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When you see as many movies as I see in a year, a few things become very clear and that is first off that most movies are very similar to an already released film and secondly, that each genre has a very specific formula that is almost always followed. While this may or may not be noticed by people who see 20 or 30 films in a year it is certainly obvious to someone like myself who see's closer to two hundred. So when a truly experimental film comes along that breaks the standard film making conventions I stand up and take notice. 2000 had two such films. Memento directed by Christopher Nolan which transformed the mystery/thriller genre with it's multiple concurrent directions. By mixing color and black and white and each telling the same story from different points Nolan was able to bring the viewer into the mind of his lead character by confusing them with the multiple narratives. The other film was released in Belgium and France during 2000 and goes by the name "Thomas est Amoureux" or "Thomas in Love". Now this unique and highly innovative film comes to DVD in Canada from Seville Pictures. Thomas Thomas is a 32 year old man and shares many of the same problems as most other men often do. A nagging mother and the quest to find a soul mate are just two of his problems. You see, Thomas is not an everyday man. He suffers from a condition known as agoraphobia which causes him to be unable to leave his apartment and have any physical contact with a human being. For the past 8 years he has conducted all his affairs over the Internet through a device called a visiophone which is essentially a sophisicated mix of a webcam and a telephone. He sees a psychologist (Fredick Topart) and has an insurance agent (Alexandre von Sivers) that looks after a number of his other affairs. His treatment has hit a wall and his shrink has decided to jump start things by signing him up to a dating agency. At the same time his insurance agent informs him that he is eligible to receive the services of government sanctioned escorts which are basically gloried prostitutes. Reluctantly Thomas begins to receive "calls" from various girls in the dating club and he begins to look into the company of the escort's company's employee Eva. Through these two services he begins to fall for two very different girls: the naive Melodie (Magali Pinglaut) a video poet and Eva, one of Madame Zoe's escorts who seems to be very unhappy in her job. When him and Melodie share an intimate moment through an advancement in computer technology it is easy to see that her mind is elsewhere. She essentially blows him off as she has a lover by the name of Kevin. Left with only Eva to interest him he tries to find out more about her but hits a brick wall. He eventually learns that she accepted the medical prostitution position as a means of getting out of a longer jail term. Will Thomas ever leave his apartment to meet Eva or will he remain closed off to the breathing world? "Thomas in Love" is a film by Belgium film maker Pierre Paul Renders and for his second effort this is a very strong film. Working off a screenplay by Phillipe Blasband, Renders is able to transform a simple story into a complex social commentary on where our values in society today may take us in the future. Renders set's his film in a future world where videophones and the internet have replaced all other traditional means of communication other then standard face to face discussion. There are no cell phones, only portable video units that are small enough to fit on a wrist watch. While the film has a strong original concept where this film really succeeds is in the execution of that concept. There is no doubt in my mind that the film would be less successful if it was shot in a standard form. However, by utilizing a unique visual style Renders elevates things to the next level. Renders shoots the characters from Thomas's point of view and by doing so brings a level of intimacy to the picture. We never see Thomas but in a way we become him and we feel what he feels and long for the same things he does. This first person approach is a relatively new approach to film making (although it was used in a 1946 feature) and one I can't remember having seen used before. It's fresh and creative as instead of having the camera giving an outside account of what's happening it shows everything from the view point of the lead character. Now this isn't a license for all young aspiring film makers to take this approach as not every story would benefit from it but I would hope that in a few years from now there will be more films filmed in this style. Another strong point of "Thomas in Love" is the acting, especially lead Benoit Verhaert. Verhaert, who plays Thomas has the added difficulty of giving what is essentially a voice over performance as we never see him on screen. For us to believe the main character the actor has to give a strong performance and that's what he does here. His vocal inflections really convince the viewers that his condition is real and never for do we believe that he is a character. He is a real person who is really going through these problems. Equally good is Magali Pinglaut as the video poet Melodie who is intrigued by Thomas and even agrees to attempt to take things to a higher and more physical level. Also worth mentioning is an excellent performance by Aylin Yay who gives a multi-layered performance as Eva a person forced to work as a medical hooker after committing an undermined crime. She wants to fall in love with Thomas but knows that it could ruin her life. Her character's conflict and inner struggle really comes across in her performance. "Thomas in Love" comes from Belgium and while there are some distinct European aspects in the film. This is really a film with a universal appeal and meaning. Although the film may be in French, the ideas and concepts explored can be applied to all countries and citizens. Unfortunately this film didn't get a large theatrical run and played primarily on the film festival circuit getting rave reviews from critics where ever it played. This is a fresh, innovative, smart film that deserves to play to as wide of an audience as possible and with this DVD release it is finally getting its chance. Movie Rating : 8.5/10 Video Chalk up yet another high score in the video department as Seville continues to out do themselves with every release. "Thomas in Love" is the latest in a line of excellent transfers from Seville. Presented in a lovely 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer I'm hard pressed to find much wrong with video on this