Rarely have I seen a film so well acted, and it would be unfair to single out one of the actors. Having said that Laetitia Casta excels and I can think of none of her contemporaries who could have carried the full and long length of this saga which crosses over the last third of the 20thc into the first disillusioning first years of the 21st. The scenario depicting the social and political upheavals of France during this period of time is conveyed well, if sometimes formulaic. The events of ' 68 were too self-conscious for my liking, but then the directors of the film were not there to see it. I was, and it was confused, unglamorous and to many people in Paris itself it was just a brutal inconvenience. This part of the film, in my opinion needed a bit more roughening up and perhaps shot in black and white. The hippie period that follows was overcooked literally by too many flowers and nudity and what was called at the time polymorphous perversity ( quaint that as in the film it is totally heterosexual and brief moments of Lesbianism as long as one man or two were there. ) As for the second half the homosexual perspective comes into gruelling perspective with HIV and full blown AIDS. There is a death scene that I had to leave the room it was so graphic and no doubt necessary but for those who are traumatised by the reality of dying could be a nightmare to watch. No more spoilers, but to say that this is arguably a near masterpiece and despite certain contrivances it in the main works. A final encounter at the end of the film rang very true, and an ending becomes an uncertain beginning into the future that is already upon us. To sum up a film that should be seen and without prejudice of any kind.
