Se Souvenir Des Belles Choses [DVD] [2006] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

This is the love story between Claire Poussin (Isabelle Carré)and Philippe (Bernard Campan). They meet in the most unusual place, in a special medical center, at the Ecureuils/Squirrels, where patients who suffer from Amnesia, of Alzheimer and of memory losses are treated. Claire decides to go to this center/ clinic as she is starting to forget more and more words. She's 30 but she thinks that she may be already suffering from Alzheimer disease. Philippe was already in this clinic when Claire arrives. He has had a car crash and he doesn't remember anything about his family or what happened before his crash. In this clinic, people forget their keys, the time, their mother tongue, their partners' birthdays. In this clinic, they can also remember their first kiss, the different shapes of the moon, the taste of the finest wine... This is a beautiful love story. Isabelle Carré (my favourite French actress) is a wonderful, moving actress. With her beauty and her grace, she shines throughout the movie. She's never been that touching before. Bernard Campan's acting is also very impressive. He's more used to playing comic roles and that's why it's unusual for me to see him in a dramatic part. He gives a brilliant performance.
This is a movie which makes you think about the value of your memory and how precious it is. It makes you realize how terrible it must be to lose your memory completely or little by little and to forget everything about your family and the people that are around you. The title means "Remember the good things". This is what Claire writes down in her notebook at one point in the movie. The movie was directed by a woman who is also a famous French actress, Zabou Breitman. It's really good. It makes me cry every time. The budget wasn't very important but the success of this movie was quite unexpected at the time it was released. But when you see it, you understand why this movie became so popular.
There are two favourite scenes that I especially love. The first one takes place at the beginning of their love-story. Claire and Philippe are both sitting on a bench in a museum and they're looking at a painting. Philippe tells her about the meaning of the painting and talks very fast. At one point, right in the middle of his explanation, he says "I want to kiss you" and the scene is funny because as they both have memory problems, Claire thinks she has heard it but isn't sure about it. So she asks him 'huh? what did you say?". He plays a little with her and just repeats his explanation about the painting without saying straight away "I want to kiss you". Finally he says it again suddenly and this time she's sure she has heard him correctly.
The other scenes is when Claire decides to make a "4 quart" cake (4 ingredients with same quantity, flour, butter, eggs, sugar) for Philippe. Her state is getting worse; It takes her so much time to prepare the cake as she keeps counting the ingredients she has. The actress gives an incredible performance in this scene. Actually, later, they both find out that she has forgotten to put the sugar in the cake. She's very upset but Philippe is wonderfully sweet and says "It's all right. It's a "3 quart", nobody has ever made me a "3 quart" cake, it's a first and unique" . What strikes me in this scene is the acting of both actors (you can sense Claire's fear and desolation but also Philippe's act of kindness is so lovely.
There are many other brilliant and moving scenes. I love the scene when they're both in the rain, doing things! ;)
If you have a region 1 DVD player, and if you like French actors, I encourage you to see this movie. This is one movie you won't forget! ;) Unfortunately, there are no English subtitles on this DVD.

As somewhat hinted by the title, this movie is about a young woman with an early onset of Alzheimer's disease. As the movie progresses we watch as simple tasks which many of us take for granted become more and more complicated for Claire.
At first she simply experiences repetitive loss of items - a mishap which we all experience at one time or another - unfortunately with no recollection of having last seen the item, and not been able to recall having searched a particular spot before, located it becomes quite difficult.
While doctors see no hope of a cure, or of Claire's memory ever returning, her loving husband is not about to give up on her. And so by reeducating his wife, some order may be restored to this couple's lives.
But as time progresses, Claire's memory becomes even shorter, and soon she can not recall the faces of people she has known for many years or even find her way around her own house, which leads to her husband having to draw a map for her, so as to find her way from the kitchen to the bathroom. And later on finding her way home from the supermarket.

There is one particular scene in this movie that stands out quite clearly in my mind and makes one realise just how great an impact Alzheimer's disease can have on a person thus inflicted.
While attempted to bake a cake Claire counts the same eggs over and over just to make sure she has three.