Really Surprised!

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

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

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

I must have watched a French comedy and put the titles of all the films previewed on my Netflix list, because they keep coming. Bienvenue! This 2010 film from France is the latest—a pleasant farce directed by Michel Leclerc and written by him and Baya Kasmi. It won three César Awards in 2011, including for best writing. The story is about a young woman who uses sex as a weapon to persuade conservative politicians—men whom she considers "right-wing" in general—to embrace more liberal attitudes. From this comes some satirical moments, too, touching on the impermanence of supposed firmly held beliefs and the pitfalls of stereotyping ethnic and religious groups based simply on how they look or what their names are. Half-Algerian, the young woman's name is Baya Benmahmoud,and she says, "no one in France has that name." But she tackles one person too many when she confronts Arthur Martin—"15,207 people in France have the same name," he tells us—a middle-aged scientist who does necropsies on dead birds, in order to detect possible human illnesses. Why are you scaring people? she demands to know at their first confrontational meeting. The free spirit and the buttoned-up scientist are, of course, destined to fall for each other. The filmmakers show us how the two protagonists do not escape their childhoods, and we see them as children, as children commenting on their adult selves, and the fireworks when their polar opposite families, alas, meet. In his New York Times review, Stephen Holden says the movie "has the tone and structure of early-to-middle Woody Allen,but infused with a dose of Gallic identity politics." Sara Forestier is charming as the irrepressible extrovert Baya (she also snagged a César), and Jacques Gamblin is a persuasive match. A fun movie when you just want to be happily entertained (note: nudity)

Interesting slant.He's half Jewish, half French, has a terribly common name that belies his heritage.She's half Arabic, half French, has a very unique name that belies her heritage.Neither recognizes their foreign culture or religion; both identify heavily with French politics and culture. He is not seen as Jewish, she is not seen as Arabic, so they fit easily into French society, yet both had grandparents who were treated very badly by French authorities.He is twice her age and refuses her initial advances. She's excited by the prospect of becoming a Jewish/Arab couple, noting that this could only happen in France (thus making them very French).Their parents are deeply entrenched on opposite sides of the political spectrum. His French father spent his career in nuclear power while his mother was taught to deny her Jewish heritage. Her French mother is a staunch left-wing activist and her father is an Algerian-born people-pleaser. Their first dinner party together with at first two, then all three couples is true dark comedy.

A very good friend and I saw this film at the 2011 Palm Springs International Film Festival. We both thought that it was hilarious and charming. Within the first fifteen minutes of the film, the theater was resounding with loud bursts of laughter from the audience. That continued throughout the course of the film. Frequently, French "comedies" can be very intelligent, enjoyable and well worth seeing. But they are rarely, (at least since the days of Jacques Tati') "laugh out loud" funny. I am very frustrated by the fact that (at least to my knowledge) there has not been a major release of this film in the movie theaters in the Los Angeles area. I would love to be able to share this delightful film with family and friends! I have been able to locate very few reviews of the film by media film critics. While virtually all of these reviews have been very positive, some have tended to pigeon-hole the film as being a satire of some of the more esoteric components of French culture and society, and therefore not likely to be of interest to film-goers who are not especially knowledgeable or interested in a comedy focused on such a theme.This could not be further from the truth! The reality is that the film works wonderfully on its own terms, and that to thoroughly enjoy it one need not be particularly conversant in the intricacies or peculiarities of French culture. I am praying that, at the very least, the film is released in a home video format with English language subtitles. Then, at least, purveyors of fine foreign films would get the opportunity to see and enjoy it.! And I would not be deprived of the vast pleasure of sharing it with friends who enjoy high quality films!Update: Very good news! Subsequent to the writing of this review, both the Sunday LA Times and the Sunday New York Times published special editions of their summer movie "sneaks" ie films to be released this summer-and both indicated that "The Names of Love" would be playing in theaters commencing around the end of June/beginning of July. Don't miss it!

Imagine your second name is Leclerc, which is also that of a famous hypermarket chain. Now imagine you have a friend who writes scripts whose first name is Baya, only 26 other people in France have in common with you. Nobody would spare you the question, «Leclerc, ... like the hypermarket?» while your friend couldn't escape «Baya, where does it originate from? Brazil?» whereas her roots are North African. Why not take these two peculiarities as a starting point for a romantic comedy that would deal with questions that matter to you: emigration, identity, the duty to remember, family secrets, taboos, politics?Michel Leclerc thus becomes Arthur Martin, an Avian Flu expert, whose name immediately calls to mind a well known French cooker brand. And Baya will be Bahia Benmahmoud, an extrovert girl who makes a point of sleeping with as many right-wingers as possible to win them over to the leftist cause. And on they are for a very original, very deep film which, by trying to unite two such dissimilar people, successfully spans the history of France, from the 1930's until today . And a very funny one too (the two most irrepressible scenes being the catastrophic dinner with the in-laws and the crazy cameo of former Prime Minister Lionel Jospin). The direction is particularly inspired, creative and unconventional (the characters who address the camera, Jacques Boudet playing a student and a young soldier whereas he is in his seventies because Arthur can't imagine him young, Arthur's dialog with his dead grandparents). «Le nom des gens» has less to do with a standard French comedy than with such brilliant oddities as «Toto le Héros», «Crazy» or «Le premier jour du reste de ma vie», also with Jacques Gamblin, who is perfect here as the dull biologist slowly opening himself to real life. In the role of his wild, passionate but insecure guide on his way to love and life, Sara Forestier gives her best performance since «L'Esquive». Also to be noted are Zinedine Soualem as Bahia's sweet Algerian- born father, Carole Franck as his energetic militant wife, Jacques Boudet and Michèle Moretti as Arthur's parents. And of course Lionel Jospin, who displays a great sense of humor in his only scene. If you like inventive movies that make you both smile and think over, this one is for you.