Charming, But Horrifying Love Story

It is hard to make comments on the French movie "He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not." It would be better off watching it first and talking about it later.

Getting into the middle of it, a shift turns the whole story upside down. That is why. Promotional brochures depict it as a romantic love story. If a viewer takes this, he or she has to brace themselves for a "betrayal." This film feels more like a horror movie, and gives a great pleasure in dovetailing two versions of stories that are tailored in a fine way.

This is the story of Angelique (Tautou), a French student who thinks she is in love with a married doctor, Loic (Le Bihan). But she gets to know that his wife (Carre) is pregnant, and feels pain in her heart. The first half of the story follows Angelique`s attempts to get Loic to leave his wife and run away with her to Florence. Confirming Loic`s firm will to stand by his wife, she attempts to kill herself. Then, we begin to see the previous events through Loic`s eyes. The "same" story begins to seem quite different.

Viewers will surely find a great joy from being surprised to discover how a same fact turns 180, degree depending on the viewpoint from which the fact is being developed. The first half, being shown to us through Angelique`s eyes, depicts Loic as a selfish married man, and Angelique as a woman fighting sadly a hard war for her love.

But, when we see things in Loic`s eyes, the same fact takes on a totally different meaning and causes. Anelique no longer appears as a naive girl hurt by her love and fighting for it. Loic`s life goes haywire due to the expected relationship. When all the secrets get to the surface, a subtitle comes up on the screen, which feels like a whisper of a mad man, that reason is whispering to my mad love. Be patient and hold on to the love.

When getting deep down into the bottom, it is a sad story. But, the movie maintains a joyful tune due to the main actress Tautou. She maintains the tenseness of the film with her cute and fresh appearance, which leads viewers to think that Loic must have felt pleasant, although a little annoying. It is the feature debut of a female director Laetitia Colombani. PG-15. Original title in France is "A La Folie Pas du Tout."

Hee-Kyung Kim susanna@donga.com