received the Online Film Critics Society ...
. The version screened ran at 114 mins, 10 mins shorter than the version that was released theatrically. The film premiered in France on 4 November 1998.


Reception

''Alice et Martin'', Téchiné’s thirteenth film, came after a string of three critic and artistic successful films: ''
My Favorite Season ''My Favorite Season'' (french: Ma saison préférée) is a 1993 French drama film directed by André Téchiné, co-written by Téchiné and Pascal Bonitzer, and starring Catherine Deneuve, Daniel Auteuil, and Marthe Villalonga.Marshall, ''André ...
'' (1993) (Ma saison préférée); ''
Wild Reeds ''Wild Reeds'' (french: Les Roseaux sauvages) is a 1994 French drama film directed by André Téchiné about the sexual awakening of four teenagers and their subsequent sensitive passage into adulthood at the end of the Algerian War. The film was ...
'' (1994) (Les roseaux sauvages) and, ''
Thieves Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for some ...
'' (Les voleurs) (1996).Marshall, ''André Téchiné'', p. 98 In a general consensus, critics and audiences perceived'' Alice et Martin'' as a disappointment, particularly due to the grim nature of the plot.Marshall, ''André Téchiné'', p. 100 The star power of
Juliette Binoche Juliette Binoche (; born 9 March 1964) is a French actress and dancer. She has appeared in more than sixty feature films and has been the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Silver Bear, ...
, who became known to the American public thanks her Oscar-winning performance in ''
The English Patient ''The English Patient'' is a 1992 novel by Michael Ondaatje. The book follows four dissimilar people brought together at an Italian villa during the Italian Campaign of the Second World War. The four main characters are: an unrecognisably burn ...
'', was not enough for the film to find a large audience. In France, the reviewer in '' Cahiers du cinéma'' raised doubts about the film’s narrative procedure and the incongruity of the epic sweep and the banal family narrative depicted.
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
reported that 62% of 42 sampled critics gave the film positive reviews.
Andrew Sarris Andrew Sarris (October 31, 1928 – June 20, 2012) was an American film critic. He was a leading proponent of the auteur theory of film criticism. Early life Sarris was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Greek immigrant parents, Themis (née Katav ...
from ''
The New York Observer ''The New York Observer'' was a weekly newspaper printed from 1987 to 2016, when it ceased print publication and became the online-only newspaper ''Observer''. The media site focuses on culture, real estate, media, politics and the entertainmen ...
'' called the film "not to be missed".
Jonathan Rosenbaum Jonathan Rosenbaum (born February 27, 1943) is an American film critic and author. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for ''The Chicago Reader'' from 1987 to 2008, when he retired. He has published and edited numerous books about cinema and has ...
from '' Chicago Reader'' commented that "The sheer neurotic intensity of Techine's characters -- characteristically stretching both backward and forward in time, as in a Faulkner novel--holds one throughout, as does Techine's masterful direction and many of the other performances".
A.O. Scott Anthony Oliver Scott (born July 10, 1966) is an American journalist and cultural critic. He has been chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' since 2004, a title he shares with Manohla Dargis. Early life Scott was born on July 10, 1966 in ...
in ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' called ''Alice et Martin'' " A richly populated, observant film that suffers, forgivable, from an excess of curiosity about the world it depicts -- a surfeit of generosity, intelligence and art". Edward Guthmann in the ''
San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...
'' saw the film as " heartfelt and passionate and brave in what it attempts to explore. It is only a qualified success". In his review for ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'', Kevin Thomas described it as " Boldly structured, intensely focused and briskly paced, Alice and Martin has a tremendous emotional density that places the utmost demands upon its actors--and asks a lot of audiences, too." While in a disagreeing note
Lisa Schwarzbaum Lisa Schwarzbaum (born July 5, 1952) is an American film critic. She joined ''Entertainment Weekly'' as a film critic in the 1990s and remained there until February 2013. Career She has been featured on CNN, co-hosted '' Siskel & Ebert at the Mov ...
from ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...
'' said that "It's as if, in exploring the scars that shape these personalities, Téchiné has forgotten to color in the flesh."


DVD release

''Alice et Martin'' is available in Region 2 DVD. Audio in French and English subtitles. The only extra feature Is the film's trailer. There is no Region 1 DVD available.


Notes


References

*Marshall, Bill. ''André Téchiné'', Manchester University Press, 2007,


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alice And Martin (1998 Film) 1990s psychological drama films 1998 films French psychological drama films 1990s French-language films Films directed by André Téchiné Films produced by Alain Sarde Films scored by Philippe Sarde Films with screenplays by Olivier Assayas 1998 drama films 1990s French films