The Blue Room

“The Blue Room” felt like we were seeing the second and third act of a film and not seeing the whole thing. I have to admit that, at first, I didn't like it because of it feeling like it was missing some of the story, but I ended up liking it and not loving it. The runtime doesn't help either as it’s only an hour and fifteen minutes (minus five minutes for credits). Feeling like there was a missing piece of it was a major fault for me as well the third act. The whole third act revolves around a court case; and you figure that would be a big key part, right? It’s the last twenty minutes and it just wraps up and puts a bow on it as quickly as possible. I was disappointed by that and wished they could have really focused on the case and made it more gripping and intense. The acting is well done and the lead, Mathieu Amalric, who also wrote and directed it, was really good and everyone gave believable, sometimes heartbreaking performances. The cinematography was actually lit well and framed up beautifully. It’s one of better shot films this year and it’s not even made here in America. French films are among my favorite types of foreign films and all have fantastic cinematography and this is no exception. The pace of it has a nice rhythm, but as I stated it felt like it was too short and missing the first act. The subtitles have a nice font to where you can read it quickly and then gaze at the wonderful cinematography. You might laugh that the subtitles get some criticism, but it’s important for foreign films. Do you want to read a foreign film with a bad font? The cinematography, acting, music were great, but the court room scene and the fact it felt like someone cut the first act completely out made me dock points for it. 6/10
(Review by Chase Lee)