Alice et Martin (Alice and Martin) (1998)
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60% of critics liked it
(43 reviews) -
49% of users liked it
(509 ratings)
In this romantic French drama, auteur Andre Techine offers an intense, intimate look inside the complex relationship between two emotionally dysfunctional people. Neither Alice (Juliette Binoche) nor Martin (Alexis Loret) seem emotionally healthy enough to sustain a relationship, but somehow they… More In this romantic French drama, auteur Andre Techine offers an intense, intimate look inside the complex relationship between two emotionally dysfunctional people. Neither Alice (Juliette Binoche) nor Martin (Alexis Loret) seem emotionally healthy enough to sustain a relationship, but somehow they manage to stay together amidst their many personal problems. The two met in Paris, where Martin fled after escaping the oppression of his recently deceased tyrannical father. Once in the City of Light, the depressed Martin attempts suicide and later accepts an offer to stay with his half-brother Benjamin (Mathieu Amalric) and his roommate Alice, a violinist, in their ramshackle garret. Shortly thereafter, Martin is spotted by a modeling agent and finds steady work on the city's catwalks. At first, Martin and Alice do not get along. He is brutish and incapable of expressing emotion. He pursues her, but Alice is not terribly interested, until her sexual frustration and need to be loved gets the better of her, and she succumbs to his advances. She then decides to leave Benjamin and travel with Martin to a modelling assignment in Granada, Spain. There the two are briefly happy, but as time passes, Martin's self-absorption increases. Alice's announcement that she is pregnant precipitates a crisis in which Martin reveals that he caused his father's death. Unable to bear the guilt and pain any longer, he commits himself to a mental institution and then requests he be given his day in court. Alice is convinced that Martin is innocent of the crime with which he has charged himself. When he insists on going to court, she goes there to save him from himself. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Directed By
- Andre Techine
- Written By
- Olivier Assayas, Gilles Taurand, Andre Techine
- Genres
- Drama, Romance, Art House & International
R,
- In Theaters
- Jul 21, 2000 Limited
- Studio
- USA Films
Critic Reviews
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Jonathan Holland, Variety
An involving love story between two emotionally damaged outsiders.
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Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
The sheer neurotic intensity of Techine's characters -- characteristically stretching both backward and forward in time, as in a Faulkner novel--holds one throughout, as does Techine's masterful direction and many of the other performances.
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Andrew Sarris, New York Observer
Alice and Martin is not to be missed, particularly in this endless lull of summer.
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Wally Hammond, Time Out
For all the increasing sophistication of Téchiné's technique, the emotions he deals with are basic, and all the more powerful for it.
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Louis B. Parks, Houston Chronicle
Techine keeps a tight rein on his actors' dramatics.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Juliette Binoche
as Alice
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Alexis Loret
as Martin
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Carmen Maura
as Jeanine
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Mathieu Amalric
as Benjamin
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Pierre Maguelon
as Victor Savignac
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Jeremy Kreikenmeyer
as Martin as a Boy
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Marthe Villalonga
as Mrs. Savignac
- Jean-Pierre Lorit
- Roschdy Zem
- Rosechdy Zem
