Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

****(Already there are many, many insightful Comments, but the following is my take.)These are the basics on the acting levels and production values for this film:-In our main character, Olivier gives us someone who is young and brash and beautiful.....and that's all he had to do; he gives us someone who is swashbuckling.....and that's all he had to do; he gives us someone who, above all else, is protective of the one he single-mindedly loves.....and that's all he had to do.-In the character of our Lady in Distress, Juliette gives us someone who is lovely, who is true and who, in all things, keeps heart.....and that's all she had to do.-In Directing and Cinematography, Rappeneau and Arbogast have given us a picture which is sweeping and stunningly beautiful.....and that's all they had to do.PS--Yet another Love Story for the Ages.****

This film is one of the most expensive films ever made in France but it was worthwhile. Even with such a huge budget, Jean-Paul Rappeneau is controling very well this epic film. Moreover, it shows numerous qualities which proves Rappeneau's confidence towards his film, for example: the beauty of the landscapes, the performance of the two main actors: Olivier Martinez who is very at ease in his role of soldier and Juliette Binoche who is ravishing and brave too, the briskly rhythm of the film itself and the quality of the screenplay which is sometimes ironic .I didn't read the novel by Jean Giono but I suppose that the film is very faithful to the novel. I noticed one thing in this film which is weird: very famous French actors have got only a little role: Gérard Depardieu who performs a policeman, Jean Yanne who is a hawker and François Cluzet who is a doctor. As a conclusion: an epic film which is worth to be seen

Another excellent job by Juliette Binoche. Set in early 19th century France. An Italian patriot, Olivier Martinez, fled into Aix-en-Provence, France. He is befriended by the Marquess De Theus (Binoche) while trying to get back to Italy during cholera epidemic. Together they make their way across southern France. Excellent story supported by magnificent scenery and superb acting.

It takes quite an amazing group of people to make a great epic. Aside from great source material, really all the components have to be superb, and it has to be put together in such a way that the viewer is not left wondering what happened to a decade (see: Queen Margot).Most of the necessary pieces are here, but there is something missing, some element that keeps it from being a truly great film. It is certainly a good one, a movie that is worth seeing, and worth doing so on a big screen, thanks to its beautiful scenery between France and Italy. The stars are very watchable, and the story is tight enough to keep your attention throughout. Unlike many films of its genre, it is not overlong.Ironically, I found myself comparing it to another Binoche epic, The English Patient, which made me wonder what was lacking in light of what I consider to be a finer film. In the end, it may be simply that the latter had a novel that was more compelling, or a lead (Fiennes) that was just more riveting.The story is of two people fleeing the outbreak of cholera in early 19th century France. Angelo is attempting to return to his native Italy, to join the revolution, and Pauline is searching for something... They manage to aid each other's flight.In the great tradition of French period epics, this is not the pinnacle, but it is near the upper echelon. It's worth a shot.