disc. "Thomas In Love" has a unique visual style and you have to take that into account when watching this disc. In some scenes the colors are rich and vibrant and other scenes they are dry and drab. As the story and the action takes place's solely from Thomas's perspective the people he communicates with by video phone have phones of varying quality. Some are wall units with rich and well defined sharpness, others are less sharp but have a wider array of colors and others still are portable black and white units. As each phone has its own look each correspondence with the different characters have a different look to them. In addition to this some scenes feature intentional dropped frames and fuzziness which is used to depict the all to common transmission errors that occur over the internet. While some people may consider these as anomalies in the transfer doing so would be incorrect as director Pierre Paul Renders specifically mentions that this was done intentionally during the making of featurette. In the problem department there isn't really much to report other then a few small dust specks. Edge enhancement is essentially absent from the transfer although there may be trace amounts that I assumed were part of the intended look of the film. As the film originated in Belgium and is presented in French, English subtitles are provided and are generally easy to read with white text appearing in and just above the lower letterbox. While the sub's are easy to read, I much preferred the font on Seville's "In the Mood for Love", which was slightly larger. Regardless of the size of the subtitles Seville does a good job bringing what could be considered a difficult film to transfer to disc with all the directors stylistic choices intact and without creating any unwanted problems. Another great job from Seville here. Video Rating : 8.5/10 Audio Seville Pictures presents "Thomas in Love" with a French Dolby Digital 2.0 audio track which is the original language and format for this picture. Although there will be a few people who are upset with the lack of a 5.1 mix this is one instance where I didn't mind so much. Given the somewhat intimate settings depicted in the film there is no surprise that the real focal point of this mix is the dialogue which is easily heard and understood even during the most active scenes. The dialogue is in French and even though it's been over 3 years since I studied French in high school (a graduation requirement for Canadian Students), I was surprised of how much of the dialogue I could understand without having to rely on the subtitles. I guess spending 2 or 3 hours a week for 3 years actually netted some sort of result. Aside from the dialogue the score by Igor Sterpin with it's sort of semi classical influenced electronic feel really gives the speakers a workout when called upon to do so. Sound effects also play a small but important role in the mix and at times they carry a surprisingly large part of the overall sound experience. Overall this is a very satisfying aural experience that adds but not distracts from the film's visuals and story. Audio Rating : 8/10 Extras All of my recent praise for Seville's discs has been warranted as they are a studio on the rise in Canada, where you can pick their discs up at your local retailer. Internationally, you can import them over the net. After their two stellar releases "Lost and Delirious" and fellow 01/22/02 release "In the Mood for Love", there is no doubt in my mind that Seville is the studio to beat in Canada. They continue their excellent bonus feature work on "Thomas In Love" with two featurettes one dealing with the making of the movie and one dealing with the computer animated sequences. First up is an excellent 21 minute long "Making of" featurette that should really be classified as a mini documentary in that it covers things in so much detail. Director Pierre Paul Renders discusses in detail his interesting approach to not only visualizing the story but also how he used an extension of that concept to film the project.It also goes into great detail regarding the stylistic choices used. Interviews with Writer Phillipe Blasband, actors Benoit Verhaert (Thomas), Alexandre von Sivers (Insurance Agent) and cinematographer Virgine Saint Martin are also featured throughout. Watching and listening to Pierre Paul Renders speak about his film made me wish the disc had a commentary track. The second featurette runs a scant 4 minutes but is so jammed packed with information that if you blink you'll miss something. It deals with the "Sex Toons" sequences in the film and we are joined once again by the director who explains how these scenes were conceived and filmed. I won't go into any more detail and spoil the surprise but this is a great featurette that you really need to watch to the end. Continuing on, we have the theatrical trailer under the menu option "Le Bande Announce". This is an interesting trailer that doesn't give the entire plot away which seems to be the current trend for mainstream Hollywood pictures. It's presented in DD 2.0 and is at the film's native 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Bonus points go to Seville for presenting the trailer in it's original aspect ratio even though unlike the feature it's not enhanced for anamorphic displays. Once again Seville does an outstanding job providing interesting, informative features that are a real joy to watch as opposed to those of a more promotional nature. It should be noted that all of the special features are subtitled in English which for someone like me who only understands basic French (even though I understood more then I thought I would) is very important. Extra Rating : 8/10 Menus: Seville has done a pretty cool thing with the menus for "Thomas in Love". The animated menus cycle between English and French text approximately every 10 seconds which is a fresh and interesting idea that I haven't seen done before. Final Thoughts "Thomas in Love" is a smart film dealing with social issues that may arise in the future from the continuing advancement of technology. It is often funny, sincere and emotional. Seville Pictures DVD features a beautiful video transfer, an excellent audio mix and a handful of very informative extra features. Fans of the film should have no reservations when deciding to pick up this disc. If your looking for a fresh film that's on the cutting edge of cinema this is the one for you. I highly recommend both the disc and the movie to fans and non fan's alike. Disc Rating : 8/10 Note : This is a Canadian release. It can be imported from VideoFlicks.com. Reviewed by Mark McLeod, 1/18/02 |