Seen: June 24th, 2007
Format: DVD
Rating: 7
Here's some weirdness for you.
That's the best way to describe Lemming, it's simply weird. There is an actual lemming, what it has to actually do with the film is your guess. I'm supposing it's a metaphor, but of what I'm not sure.
There is a suicide in this film, but we're explicitly told,by an expert, that lemmings do not kill themselves, but merely drown from exhaustion while trying to reach new ranges. With that, we're left on our own.
The actual mystery of the lemming is solved, but it's an afterthought. The real meat here is in the two couples' relationships and the dynamics both within them and between them. Things get a little crazy and eventually veer off into the borderline bizarre.
It's all good fun.
I love Charlotte Rampling. She's made a career out of taking chances, from Zardoz to The Night Porter and more recently Swimming Pool. She's excellent here. The other Charlotte, Gainsbourg, is very good as well. I most recently saw her in The Science of Sleep, and hope to see more of her work. The leading men I'm not as familiar with, André Dussollier in particular handles Alain's transformation exceptionally well.
As usual, I'll forgo the details to save them for you, but it's safe to say that this will probably go where you won't expect it. There's moments that left me with my mouth open; Laughing was all I could do,as I couldn't find any other response that was remotely appropriate.
This is not an amazing film, but it's strange and fresh enough to hold your interest. It's not complex or particularly clever, but it's nothing if not unexpected.
The Good: Inspired Strangeness
The Bad: Misplaced metaphor
The Ugly: Complex relationships
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