Undescribable Perfection

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

At this date so far from the event, if some young person asked me what movie they could watch which would give them the essence of the Holocaust, this is the movie I would recommend.I watched it because Jeanne Moreau was listed in the credits and she is worth the price of admission on any movie. She didn't disappoint.The Holocaust theme was played perfectly. It starts off with the lecturer sketching out the event for those never exposed to it, having her field a mix of serious and stupid questions, and introducing the sole Jewish girl in the class, Daisy, obviously assimilated.Her emotional attachment is with her grandmother, a Holocaust survivor Nana, played by Moreau, and the parents are never introduced; they would have just been clutter. Nana told her stories which conveyed the feeling of one having lived through the Holocaust and they affected Daisy psychologically to the point where she had nightmares. Why would she tell the girl such stories? Don't look for a rational explanation. She is a Holocaust survivor. If you think Nana should have had better sense relate this to The Pawnbroker starring Rod Steiger.Perhaps 50 per cent of Jews in the fourth and fifth generations in America, certainly of the upper classes, have no feeling of being different from anyone else, which is a healthy and normal state of affairs, but anti-Semitism is still out there, and Daisy was touched by it in the locker scene. This was the result of these students having had the Holocaust shoved down their throat by that lecture and that's what some got out of it.Her boyfriend Ethan did not dump her because she was Jewish, that is never stated explicitly, but she was too strange for him. It looked like this would be a case of opposites attract, but he was too shallow for her, and too immature. She was a prolific reader, an introvert, and possessed of a developing Jewish consciousness, which she got not from her parents, but it sprung on her from the relationship with her grandmother and the grandmother's tragic life. Daisy knew this influence had something to do with her losing Ethan and that's why she blurted out that she hated her grandmother at one point.The utter evil of the Holocaust is conveyed in the scene where the Nazi takes the two little girls. For what purpose, we need not even guess. Two among 1,500,000 million children who met horrible endings.Cinema has never really solved the problem of how to show life in the camps. The people were much too thin and too sick with a multitude of ailments and injuries, walking corpses, the milieu a babel of languages, and none of this can be portrayed by mere actors and actresses. We are left with the written word if you are looking for realism. Given the extreme restrictions anyone attempting a Holocaust theme faces who wishes to tell this story in a movie, this was a tour-de-force.

Sad, strange little movie stars Claire Danes as Daisy; a shy, bookish girl attending an elite private school in New York. When she's not gushing over the delectable Ethan (Jude Law), she's spending time with her Nana in the countryside reading books and listening to Nana's tales of her survival of the holocaust.The movie tries to intertwine the themes of post and modern day anti-semitism via Nana's stories and flashback sequences with Daisy's trials and tribulations at school when knowledge of her Jewish heritage is made public.Unfortunately, as hard as this movie tries, it never quite hits the mark. The performances from Danes and Moreau though are heartfelt, and the message is there for those who want to see it. This movie means well and attempts to educate us on one of the all time greatest blights on mankind - prejudice.Worth a look for early performances from Jude Law, James Van Der Beek and Julia Stiles before they hit the big time.

This movie was SO DISAPPOINTING to me..I stayed up late just to see this movie, as it features such talented actors as Law and Danes and of course Jeanne Moreau (sorry if I misspelled that one). But then I just grew more and more annoyed and in the end maybe was even more confused than the movie itself is. It just had no real point or message. At least the theme of (continuing?) antisemitism could have been interesting, but if I were Jewish, the way the theme was dealt with in this movie would have offended me out of my wits. As I am not Jewish, it only offended my intelligence. The characters are unbelievably unrealistic and black and white. The story even more so, it just falls apart. Maybe the movie would have worked if had been made into a simple lovestory about an unpopular girl who falls in love with a super popular boy, after which they would give it a try, find out it won´t work and come out of the relationship having LEARNED something. What does this movie tell you? Danes is taught that being a young Jewish girl is a major handicap even in NY in the late 20th century, but what does being a Jew mean in this movie? Being unpopular? Having sad eyes? Being well-read? Law's character simply is... simple. He is very good-looking and popular, but that is about all you can say about him. He leaves Danes for the exact same reason he liked her for in the first place. The connections Law - prototype of the Aryan physical ideal v. Danes - Jewish prototype are not exploited properly (and there is no reason for Danes to play the young version of her Nana in her Nana's stories - why didn't they give Law a contrasting role in some of these "flashbacks" too then?) and why should they be, it just doesn't make any sense and doesn't contribute to making a point (there is not one single sensible point in this movie!). The ending is ridiculous and actually made me laugh(!), it is such a lame, last desperate attempt to make you PITY.I could go on and on about what is wrong about this movie and why you shouldn't watch it... But anyway, you'll survive watching it if you like Jude Law, he's as hot as ever in this one. Also Danes proves her talent by making the best she can out of the part she plays. Van Der Beek is just as annoying as in Dawson's Creek, I couldn't help thinking this (tiny) role of nasty bully fitted him more than that of Dawson. Moreau is sweet and comforting to watch.

I love you, I love you not is a beautiful and sad story about finding yourself in those difficult teenage years. Daisy(Claire Danes), plays a insecure,intense and shy teenage girl. She spends most of her time reading and spending time with the person she loves the most, her nana. Many people did not understand the concept of this movie and the relationship between daisy and her nana. Daisy is often bullied and school and misunderstood because she is jewish, just like her nana. Her nana was at a concentration camp when she was little and lost all of her family. This movie shows two storys, one with daisy and her nana, one with daisy at school and her friends but mostly the guy she has a crush on played my jude law, who I may say is very handsome. Daisy and her nana were kinda like one person, even the title of this movie explains a lot "i love you, I love you not" It has two sides to it, just like the movie. I think the "I love you" part is when daisy is with her nana, and the "I love you not" part is when daisy is outside of home, dreaming about her crush. This is a very beautiful compelling story, if people would only give it a chance, they would understand it. I would give I love you, I love you not 10/10