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Mousse and Louis are young, beautiful, rich and in love. But drugs have invaded their lives. One day they overdose, and Louis dies. Mousse survives, but soon learns she s pregnant. Feeling lost, she runs away to a house far from Paris. Several months later, Louis brother joins her in her refuge. From acclaimed French director François Ozon (Time to Leave, Swimming Pool)
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United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: LANGUAGES: French ( Dolby Digital 5.1 ), French ( Dolby Digital Stereo ), English ( Subtitles ), WIDESCREEN (1.78:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Deleted Scenes, Interactive Menu, Making Of, Music Video, Photo Gallery, Scene Access, Trailer(s), SYNOPSIS: Francois Ozon directs this French drama. After her lover Louis (Melvil Poupaud) dies from a drug overdose, Mousse (Isabelle Carre, who was actually pregnant at the time of filming) discovers that she is expecting his baby. Grieving for Louis and still struggling with her addiction to the drugs that killed him and landed her in hospital, Mousse leaves Paris for a remote house on the French coast in an attempt to straighten herself out. There she leads a solitary existence until Louis's gay brother Paul (Louis-Ronan Choisy) turns up uninvited, and through the unlikely bond that develops between them Mousse finally achieves a degree of closure over Louis's death. SCREENED/AWARDED AT: San Sebastian International Film Festival, ...Hideaway ( Le refuge ) ( The Refuge (Hide Away) )
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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
François Ozon's intense dramas can be almost as puzzling as his seemingly rather more light-hearted entertainments. While those lighter films (Swimming Pool, Angel, 8 Women) do however reveal hidden layers of meaning if one is prepared to look beneath the surface, there doesn't seem to be much going on beyond quiet contemplation and inner desperation with his serious dramas of a lone person dealing with death and bereavement (Under The Sand, Time To Leave), or indeed much variety in the subject matter. Dealing with a young woman, Mousse, who has to make some difficult life decisions when her heroin addict boyfriend dies, leaving her alone and pregnant, Le Refuge fits comfortably at least into this category of serious Ozon films that look at life in the context of recent or imminent death.
Crucially however, once past the gruelling opening scenes of junkie hell, it's the notion of life, and specifically the potential for new life and rebirth (a subject that makes interesting parallels with Ozon's remarkably different treatment of it in his previous film Ricky) that is the factor that makes Le Refuge a little different, and perhaps more endurable than the rather darker depictions of death, family conflict and relationship horrors in his other "realist" films. Those subjects certainly crop-up here - Mousse having to contend with her dead boyfriend Louis' detestable rich family who want nothing to do with her pregnancy - but unexpectedly also through the reluctant and initially uncomfortable relationship that she strikes up with his adopted gay brother Paul. In Le Refuge however, the emphasis is not so much in coming to terms with reality, as coming to terms with oneself and refusing to submit to the traps or refuges - drugs, family - that prevent its characters from fully engaging with their true self.
That's a fine distinction, not one that really sets Le Refuge apart from Ozon's other films of this type, and it's not a particularly deep idea to grapple with in the absence of anything much else in the way of a plot. And yet, the film does manage to hold the viewer as these characters, each with very different worldviews, tentatively reach out to each other and find a way to move on. Much of this is down to a strong performance from Isabelle Carré, genuinely pregnant at the time of the making of the film, and the director takes full advantage of the fact, the swell of her belly and translucency of her skin becoming an object of fascination, something real and concrete and more than just a metaphor for Mousse's rebirth. Le Refuge might not be Ozon at his most provocative and daring (try Ricky, released on DVD at the same time as Le Refuge, for something a little more "out there", or 5 x 2 for its fascinating experiment with structure), but there are enough intriguing elements to consider here that are uniquely the director's own.
