Critic Reviews

• David Jenkins, Time Out

  Writer-director-actor Jacques Nolot (below) delivers a bold, searching and open-hearted turn as the subject of this confessional study of life as an elderly gay gent in the French capital.

• David Wiegand, San Francisco Chronicle

  Before I Forget is a film one can admire, but it is not 'likable,' per se, nor does its director wish it to be.

• Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com

  Before I Forget is, in the broad sense, 'gay-themed'. But it's also one of the loveliest, most direct and most devastating pictures about aging that I've ever seen.

• Stephen Holden, New York Times

  An unblinking portrait of a complicated, solitary gay man who has outlived his working years.

• Melissa Anderson, Time Out New York

  Nolotâ(TM)s portrait of senescence isnâ(TM)t about rainbow visions; his film, one of the most honest, courageous and witty of the year, instead looks at decay, insufferable loss and humiliation--all endured...with defiant, wilfull abjection.

• Sara Cardace, New York Magazine

  The film doesn't feel like a tragedy, but instead a droll slice of life -- perhaps a bit too muted and overlong, but often compelling in its own way.

• Allan Hunter, Daily Express

  Made on a modest budget this is a brave film from writer-director-star Jacques Nolot who brings an unflinching honesty to his performance.

• Jon Fortgang, Film4

  A sombre description of age and regret delivered with a deceptively light touch. Wry, tender, full of sympathy and wonderfully acted by Jacques Nolot.

• Wendy Ide, Times [UK]

  Tortuously slow but unexpectedly charming.

• Andrew Pulver, Guardian [UK]

  Before I Forget turns out to be pretty watchable, if sobering, with a fine eye for the absurdities its situations generate.

• Sukhdev Sandhu, Daily Telegraph

  It's a subdued, somewhat melancholic Paris to be sure, but one whose potential loneliness is softened by the intriguing support networks the characters improvise.

• Matt Glasby, Total Film

  Geriatrically paced but genuinely compassionate, Before I Forget introduces a world of ageing bodies, fading libidos and lives spent in thrall to fleeting pleasures.

• Nigel Andrews, Financial Times

  Any film that boasts two jokes about Roland Barthes and one scene - surreal, deadpan, inspired - of superannuated cross-dressing will take its place, for some, near the front of the must-see queue.

• Anthony Quinn, Independent

  It doesn't add up to much as a story, but as an account of a demi-monde defiant in its loucheness and loneliness it has its moments of odd grace.

• , This is London

  It has the merit of drawing you into this depressing world with stoic realism. It's not, however, a bundle of fun to watch.

• Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall

  A quietly contemplative film about a man looking back on his life, this funny and heartbreaking film features several surprising twists that make it well worth a look.

• Don Willmott, Filmcritic.com

  an intense character study

• Laura Clifford, Reeling Reviews

  The visuals are stunning, as is the use of music...unforgettable.

• Robin Clifford, Reeling Reviews

  [Jacques] Nolot, in his actor's hat, creates a melancholy, often-sad character that I grew to have a great deal of empathy for.

• Ken Fox, TV Guide's Movie Guide

  [A] strikingly different and oddly funny French drama about a 60-year-old former hustler-turned-writer whose later years aren't exactly golden.

Read all 20 critic reviews