Very disappointing...

Awesome Movie

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

It is the ultimate "opposites attract" love story. Arthur Martin is a perfectly ordinary (15207 other men in France share his name) shy, conservative late-middle aged single man working for the Government. He was raised by boring scientist technophiles who have consistently invested in great ideas that all turn out to be flops.Baya Benmahmoud is a one of a kind (She is the only person in France named Baya Benmahmoud) young, beautiful, intelligent but scattered brained super-liberal activist raised by her hippy mother and illegal immigrant Algerian father. Her mission in life is to sleep with conservative "fascists" in order to turn them to the proper liberal ideal.Baya finds Artur and launches her "make love not war" mission. She follows her proved method turning his world up-side-down. But this time, perhaps Baya has finally met her match. Everything changes for Baya when Arthur performs a kindness for her father that turns Baya's world up-side-down."If you can't trust the ducks, that is a bad sign."

Baya, whose name reminds everyone of Bahia, in Brazil, is a rebellious young woman; she does not mix her words, she likes to equate anything resembling right wing as fascist, a term that is a favorite of most people on the left side of politics. She has a strong reason for being that way; she comes from parents that are half Algerian and half French with strong leanings to the left. She is a rebel who was abused by a pedophile, a man posing himself as a piano teacher. Baya has grown up to be an independent soul believing in having sex on the first date.Arthur Martin, whose mother was Jewish at birth, is an avian expert who is not heavily into controversy. He gets rattled when a furious Baya irrupts in the studio where he is being interviewed about avian flu and other viruses. In Baya's mind, Arthur Martin, whose name is the same as a brand of popular stoves in France, he nothing but a fascist with his theories about the dangers of being exposed to all the dangers carried by birds.It is almost inevitable these two would meet as they both are attracted to each other. Baya is vocal in her ways, while Arthur is more reserved. Baya suffers from being absent minded. She also wears inappropriate clothes that reveal her breast if she does the wrong kind of movement. She is easily distracted to the point of going into the Paris metro completely naked and not realizing it, until a Muslim man, sitting opposite her, is clearly shocked by her nakedness."Les nom des gens", directed and co-written by Michel Leclerc and Baya Kasmi, is a different film from France, with strong political, as well as romantic ideas. We saw it when it first opened commercially at the Sunshine, and on second viewing, we found it even better than the first time. M. Leclerc's film takes us through the backgrounds of all the players and what made them the way they turned out to be. It is a film that fires theories and ideas in rapid fashion, something that works well within the context of what the director was looking for.The best thing in the film is Sarah Forestier whose take on Baya is disarmingly frank. One can only think about how difficult it must have been for this actress to do some of the things the screenplay demanded of her. It might have been embarrassing as well for her to follow what was expected of her. No wonder she was given the precious Cesar for best actress. It is a bold approach to acting, something quite unique. Ms. Forestier gives one of the most courageous renditions for an actress in recent memory.Jacques Gamblin, on the other hand, plays the more quieter Arthur with good sense of what was wanted of him. His Arthur is a quiet individual whose dull life is shattered with the appearance of the intense presence of Baya. M. Gamblin keeps getting better and better with each new film. The wonderful supporting cast includes Carole Franck, Michele Moretti, Jacques Boudet and Zinedine Soualem.

I think this part of the official IMDb page sums everything up:Trivia While writing the script, Michel Leclerc and Baya Kasmi didn't have a full story, but rather sixty pages of situations stemming from the idea of a girl who sleeps with her political opponents.It shows. The movie makes you laugh sometimes but we have seen the Manic Pixie Dream Girl so many times that it isn't charming anymore. It's a step away from being annoying.The worst part of the movie is how everything solves rather quickly and there are so many loose ends. You will have a good time but it is not at all the masterpiece some commenters here argue it is.

You will never change your political opponents' minds by arguing with them, but what if you have sex with them? Baya Benmahmoud (Sara Forestier) lives her life by this mantra. She is an ultra-leftwing idealist who sleeps with right wing fascists to convert them politically. She even keeps a scrapbook of her successful conversions; most of them are now some sort of shepherd. While listening to bird-flu expert Arthur Martin (Jacques Gamblin) in a radio station one day, Baya bursts through the studio's door and argues with him on the air that if you can't trust ducks, then what is this world coming to? This is a very amusing argument and also makes for a humorous lead character introduction.Any other film, such as an American one, would construct Arthur as a rock solid conservative and make it Baya's quest to convert him. Ah, but this is an intelligent French film. Arthur is a socialist and while not nearly as leftwing as Baya, he proudly states he voted for Lionel Jospin. A warning: if you do not know who Lionel Jospin is, you will miss an amazing and funny scene. The Names of Love takes a sharp turn from where the film was leading the audience. It is not a romantic comedy, well, not all the way. Much screen time is devoted to Baya and Arthur's respective families and to what extent they identify themselves as French citizens.Baya's father is from Algeria and vividly remembers the French Army shooting many of his relatives in the war. Her mother is a hippie who thinks everything non-French is fascinating which is why she marries a man with the last name Benmahmoud. Arthur's folks at first appear to be the exact opposite of the first couple and are shown boring and set in their specific way of life. However, there is a lingering secret past with Arthur's mother which is not necessarily hidden from view, but takes on more of a role as the film progresses.The Names of Love starts out at a fast clip with both leading characters taking their turns talking directly into the camera about their youths and where they imagine themselves on the political spectrum. After a half hour or so, this starts to taper off and a more somber and contemplative mood takes over what was almost a comedic farce. Arthur and Baya are shown interacting with each other's unfamiliar cultures and testing their respective boundaries. The script is whip smart and expects a lot from its audience, especially from its non-French audience. I give a high mark to how intelligent and probing this film is, but be wary of the shift from light comedy to more serious introspection.