Vinyan

[anyother]

I finally watched Vinyan last night - and didn't write about it yet, cause I wanted to read 9 pages of reviews first.

Beforehand I had mixed feelings. I had seen a small snippet of the dead children and even though I knew it wasn't a horror movie, I hesitated before watching this.

Well, I shouldn't have. There were some chilling moments, and it's really a very dark story, but except for the disemboweling scene nothing like horror. I don't think the disembowelment was necessary, though someone decribed it very accurately as symbolic for Paul being torn apart by grief and guilt. The way the kids stabbed him was horrendous enough, I think.

The story of 2 people who have to cope with losing their child and don't even have the proof that he's really dead, is told very realistically. For example the way in which they grow further and further apart because they each react differently to their loss and the uncertainty, and how they go all the way in search of their son to dangerous places with people that want to use them.

Rufus plays a very convincing Paul, who still loves his wife but has lost her together with their son, even though she's still with him in body (not in mind, most of the time). The way he literally reaches out to her time and again, and how he doesn't believe they're going to find their son, yet sometimes has a little hope, makes him very believable and sympathetic. As they get wet, muddy, hurt and tired, you feel their despair. No overacting in this movie, a hunch of a shoulder is enough to feel the hopelessness.

Though I like happy endings, a happy ending would have been wrong for this movie. To be honest I wouldn't have minded if Jeanne had died to. Not that I mean to be mean, it's just not the most pleasant thing to see Roof's character die in a violent way, and hear her laugh. You could feel things wouldn't turn out right for her too.

Well done, Rufus (and thanks for showing some of your lovely body as well)!

[reformeddruid]

I just recently got this movie and watched it for the first time. Ruf had said that it was a remake of that old 70"s flick "Don't Look Now", but I have to say, I don't see it. It doesn't seem anything like that movie to me and I have seen that one several times. "Vinyan" is much darker, there are only hints of the deeper subject matter involved. All those boys didn't end up there by accident and the only people they killed were the ones that seem dangerous to them. All in all it is a well done movie, well acted, and the locations were very well chosen.

[robela]

I have just watched Vinyan for the first time.
I am stunned and don't know what I think yet. It was dark and harrowing. You know how much I love Rufus and his acting was as always top class. I have read some of the earlier reviews on this thread which have given me a bit more insight into the film and something to think about. I will have to wach it again but cannot face it yet. I will take Nell's advice and watch the making of it.

[tipou]

Jan 21, 2011 17:50:55 GMT @reformeddruid said:

I just recently got this movie and watched it for the first time. Ruf had said that it was a remake of that old 70"s flick "Don't Look Now", but I have to say, I don't see it. It doesn't seem anything like that movie to me and I have seen that one several times.

i beleive he said that vinyan was kind of an hommage to Dont look now, which he said was one of his favourite movies. i do not think he said i was a remake, but hey, i could be wrong.
vinyan is waaaayyyy darker indeed.

[kissmekate]

I haven't read all of your comments, I'm just trying to sort out my impressions ...

First of all, of course, another excellent piece of acting by Rufus. A perfect portrayal of the tormented mourning father craving closure, wanting to pick up the pieces and somehow go on with his life after he sees no more hope to find his son, while his wife has set her mind on pursuing any trace, however unlikely it may be. And so it's more to indulge her than out of his own conviction that he embarks on the dangerous search for the boy she thinks she has seen in the video.

It is clear from the beginning that their different takes at coming to terms with the loss of Joshua will eventually bring them apart as a couple. Jeanne's descent into madness was very well done by Emmanuelle Béart, although my sympathies lay more with the reasonable Paul (and would probably have in general, even if it hadn't been Rufus who played him). Her stubborn insisting on this futile search trip made me angry, also on Paul's behalf, because it was so clearly a waste of time and money, putting their lives into the hands of some very dodgy figures on their risky trip into the jungle. (After all, the boy on the video was hardly recognizeable - and he didn't look a thing like Joshua to me. But perhaps Jeanne's mind was already starting to bend reality due to her loss at that time.)

The deterioration of the marriage was shown in a very believable way - the silence like a wall between them, the desperate and unromantic sex scene, and finally Jeanne's accusation of Paul having let Joshua go, making him responsible for the boy's disappearance/death, an accusation any relationship would struggle to survive.

The cinematography matched the film's general dark tone very well, the sombre jungle scenes and landscapes and especially the shots bathed in white or red light, which were mirrored in Jeanne and Paul's clothes on the jungle trip, her white dress and his red shirt (as a hint at the ending, maybe?)

So I was very satisfied with the way the psychological aspects were treated, with the camera and lighting and with the actors, but I struggled a bit with those ghost children. Were they real or just something sprung from Jeanne's disturbed imagination (which might mean that it was her who killed him in the end)? Or was the film meant to drift off into a fantasy realm? Maybe it's just me ... I generally have a bit of trouble if a seemingly "real" film suddenly changes into the fantasy genre.

Nevertheless the film kept me riveted to the very end (which I found rather disturbing, the kids rubbing Jeanne with mud, touching her naked body). Unfortunately (or fortunately?) I had read a spoiler on Paul's last scenes, but still the first stab at Paul shocked me deeply, having seen the utter exhaustion, the sunken eyes and the look of total desperation on his face just seconds before.

