Rent From the Land of the Moon (2016)

A superb French film about the depths of love - From the Land of the Moon review by PT

Gabrielle (Cottiard) dreams of an idealistic fairytale romance, nothing else will suffice. This passion first manifests itself in her infatuation with her tutor. She pens him an explicit letter about her love making wishes which she presents to him at a party. The married tutor rejects her advances, causing Gabrielle to push him into a table in front of her family. She then runs off into the woods in an hysterical , heartbroken mess.

Her family, respectable farmers, are worried about her mental health and irrational and crude behaviour. Her mother approaches one of their farm hands, namely Jose, who has an eye for Gabrielle, to ask if he'll make an honest woman of her. Against her wishes, but being that era, Gabrielle weds Jose. Although she tells him prior to the wedding that she will never love him.

Shortly into the marriage Gabrielle goes to a spa alone, for a cure for stones. Whilst there she meets a poorly soldier and her, the Princess has met her Prince charming mentality kicks back in greater than ever.

Marion Cottiard is hypnotic in a wonderful performance as Gabrielle, the depth of her love almost tangible. As is the depth of her long suffering husband's love. A beautifully shot and superbly acted film.

Slow, sensitive, subtle human drama - From the Land of the Moon review by CP Customer

This French film, somewhat strangely re-titled for English language viewers, is based on a novel by Milena Agus. The movie is certainly a slow-burner but, while many reviews have criticised its pedestrian pace, I found it progressively more engaging as it went on. 'Stick with it' would be my advice. There is a remarkable twist in the plot towards the end. The sets, wardrobe and accoutrements are lovingly vintage and quaint. I felt some emotional distance from the characters and was never fully involved, but it's a human drama with something to say. The film finds its way and is delicate, sensitive and subtle.

A great central performance let down by strange character choices & poor script - From the Land of the Moon review by Timmy B

I’ve never been a huge fan of Marion Cotillard in the films I’ve seen her in. For example, in Inception, she came off as rather annoying and her character not relatable. I found myself wishing that Kate Winslet had been cast instead. Although I haven’t seen La Vie En Rose, after her Oscar win, there were a huge number of plaudits for her, and I had waited for the film where I could see why there was a huge fuss about her.

From the Land of the Moon is absolutely her film. She is the best thing in it and I was absolutely convinced by her character and acting, even though at times how it was written didn’t make her particularly likeable. I especially appreciated the complete fearlessness which she approached Gabrielle’s more extreme traits, giving a very vulnerable and unvarnished performance. It’s just a shame that the film itself is not deserving of her talents.

The worst thing about this film is that it takes an unbelievably long time to say not very much. There are flashes of brilliance, some beautiful landscapes and a good performance by Louis Garrel. But for me, the slowness never turned into a slow burn. It is simply a long drawn-out film. I will absolutely admit I was happy to keep watching, but there wasn’t the compulsion to want to get to the end, it was more simply to see where the film went.

I do appreciate the chances it takes and there absolutely will be an audience for it, but sadly the best I can say about it is that it was the first film which actually had a Marion Cotillard performance I enjoyed. I only wish the rest of it had lived up to this.