Customer Reviews
Self-indulgent tripe - By: B. W. Jenner, 14 Jun 2008 
I saw the first five minutes of this film & thought it wasn't for me. Indeed as it move forward at the pace of comatose French snail, I cringed more & marvelled at the parody of avant-garde cinema. Binoche is my favourite actress. She does some nice little bits of acting, but she can't save this diabolicallly dull homage to epic pretentiousness.
arrowfilms! DON"T BUY IT!! - By: R. Fleury, 09 Apr 2008 Les Amants du Pont Neuf is one of the best film ever made but the DVD of the film edited is terrible! It's got massive pixels & completetly ruins the cinematography & the pleasure of watching the film!
Nobody loves you when you're down and out - By: jingles_sunderland, 27 Feb 2008 
I found this early work of Juliet Binoche to be both intriguing, very credible but a bit over the top. This is a reluctant love story to say the least but the selection of three odd bods as characters to highlight the problems of homelessness in modern urban societies is a very real device indeed.
Viewers may wish to watch this in conjunction with Subway, to gain a little different perspective. I think that the thematic element of art which ties alll three together acts to expose the commonly held view of what constitutes art to the test. These disparate group of artists suffer much for their artbut because there is not the popular acclaim they are consigned to the dustbin of history.
What I find particularly interesting is the development of the character of the fireater who performs to free public acclaim but who drowns his personal problems in alcohol & downers. As the film progresses he slowly begins to change into a more "normal" type of a person who can express his emotions through interacting with a self-pitying selfish woman who is becoming blind.
There is more than a touch of the surreal throughout the movie & much pathos but within an urban context where there is little consideration for the down & outs such that drivers never even notice them as they drive over them on the street. Is this what modern life has become?
My main reservation is about the happy ending which just seems to be out of place given the storyline. Definitely more substantial than the usual entertainment films but one where the consumer is left wanting more.
Raw and beautiful - By: pv, 02 Feb 2007 
A visuallly beautiful, if sometimes disturbing, film with an excellent cast delivering first rate performances. I often think French actors are extremely underrated by international movie audiences & critics who can't be bothered with anything other than English. Denis Lavant, a French theatre actor, is a glaring example of one such under-appreciated Thespian. If he were American or from an English speaking country surely he would be a household name. His performance as Alex in Les Amants du Pont Neuf is a colossallly impressive piece of work - as are his performances in his subsequent films.
Off the wall Parisian romance - By: L. Davidson, 27 Jan 2006 
"Les Amants de Pont Neuf" is an unlikely love story featuring two derelicts Alex & Michele who sleep rough on the "Pont Neuf", a bridge in Paris which is closed to the public while it is being restored. Alex is a hardened down & out , a drug taker & alcoholic, who survives by stealing & performing various circus tricks in the streets. Michele is a runaway bourgeois artist , graduallly losing her sight & in deep trauma over that prospect. They make for an unlikely couple given their different social backgrounds & at times they are unlikeable but they are drawn together by their shared despair, their spontaneity & their sensuality. The film is visuallly impressive with memorable scenes such as the dancing under the fireworks & the waterskiing ,while the acting & characterisation is also excellent , especiallly Binoche.However I didn't like the way the film , perhaps unintentionallly , glamourised theft & violence & that prevented me from fully empathising with the couple.
