Carla Rene Mastrangelo (MusicFromSpace)

Classic artistic realism.

A raw, almost documentary style film shot in gritty, black and white perfection. Bresson uses simple tactics to induce a strong claustrophobic feeling of being caged by shadowy foreign captors right along with the story's hero Fontaine, subtly (and flawlessly) acted by non-actor François Leterrier. Leterrier's calm voice-over and soft, almost constrained facial expressions only sweeten the realism of this "based on true events" movie that could have easily been crafted into an over-emotional cheese-mess.

You root for this man, completely absorbed in the unfolding of his plots & strategies...and admire him for his unwavering determination.

An excellent piece of work for those that study (& have a passion for) film and film making.

This. Is. It. One of the very few pieces of *absolute* FLAWLESS, Cinematic/Silver Screen Stories Ever Laid to Celluloid. This Film Is So Good It Hurts. & The Screenplay makes me wonder how this man sleeps at night if his head is full of such perfection. Forget the Brilliant acting, Forget the Stellar Cast - This is a thing of striking beauty even on paper & I thank Paul for setting the standard so high, that it is ungodly for any of us to even think that we may reach it. This. Is. Film.

Words could not express the *perfect* magnificence of this film. When considering classic love-stories, Children of Paradise fits every adjective to describe beauty, tragedy, longing, LOVE -- I blush even trying to review it. This is otherworldly. This is celluloid gold - one of the best pieces of writing I've ever seen put to the screen. There are dramatic ups & downs that - even to this day, have yet to be equaled. Here there are engaging, lovely characters that are full of dimension and depth..I learned so much just watching it. During this 3 hour epic, we witness change and growth - painful choices of our main characters and the heartbreaking results, unimaginable devotion - selfless loyalty, and brave acts of recovery. There has never been a more dazzling, magic, tale of love told through film...and no review of it could do it justice, so experience it for yourself. (& you'll thank me later.)