----There were many differences between the two versions of the movie that became apparent in the first scene. First, the American movie was much brighter; the party scene was full of light and loud conversation, and the appartment was brightly-painted. The French version, in contrast, was full of artsy cinemetography and was much darker, with low music and inaudible conversation. This difference in ambience continues through both films. ----A more significant difference is that the American version spells out, in the first scene, exactly who each of the characters is and what their roles are in the plot: Jack is a womanizer and an actor, Michael is a "sensitive guy," and Peter is the all-around good guy with the steady girlfriend, and Rebecca is the stready girlfriend. The French film, on the other hand, leaves all of the characters except for Jaques entirely amibiguous. This seems to be a trend in American vs. French films - American movies spoon-feed the plot to the audience; French movies purposefully leave parts of the movie vague, and leave it up to the audience to figure out what the characters are feeling or thinking. ----The other important difference that I noted between the films, even just in this first scene, was that the American movie made an effort to be more socially-correct. For example, it is made clear in the American movie that Jack's relationship with the guy who turns out to be a drug dealer is purely professional (as if he wouldn't acually be _friends_ with someone like that), while the dealer in the French movie seems to be just a friend. Also, (although both movies were exploitative towards women) the French movie was much more blatant - note how Jaques left the note for the other two men with the girl's name, phone number, and an 'X' to show how "worthwhile" she was. ----I haven't watched enough French movies to know if these are common trends in French film in general. Do these observations apply to other movies as well?
Discussion
----There were many differences between the two versions of the movie that became apparent in the first scene. First, the American movie was much brighter; the party scene was full of light and loud conversation, and the appartment was brightly-painted. The French version, in contrast, was full of artsy cinemetography and was much darker, with low music and inaudible conversation. This difference in ambience continues through both films. ----A more significant difference is that the American version spells out, in the first scene, exactly who each of the characters is and what their roles are in the plot: Jack is a womanizer and an actor, Michael is a "sensitive guy," and Peter is the all-around good guy with the steady girlfriend, and Rebecca is the stready girlfriend. The French film, on the other hand, leaves all of the characters except for Jaques entirely amibiguous. This seems to be a trend in American vs. French films - American movies spoon-feed the plot to the audience; French movies purposefully leave parts of the movie vague, and leave it up to the audience to figure out what the characters are feeling or thinking. ----The other important difference that I noted between the films, even just in this first scene, was that the American movie made an effort to be more socially-correct. For example, it is made clear in the American movie that Jack's relationship with the guy who turns out to be a drug dealer is purely professional (as if he wouldn't acually be _friends_ with someone like that), while the dealer in the French movie seems to be just a friend. Also, (although both movies were exploitative towards women) the French movie was much more blatant - note how Jaques left the note for the other two men with the girl's name, phone number, and an 'X' to show how "worthwhile" she was. ----I haven't watched enough French movies to know if these are common trends in French film in general. Do these observations apply to other movies as well?