Day thirty-six: Les Combattants (April, 14)

Damm all movies with raw fish. 

Love at First Sight (Les Combattants) is too cute. The awarded first movie by the french director Thomas Cailley, it is enjoyable, sweet, funny. The world could benefit from the existence of more Arnaud Labrède, a quiet guy that hides a strong will behind his passive facade. Madeleine Beaulieu is the girl for whom he falls in love. She is ill-mannered, fierce, stubborn, unyielding and, of course, sweet behind all that. And it is her over self-determination that almost made me sick at the theater, in front of everybody.

You see, Madeleine wants to train surviving skills in the army. Before that, she thinks that she must be prepared. Swimming with a back bag full of tiles is one of her practices. Another is blending a raw fish and drinking its gross juice, with the most peaceful face. It was dreadful.

I hate movies with raw fish. I couldn't see any fun in A Fish Called Wanda, 1988. Everybody was laughing so hard around me, and I only wanted to run from the theater. Awful. The Wedding (Svadba), a 2000's Russian movie, is classified as funny and witty, but from the moment a guest arrives at the wedding party with a raw fish with the most bizarre googled eyes it was the end for me. I couldn't see anything else, so sick I was. On a second thought, it is not just raw fish, but all kinds. That dwarf eating a fish's head in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, 2012, leads me to close my eyes every time. Go figure, even writing this post has been a torture... but it is really one of my biggest phobias in the world. 

So, I won't be seeing Les Combattants again, but you should. It is not a big movie, but it has a good story and the characters are real, tangible, lovely. A real joy to see (minus the fish). 

I must be a crazy masochist...

Love at First Fight (Les Combattants). Directed by Thomas Cailley. With:
Adèle Haenel, Kévin Azais, Antoine Laurent. Writers: Thomas Cailley and
Claude Le Pape. France, 2014, 98 min., Dolby Digital, Color (Cinema).