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Les Fraises Des Bois (French) [Wild Strawberries]

A dark story of two social misfits trying to make their way and life through this life is how you canniest describe this film. I am not too sure of what I really think of the film. There is a whole lot of context setting for first 75% of the film, which I think is way too long for any of the film and anything, if at all, happens only towards the end.

We see 2 parallel stories. Gabriel, a man in his early 30s probably works at a grocery store. But he also works as a prostitute sleeping with men and couples to make money on the side. We also meet Violette, a young girl who lives with her rich parents on her farm, but bitterns out her father has been sexually abusing her. When she gets pregnant, she has had enough and she kills them both. In the meanwhile, Gabriel gets attacked by one of his suitors. Desperately looking for money, he robs one of his patrons and then runs away. The duo end up meeting and slowly become the emotional support for each other. Gabriel's cop boyfriend helps them to break free of their chains and maybe see al light of happiness.

This film was odd IMO. The story was dark, but somehow there was also a hint of subtle humor, in the duo's everyday dark secretive life. The shots are long and also that try to give us an insight into the mental situation that Gabriel and Violette, but it goes on forever. The scene a=fo Gabriel living his life and meeting clients and after clients get repetitive. Also, him meeting Frank and eventually falling in love and whatever felt rather convenient and sudden. In contrast, Violette's story was more convincing. We have seen films earlier where two oddballs or strangers meet and develop a bond but in this film, I was just not sure what was the point. To give credit to the actors, they do a really good job of what's expected of them, but other than that, I kept asking myself throughout the film as to what's really going on and what s the point behind all this. (3/10)

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