Crucially however, once past the gruelling opening scenes of junkie hell, it's the notion of life, and specifically the potential for new life and rebirth (a subject that makes interesting parallels with Ozon's remarkably different treatment of it in his previous film Ricky) that is the factor that makes Le Refuge a little different, and perhaps more endurable than the rather darker depictions of death, family conflict and relationship horrors in his other "realist" films. Those subjects certainly crop-up here - Mousse having to contend with her dead boyfriend Louis' detestable rich family who want nothing to do with her pregnancy - but unexpectedly also through the reluctant and initially uncomfortable relationship that she strikes up with his adopted gay brother Paul. In Le Refuge however, the emphasis is not so much in coming to terms with reality, as coming to terms with oneself and refusing to submit to the traps or refuges - drugs, family - that prevent its characters from fully engaging with their true self.
That's a fine distinction, not one that really sets Le Refuge apart from Ozon's other films of this type, and it's not a particularly deep idea to grapple with in the absence of anything much else in the way of a plot. And yet, the film does manage to hold the viewer as these characters, each with very different worldviews, tentatively reach out to each other and find a way to move on. Much of this is down to a strong performance from Isabelle Carré, genuinely pregnant at the time of the making of the film, and the director takes full advantage of the fact, the swell of her belly and translucency of her skin becoming an object of fascination, something real and concrete and more than just a metaphor for Mousse's rebirth. Le Refuge might not be Ozon at his most provocative and daring (try Ricky, released on DVD at the same time as Le Refuge, for something a little more "out there", or 5 x 2 for its fascinating experiment with structure), but there are enough intriguing elements to consider here that are uniquely the director's own.
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Francois Ozon is one of those miracles which comes along once in a lifetime. He has dominated the last decade of French cinema. He is like a rare French vintage wine, in this latest film, his taste is mature to its finest.
Do you remember the most hauntingly beautiful film back in 2000, Under the Sand starring with Charlotte Rampling? It's his masterpiece. That film dealt with bereavement and death. In this new film, Ozon deals with the theme of healing. It is an unforgettable film. You remember every scene, every word, every camera angle and every juxtaposition.
Ozon's art belongs to the canon of the French New Wave Cinema in particular the tradition of the late Eric Rohmer who died this year. I believe that Ozon pays a tribute to Rohmer with this film. Do you recognise the actress, Marie Rivière on the beach scene in this film? Marie Rivière plays the main character, Delphine in Rohmer's The Green Ray. Ozon's films are a lot more composed in terms of the storyline (it has beginning, the middle and the end). His choice of music in his film is always impeccable. Like Rohmer's characters in his film, Ozon's characters meet in a casual situation on a holiday, on a beach, on the train or at a friend's country house. This film reminded me of Rohmer's "The Green Ray" and "Pauline at the Beach".
Ozon is also a master of storytelling. In his 5x2, he tells the story backwards. My favourite also include Ozon's Collection of Short Films (available on DVD) which are more avant garde, visually poetic, haunting, insightful and charming.
Do you remember the most hauntingly beautiful film back in 2000, Under the Sand starring with Charlotte Rampling? It's his masterpiece. That film dealt with bereavement and death. In this new film, Ozon deals with the theme of healing. It is an unforgettable film. You remember every scene, every word, every camera angle and every juxtaposition.
Ozon's art belongs to the canon of the French New Wave Cinema in particular the tradition of the late Eric Rohmer who died this year. I believe that Ozon pays a tribute to Rohmer with this film. Do you recognise the actress, Marie Rivière on the beach scene in this film? Marie Rivière plays the main character, Delphine in Rohmer's The Green Ray. Ozon's films are a lot more composed in terms of the storyline (it has beginning, the middle and the end). His choice of music in his film is always impeccable. Like Rohmer's characters in his film, Ozon's characters meet in a casual situation on a holiday, on a beach, on the train or at a friend's country house. This film reminded me of Rohmer's "The Green Ray" and "Pauline at the Beach".
Ozon is also a master of storytelling. In his 5x2, he tells the story backwards. My favourite also include Ozon's Collection of Short Films (available on DVD) which are more avant garde, visually poetic, haunting, insightful and charming.
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