Absolutely Fantastic

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

.Ever fall in love with a movie, you know in your heart isn't the greatest of all time, but for whatever reason, you love it anyway ???For me, this is that movie.First saw it a few years after it's 1979 release on an early pay-per-view service (possibly, SelecTV ???), and fell hopelessly, head-over-heels in love with it.I think it was probably because most of the actors in it are my age, and thus, was able to live vicariously through them, in effect, getting to "go" to school in France, even though I've never been there.....Sadly, two of the lovely women starring in it, died before their time, Marie-France Pisier ("Madame Tessier") at 66 (drowning), and Valérie Quennessen ("Toni") at a FAR too young 31 (car accident). And if you've never seen Ms. Quennessen in 1982's "Summer Lovers", do yourself a favor and track it down (again, maybe not the greatest film of all time, but the STUNNING scenes of GORGEOUS Greece (and Ms. Quennessen!), are worth the price of 'admission' alone!).SO pleased too, that this film FINALLY got a dvd release, after so many, MANY years not being available on home video (though it did have a release on VHS, prior to that).To anyone with a little bit of 'romance' left in their heart, give this one a chance......to those who don't, or can't remember the feeling of being young and in love, don't bother......

I think this is one of the best "coming of age" movies ever made. I think it was a victim of the US/Iran problems of 1979. Had the Iranian problem not happened, I believe this would have been more widely viewed originally, and more of a hit. The performances are excellent. Seeing Debra Winger before her rise to stardom is worth the price. It's sad to me to know that Valerie Quennessen died in 1989. I also loved the performance of Marie-France Pisier. Mandy Patinkin was so good in this movie. I love his comedy performances. Being filmed on location in Paris (and the surrounding countryside) along with the performances of genuine French actors gives this movie the realism necessary to believe all the characters. We all have had the wide-eyed innocence that makes this film perfect. I wish there would be a release on DVD. My VHS tape could run thin after a few more viewings.

It's funny how cruising the internet will take us off on some of the most trivial tangents! I just purchased a film ("Sleep With Me" with Eric Stoltz, Meg Tilly and a cameo appearance -- NOT to be missed -- by Quentin Tarantino) and thought I'd look for "French Postcards" . . . another of my long-time favorites.I thought I was the ONLY one who had even SEEN this film much less had such fond memories of it!!Like so many, I first saw the film via cable . . . either on Cinemax or HBO. I was in Michigan on internship and while visiting my future (now ex-) wife, I caught this wonderful little film on her VERY little b/w television. I liked it so much that I watched it at almost every opportunity as it ran its repetitive course.As has been posted already here, I saw a little bit of me in many of the characters (not so much in Sayyid, of course!!). I also found many of the characters to be very believable — as well as the story. My guess is that it was probably written by someone who'd had such an experience.I suppose that I related mostly to Alex, who -- despite being somewhat of a lech — was an utter romantic. Like him, I'm a songwriter AND hopelessly drawn to romance. The song he sings ("Paris") was in my head for days and weeks . . . MONTHS after watching the film.I was particularly attracted to Laura (Blanche Baker's character), who — much like Alex — was in love with romance and tried so very hard to experience her preconceived notions about Paris. While Alex's affair with Madame Tessier was rather titillating (I mean, isn't it EVERY young man's dream to have an affair with an older, married woman?!?), I rooted for Laura and Alex to get together.Many of us here can probably also relate with the dweeb-y (initially), socially clumsy Joel. That he was able to finally come to grips with his feelings for Toni and EXPRESS them was — IS — something we'd all like to be capable of doing all the time. We probably all initially took affront to Toni's brusque responses to Joel, but (sigh!) fell in love with her as well (if ONLY for her accent!).Although Debra Winger's part is so very small, her character was entertaining.And while we're speaking "French" . . . I highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend "Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain" (Amélie) if you haven't yet seen it.

I would not give this film a lukewarm review at all (as some of the other reviews that I have read seem to have done). I would not try to put it in a box that it does not belong in, either. The truth of the matter is, I LOVED "French Postcards" exactly the way it was!! This was a highly entertaining and WONDERFUL story! I felt really good after watching it..........I watched it twice. In short, I thoroughly enjoyed it!I felt that a lot of the main characters were very well drawn and believable. The acting was, by and large, superb! My favorite story within this story would have to be the one with Alex (the blond-haired American student and pianist) and Madame Tessier (the French director of the institute, where the American exchange students were enrolled). I especially like the very beautiful and adorable Mme. Tessier, played by Marie-France Pisier. It wasn't just that she was totally gorgeous as a "somewhat older woman" (Alex was a junior in college; Mme. Tessier was probably in her mid 30s). It was very admirable how passionate she was about her study abroad program. She appeared to be extremely devoted to her job.........and very professional. Toward the end of the movie she talked about her plan to open up schools all over France........and she was very excited about it.I also liked that scene when she and Alex's girlfriend got into a cat fight over whose man Alex really was..........but even then, she still carried that off with a lot of class. She did not scream or make a scene. She seemed to hold her own, toe to toe, with Alex's old girlfriend with dignity. Among other things, she told her (in a very relaxed voice):"You are a twenty-year-old school girl..........You don't know anything about love!"If you have not yet seen the movie, you should know that Mme. Tessier certainly made Alex pay his dues! He worked extremely hard to earn the right to show his affections for her. She was really quite cold, in the beginning, and did try to dissuade him...........even lied to him that she did not like a piano song that he wrote for her (about Paris). Eventually she took the bait (and probably amazed Alex in the process). The story does paint Mme. Tessier as a very dedicated and serious, professional, French woman: a woman, who one day just had a weakness and caved............and allowed herself to become vulnerable in the arms, and in the heart, of a twenty-something American "stud". Though for many people it might be disturbing, that her involvement with him is adulterous (her husband is her business partner at the institute), in many ways it is a very sweet romance. There are actually quite a few things that are sweet (or delightful) about this movie (including a shot of the beautiful Seine river at sunset).I saw this movie on HBO in December 1980------just weeks before I was slated to go off to Spain as an American college student (I spent my spring semester in Sevilla, Spain). Though this movie was about a very different country, it was still about a European country. It was extremely exciting for me to watch two hours of anecdotes, concerning experiences that I was very soon to be having (at least some of them, anyway; I did not try to steal away a program director's wife!)! Watching this film was even more delightful for me, since this was to be my first trip to Europe! I am sure that I would have enjoyed this movie, almost as much, even if I had not studied abroad. On a personal note, I never made it to France, during my stay in Spain. It would be 17+ years later, before I trod on many of the same grounds that Alex, Joel, and Melanie trod (in "French Postcards"). I am pleased to say that my 1998 trip to France was everything that I thought it would be! The people were totally wonderful and delightful..........and I just loved them! More importantly, I loved France (just as I loved Mme. Tessier and "French Postcards", as a whole)!