Anyone looking to get to know better two of the most important figures of French literature, Jean Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, well better be advised to look somewhere else. This film, that was shown recently on cable, was made for television, and it shows. Ilan Duran Cohen pays tribute to two of the best known personalities of the middle of the last century that were influential for the way their generation, and those that followed, looked at life, basing it on their perception of what Sartre and de Beauvoir set up as a philosophy.
One of the most annoying things in the film is the characterization of Jean Paul Sartre. He comes out as a goofy individual, who loved bedding women, but could not have a sexual relationship with Ms. de Beauvoir. The pipe smoking Sartre could probably not have been happy with the way he is presented in the film.
On the other hand, Simone de Beauvoir was another story. She was a scholar that was more interested in the woman's role in society. She was a feminist that took things into her hands to make women think about their sex, as well as their position in a male dominated world. Simone was bisexual, which explains her going to bed with women, and to find sexual fulfillment with a manly type, like it was the case of her affair with American writer, Nelson Algren. She evidently was never able to have the same satisfaction with the man that she was long associated with, Jean Paul Sartre.
Anna Mougalis steals the film. Her take on Ms. de Beauvoir shows an intelligent woman, way above the circle of philosophers of her generation. Ms. Mougalis, is an interesting presence in any film in which she appears. She has a dark kind of beauty and an intensity to match. We liked her in "Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky", as well as in "Merci pour le chocolat", among others. Lorant Deutsch is not in the same league as Ms. Mougalis. His Sartre was not too convincing, or maybe it was the director's conception of the man.
One of the most annoying things in the film is the characterization of Jean Paul Sartre. He comes out as a goofy individual, who loved bedding women, but could not have a sexual relationship with Ms. de Beauvoir. The pipe smoking Sartre could probably not have been happy with the way he is presented in the film.
On the other hand, Simone de Beauvoir was another story. She was a scholar that was more interested in the woman's role in society. She was a feminist that took things into her hands to make women think about their sex, as well as their position in a male dominated world. Simone was bisexual, which explains her going to bed with women, and to find sexual fulfillment with a manly type, like it was the case of her affair with American writer, Nelson Algren. She evidently was never able to have the same satisfaction with the man that she was long associated with, Jean Paul Sartre.
Anna Mougalis steals the film. Her take on Ms. de Beauvoir shows an intelligent woman, way above the circle of philosophers of her generation. Ms. Mougalis, is an interesting presence in any film in which she appears. She has a dark kind of beauty and an intensity to match. We liked her in "Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky", as well as in "Merci pour le chocolat", among others. Lorant Deutsch is not in the same league as Ms. Mougalis. His Sartre was not too convincing, or maybe it was the director's conception of the man.
