the fresh films reviews

S I N C E   1 9 9 7










 

 

I Love You, I Love You Not (1996)

Director:
Billy Hopkins

COUNTRY
USA

Genre
Drama/Romance
NORWEGIAN TITLE
Elsker, elsker ikke

RUNNING TIME
89 minutes

Producers:
Joe Caracciolo, Jr
John Fielder
Mark Tarlov
Screenwriter (based on her play):
Wendy Kesselman


Cast includes:

CHARACTER ACTOR/ACTRESS RATING
Daisy Claire Danes
Nana Jeanne Moreau
Ethan Jude Law

 

Review

This Billy Hopkins movie produced in Europe looks and is told more in the mould of a Scandinavian youth film than a traditional Hollywood movie. It's beautifully shot, old-fashionedly romantic and lacks the typical "hipness" of many of its contemporaries. Unfortunately, it's also a muddled tale in which the morally dubiousness of WWII is discussed a little awkwardly and weirdly motivated, when the Daisy character's instability is traced back to her grandmother's situation during the war. Still, the relationship between these two characters is the film's best asset. Jeanne Moreau gives a charismatic, wholehearted performance as the grandmother, and together with Claire Danes she creates some of the film's finest moments. Young and talented Jude Law is equally good, making the performances the most pleasant aspect of I Love You, I Love You Not. Because while the film has some wonderfully evocative and beautifully romantic scenes, Wendy Kesselman's script also leads us into some moralizing segments and dream sequences which ultimately makes the film too preachy and showy.

Copyright © 27.12.1997 Fredrik Gunerius Fevang
(English version: © 31.10.2020 Fredrik Gunerius Fevang)