Rent Mektoub, My Love (2019)

3.3 of 5 from 84 ratings
2h 54min
Rent Mektoub, My Love (aka Destiny, My Love: Second Song / Mektoub, My Love: Canto / Mektoub, My Love: Intermezzo) Online DVD & Blu-ray Rental
  • General info
  • Available formats
Synopsis:
Amin (Sham Boumedine), an aspiring screenwriter living in Paris, returns home for the summer to a fishing village in the South of France to reconnect with his family and his childhood friends. Together with his cousin Tony (Salim Kechiouche) and his best friend Ophelie (Ophelie Bau), he spends his time between the Tunisian restaurant run by his parents, the local bars and the beaches frequented by girls on holiday. Armed with his camera and guided by the bright summer light of the Mediterranean coast, Amin pursues his philosophical quest while gathering inspiration for his screenplays. When it comes to love, only Mektoub ('destiny'in Arabic)...
Actors:
Shaïn Boumedine, Ophélie Bau, , , Lou Luttiau, ,
Directors:
Producers:
Abdellatif Kechiche, Ardavan Safaee, Jérôme Seydoux
Writers:
Abdellatif Kechiche, Ghalia Lacroix, François Bégaudeau
Aka:
Destiny, My Love: Second Song / Mektoub, My Love: Canto / Mektoub, My Love: Intermezzo
Studio:
Curzon / Artificial Eye
Genres:
Comedy, Drama, Romance
Countries:
France
BBFC:
Release Date:
08/04/2019
Run Time:
174 minutes
Languages:
French Dolby Digital 2.0, French DTS 5.1
Subtitles:
English
DVD Regions:
Region 2
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen 2.35:1
Colour:
Colour

More like Mektoub, My Love

Found in these customers lists

210 films by hgg

Reviews (3) of Mektoub, My Love

Lots to like - and dislike - Mektoub, My Love review by PD

Spoiler Alert
19/11/2019

Plenty to like here: the film is something of a 'sensory epic' in which its characters revel in a riot of physical pleasure. And on a completely different note to the film's whirl of human chaos, there's also a extended documentary-style sequence of lamb birthing which is totally compelling. A genuine lust for life is undoubtedly at the centre of Kechiche’s filmmaking.

BUT unfortunately there are many weaknesses also. The main problem is the perspective of the film's main character Amin (newcomer Shaïn Boumédine), whose general uncertainty of himself and difference to the mass of humanity around him makes him a naturally sympathetic anchor for the film, but not a terribly compelling one: Kechiche’s script keeps him a largely passive presence throughout, his innermost thoughts and urges unknown to us. Similarly, the character of Ophelie is hardly fleshed out (no pun intended) at all beyond a few scenes on her family farm, which is a pity - what lay behind her choice of partner, whether she regrets her choice, what is going on in her head at any point - are all mysteries.

Then there's the well-documented male leering gaze and the endless bottoms - which are not only tiresome in the extreme, but rather baffling as it seems inconsistent given the thoughtful characterisation of the film's female cast — whose generation-crossing scenes together, as they gossip amongst themselves and analyse their life choices, are some of the film’s most meaningful and most authentic.

And finally whilst Blue is the Warmest Colour for me used its supersized running time to good use, mapping the extensive internal transformation of an unformed girl growing into adulthood, the 186-minute duration of this one feels a lot more ostentatiously stretched to the point of self-indulgence — the lengthy, gruelling nightclub sequence towards the end, in particular, is simply an endurance test. Rather frustrating viewing on the whole therefore, sadly.

3 out of 4 members found this review helpful.

Light on plot but utterly immersive - Mektoub, My Love review by AER

Spoiler Alert
18/01/2021

Abdellatif Kechiche's Mekhtoub My Love - Uno Canto is the first in a trilogy, and at 3 hours long this is an epic character study based on a close-knit group of friends living in the South of France. There's isn't much introspection or revelatory conversations between the characters but it's meditative and utterly engrossing if you just let it run and don't mind the lack of story. It's a mirror of life with some opera music thrown into the sound mix here and there. It will frustrate the majority of viewers hoping for a coherent story line (there is none) or action, but if you just like people watching, then this is an immersive treat. 8/10

0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.

TOO LONG - Mektoub, My Love review by KW

Spoiler Alert
22/06/2019

At just under 3 hours this film for me dragged along trying to fill in with extended scenes that could have benefited from some judicial pruning.  Also as it progressed my empathy for the characters waned to the point where I almost stopped watching so bored was I by it.  

0 out of 1 members found this review helpful.

Unlimited films sent to your door, starting at £15.99 a month.