Memorable, crazy movie

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

The acting in this movie is really good.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

I am sure some of us still have, on occasion, flashing memory of our childhood love subjects. We can be adults and settled into a homely life style. But if your memory is still robust, a trip to the past is common - especially if you are getting older."Balcony on the Sea", a name which I prefer, is a top-notch romance from France. It blends mystery with a love story, and with a the plot which is very credible and moving.Both Jean Dujardin (of 'The Artist' fame) and Marie-Josee Croze are great in their leading roles. Director Nicole Garcia's steady and conventional directing is perfect to tell this tale, with flash back to childhood life in Algiers. I also find the ending subtle and satisfying. Highly recommended for those who yearn for a good romance story. Meanwhile, I will try to seek out more work by this director.

French screenwriter, actress and director Nicole Garcia's sixth feature film which she co-wrote with French screenwriters Jacques Fieschi, Frédéric Belier Garcia and Natalie Carter, premiered in Morocco, was shot on locations in France, Spain, Algeria and Morocco and is a French production which was produced by producer Alain Attal. It tells the story about a man named Marc Palestro who has moved to Aix in Southern France with his wife named Clotilde who is a teacher and their 11-year-old daughter named Manouche. Marc is a real estate agent for his father in-law's company called Pays d'Aix and the day he goes with him to meet a female client named Mrs. Mandonato who works for a real estate investor and is looking for a new house, Marc's life changes.Distinctly and precisely directed by French filmmaker Nicole Garcia, this quietly paced fictional tale which is narrated mostly from the two main characters viewpoints, draws an increasingly heartrending portrayal of an Algerian man who after having seen a woman who captures his eyes is reminded of his childhood sweetheart named Cathy Rivet whom he was separated from during the end of the Algerian War of Independence (1954-1962). While notable for its naturalistic and atmospheric milieu depictions, fine cinematography by French cinematographer Jean-Marc Fabre and production design by French production designer Thierry Flamand, this character-driven and narrative-driven story about a non-illusionary kind of love that has lived on in one person and been awakened in another person depicts two involving studies of character and contains a timely score by English composer Stephen Warbeck.This conversational, somewhat literary and eloquent drama which is set in Algeria in the early 1960s and during a summer in France decades later where a theatre actress is reunited with a man from her past which she has vivid and affectionate memories of and a man almost loses sight of his family, is impelled and reinforced by its flashback narrative structure, subtle character development and continuity, a lingering and pivotal scene of a girl named Marie-Jeanne and the engaging acting performances by French actor, screenwriter and director Jean Dujardin and Canadian actress Marie-Josée Croze. A lyrical, throughout gripping and perceptively romantic mystery from the early 21st century.

At the time of this writing there are only 2 reviews of this film,and they have already mentioned all the good qualities,attractive cast,beautiful,locations and a romantic story about long lost childhood love. I liked this film,so i wasn't sure if i was supposed to write what bothered me about it but i figured to say a word. The problem is the story itself.Dujardin plays a man in his forties who is happily married,but when the plot develops we find out that he had an enormous childhood love ,at about 11 years old, when he was growing up in Algeria.The attraction was so great with his childhood sweetheart, that the day he had to leave Algeria he almost went crazy. So the normal question is,what happened after that?the movie never tells us,and suddenly jumps,30 years later. But even if we are to understand ,he was too young to be able to do anything about it,after a few years,lets say at 20 years old ,he would have certainly looked for the girl.But the movie tells us ,that he knew nothing about her,in fact we must assume he didn't seem to care at all,until this story resurfaced 30 years later,which doesn't make sense. This is pretty important,because ,the whole plot is based on this incredibly strong longing he has for his childhood love.

The original French title of this film is UN BALCON SUR LA MER, meaning A BALCONY BY THE SEA, and the English title does the film no justice at all, compared to the evocative original. The film is 'made from the heart' by actress, writer, and director Nicole Garcia, who was born in Oran, Algeria, when Algeria was a French colony, and who had to flee in 1962 at Independence, because of the violence. This film concerns the tragic romantic loss suffered by three French teenagers whose young lives and affections for each other were torn apart by the events of 1962. A marvellous performance by Jean Dujardin in the male lead is delivered with such quiet suffering, such profound longing, that it adds a dimension of even greater authenticity to this film, which is authentic enough already, and is shot in numerous localities in France, at Oran in Algeria, and in Morocco. This film is truly a magnificent achievement, succeeding on every level. It works as a puzzling mystery story, as a psychological study, and as a romantic saga, all at once. It has a certain feel of du Maurier's REBECCA about it. If it had been made with Hollywood stars, it would have been world-famous by now, instead of languishing unnoticed except in France. The film certainly qualifies as a true work of art. It is very much an elegy to 'les temps perdu' ('a lost past time'). Nicole Garcia does not appear in the film as an actress, but in addition to directing it, she was the co-writer of the story which must to a considerable extent be autobiographical. Sandrine Kiberlain is the uncomprehending wife, looking after her home, unaware of the depths of emotion swirling through her husband's head, a role similar to that which she played in THE APARTMENT (L'APPARTEMENT, 1996, see my review). The exciting Marie-Josée Croze (a french Canadian actress by origin) is the mysterious woman who haunts the story and the thoughts and dreams of Dujardin, and who may come to haunt those of the viewer as well. She will shortly appear in a Working Title film of Sebastian Faulks's marvellous BIRDSONG, about the First World War, which I saw not so long ago brilliantly staged as a play in London. It is a film to look forward to (to be released in 2012), and it will be good to see more of Croze. There is a surprise appearance by Claudia Cardinale in a cameo, and it is good to see her still at work. I do not wish to spoil this marvellous film for viewers by saying too much about the story. Just see it.