The price of the DVD of this film which is now available in France, under 2 euros, is some indication of what the film is worth, I'm sorry to say. I remember seeing the film many years ago and wondering what the hell it was all about. A viewing of the DVD recently produced the same effect. The only good points about this film are its catchy theme music and some wide shots as well as the inclusion of Charles Aznavour as a restaurant owner and other well known French actors of the time. The main interest of the film is the premise, which turns out to be a dream, of the sun being unable to shine any more upon the earth, due to its rays being blocked by a new planet in the solar system. I thought this could have been the start of something interesting but the rest of the film is incomprehensible to me. It touches on the themes of extraterrestrials warning the super powers on earth not to make war on each other as they earth is producing energy which they ( the extraterrestrials ) need for their survival and if they ( the extraterrestrials ) are deprived of this energy source, they they will wipe out the human race so as not to have any more trouble. Is this true or just a hoax ? God Knows ? There are various scenes in the film of Michel Piccoli and Evelyne Bouix getting up to strange antics and I don't really get the point of it. Unfortunately, this is typical of Lelouch's style, and one gets the feeling, as usual that in making the film, he his more concerned with making pleasure to himself than to his spectators. It should be stated that this kind of Sci-Fi thriller is not really typical of French cinema and is better left to the Americans who are specialists in films about invaders and invasions. Remains a plethora of well known actors and Charles Aznavour whom we see on numerous occasions digging into tins of caviar !
Review of Viva la vie
