Review of By the Sea (2015) by Nikki G — 05 Dec 2015

It is an intimist movie, extremely well photographed , in a haunting setting by the French Mediterranean (looking like Cassis calanques-but actually in Malta--all reconstructed) with an incredible mansion and a local cafe and with a real intensity.

Many will find it too sell -serving and Anjolina perhaps too much of a goddess beauty.- but a riveting one at that-almost as an anti -hero. It is not a Hollywoood film, with two of the biggest Hollywood actors. So it has this tension built into it, which is bigger than life... and the story is smaller than life and yet about Life and Love with a big L. It is almost like a Bergman film with Hithcock pathos, with references to the mythic couples, the Fitzgeralds and the Anthony Quinn-Elizabeth Taylor intense couples.. And yet they are two extremely contemporary characters, who are fictionalizing their life, in a very slow, anti-action film which questions and bewilders, with its beautiful cinematography and expansive emotional vulnerabilities. And yet the movie stands apart. It is almost a genre in of itself. Brad Pitt is exceptional, in his demise and credible unconditional love and adoration. The film could have been exceptional, it lacks some depth and yet overall its very slow pace and contained space do linger in your feelings and make it memorable and noteworthy. Happy anniversary to the protagonists.

The movie is not perfect. But it is more thought provoking and memorable than one might think.