Not exactly my Rufus favourite because it's so depressing, but another facet of his broad range of talented acting and therefore admirable, if not really enjoyable.

The "Making Of" was quite interesting though, and it seems like in the end nobody had trouble faking a certain harried look because just about everyone was sick or at least tortured by heat and bugs and rain. Loved the part about Paul's last scene, Rufus complaining about the board, and the scene with Emmanuelle chasing Fabrice with that insect. Rufus's face was priceless!

(And the way the French-speaking crew pronounced "Rufus" was so funny! )

[kissmekate]

Nov 7, 2010 12:33:57 GMT VictoryGirl said:

This is a fabulous picture, I loved his stubbly looks. And those sad eyes in the pic just make me want to take him home and make him forget. So much raw emotion in this movie.

Just read through the whole thread and loved all your comments, especially the reviews by tipou, rueful and Numbat. Additional food for thought in there, and I'm glad to hear that I wasn't the only one who regarded the feral children as merely symbolic.

I simply love Rufus as a father, be it happy or tormented - he seems to put much of his own feeling into those roles (must be even harder to play this kind of thing if you have kids of your own).

Mr. Kate wasn't impressed, by the way, he found the whole thing too depressing and confusing But maybe I'll try to discuss the film with him again, supported by all your interesting opinions.

[Petruchio - Good God]

www.mymovies.net/player/default.asp?filmid=9585&ftrid=11655&n=3&s=3&t=Vinyan+Exclusive+Interview+With+Rufus+Sewell+and+Fabrice+Du+Welz

[ophelia]

I could only watch Vinyan after I watched the funny behind the scene of the last shot. Then it didnot seem so horrific!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=N51DPuguINQ

Rufus was so funny, then when I watched the last scene I was giggling

[robela]

Thanks for posting that video Ophelia, I had not seen it before as the dvd I have does not have any special features on it.
I was deeply shocked when I watched the film and have not been able to summon up any enthusiasm to watch it again as I found it hard to understand the ending of the film at all.

To watch this and see how they did it actually makes me feel a lot better about the film. Thank you.

[lillym73]

Hiya, watched this film on ch4 Sunday night and didn't like the end too. A very hard film to watch but did like seeing the Rufus's bum.

[rueful]

Lilly, I agree it was a very challenging movie to watch, and I didn't like the ending either. It was too over-the-top and I thought unnecessary. But the acting was incredible--not just Rufus (and his bum ), but everybody. Emmanuelle Beart did a fantastic job, and their deteriorating relationship was riveting.

But as much as I admired it, it will be a while before I'm ready to see it again.

[robela]

May 27, 2011 12:47:08 GMT @lillym73 said:

Hiya, watched this film on ch4 Sunday night and didn't like the end too. A very hard film to watch but did like seeing the Rufus's bum.

l


Yes Lillym, the end is hard to take. I haven't been able to watch this film through again since the one time I watched it! However, do watch the YouTube video which has been posted (if you have not already done so). Rufus laughing about what they are doing to him and complaining of the weight on his ankle sort of makes you realise that it is only a film and he is not being killed in that horrible way at the end!

I think I am probably ready to watch again now, in view of the gorgeous screencaps that have been posted lately!!

Oh and there is the bonus of watching his gorgeous 'bum' ;D ;D


Oh sorry! I seem to be mistaken about the screencaps, but there are some nice pics floating about at the minute!.

[joyceinva]

May 28, 2011 12:41:15 GMT rueful said:

But as much as I admired it, it will be a while before I'm ready to see it again.

I think that this movie is one of Rufus' strongest performances, but yes, this is not a movie that is easy to watch. Mainly because Rufus and Emmanuelle both played their parts so masterfully. You could feel their hope turning to despair and then her decent into madness. A very wrenching movie.

I also found the very end - when the children were rubbing mud all over Emmanuelle's body - very, very creepy.

[chocolate]

I agree with joyceinva that in this movie Rufus portrays his character extremely believable. Real, strong and weak, full of hope and doubt, loving and desperate at the same time. I did not like Emmanuelle Beart, but only because there is something in her- face and overall appearance in general, that really does not appeal to me.
Most of what I wanted to say was already said, so I will save those words. I only wanted to add a little bit more about Paul's motive to start the search.
I think (generally speaking) that men are sometimes more sensitive and romantic than we are. In Paul's case he was very practical and down-to-earth, but the faint hope that his son could be alive grew stronger after he watched the film with those kids. That was the sensitive side of him, I could love. I understand why a woman feels the absence of a child very deep, but after watching Rufus perform, could understand why the father wanted to go searching for his son. Not only to be next to his wife, but also because HE needed to go for his loved little one. During the search his practical side brought him back to earth while the loss made the mother go deeper into the darkness.
Difficult film to watch and the ending was inevitable. The whole story prepared us for this ending exactly. Anything else would be superficial. Not that an american director for the Hollywood crowd couldn't make it positive, but thank god this wasn't the case. As much as I cried for Rufus, I wouldn't like the movie if it was not as deep as it was.

[stama]

Robela, there are a some sceencaps:
rufussewell.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=work&action=display&thread=1495