Ennui

Released Oct 8, 1998

2h 0m

Drama

List

54%

Tomatometer

13 Reviews

46%

Audience Score

500+ Ratings

Martin (Charles Berling) is a middle-aged philosophy teacher in the midst of a crisis. Lacking direction or purpose in his life, he initiates an affair with Cécilia (Sophie Guillemin), a young artist's model who might have killed her former lover with the intensity of her sexual appetite. They share a purely erotic relationship as an intellectual abyss separates them. Before long, Martin needs to possess Cécilia and cannot resist a sharp descent into violent jealousy.

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Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

Rated: 3/4

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Mick LaSalle

San Francisco Chronicle

Rated: 1/4

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 4/5

Jun 11, 2005

Full Review

Greg Muskewitz

eFilmCritic.com

Rated: 1/5

Dec 22, 2003

Full Review

Carol Cling

Las Vegas Review-Journal

Rated: 4/5

Aug 22, 2003

Full Review

Jeffrey M. Anderson

Combustible Celluloid

A solid achievement.

Rated: 3/4

Jun 5, 2003

Full Review

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Audience Member

This is one of those movies where I watched it, then immediately watched it again !! It was that good !! Charles Berling is outstanding as a philosophy professor whom is obsessed with a much younger girl.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A tedious watch. This had potential but it was basically two hours of him shouting and her replying with one word answers all the way through the film.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

01/29/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Another Stupid movie which learns you how to avoid further stupid movies and false ratings in your coming life!

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

Full Review

walter m

[font=Century Gothic]In "L'Ennui," Martin(Charles Berling), a philosophy professor, has not had sex in the six months since he got divorced from his wife Sophie(Arielle Dombasle) in the hopes that he can now focus on writing a book. It's not working. What he does instead is drive around the seedier parts of town, eventually coming upon a bar where Leopold(Robert Kramer), an artist, cannot pay. Martin rescues him by paying his tab and accepts a painting as collateral. Three days later, he returns the painting only to discover that Leopold has died in the interim, finding Cecilia(Sophie Guillemin), a 17-year old model and lover of Leopold's in his place.[/font] [font=Century Gothic]"L'Ennui" is a graphically sexual movie about obsession that gets tedious long before the drawn out conclusion. No matter how good a performance Charles Berling gives, there is no getting away from how truly tiresome Martin is. The simple truth is that he thinks too much and his being a philosophy professor cannot excuse this(we are all philosophers). He was most likely responsible for driving away Sophie and cannnot totally put his old life behind. At the same time realizing that he is too old and wrong for the much younger Cecilia, he cannot get away from the hot sex. By contrast, Cecilia just goes along with the flow, simply agreeing to whatever is suggested.[/font]

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Interesting, watchable and completely un-sexy - with a great ending and some truly terrible paintings.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/26/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The story of an older guy getting it on with an oversexed, much younger gal is the most overused trick in the Gallic film textbook. Itâ(TM)s a credit to helmer Cedric Kahn that he manages to breathe fresh life into the well-worn genre with âEnnui.â Eventually, however, the film becomes as tiresome as the lead character , and the finale is simply self-indulgent. But pic contains plenty of richly comic moments and some fine acting from the leads. âEnnuiâ is rarely boring and might excite some specialized distribution interest. It is also bound to raise temperatures on the fest circuit.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/21/23

Full Review

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Cédric Kahn

Director

Charles Berling

Martin

Sophie Guillemin

Cécilia

Arielle Dombasle

Sophie

Robert Kramer

Meyers

Cédric Kahn

Writer

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Synopsis

Martin (Charles Berling) is a middle-aged philosophy teacher in the midst of a crisis. Lacking direction or purpose in his life, he initiates an affair with Cécilia (Sophie Guillemin), a young artist's model who might have killed her former lover with the intensity of her sexual appetite. They share a purely erotic relationship as an intellectual abyss separates them. Before long, Martin needs to possess Cécilia and cannot resist a sharp descent into violent jealousy.

Director: Cédric Kahn
Screenwriter: Cédric Kahn, Laurence Ferreira Barbosa, Alberto Moravia
Distributor: Phaedra Cinema
Production Co: Centre national de la Cinématographie, Gemini Film, Canal+, Madragoa Filmes, Ima Films
Genre: Drama
Original Language: French (France)
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 8, 1998, Original
Release Date (DVD): Dec 20, 2000
Box Office (Gross USA): $36.7K
Runtime: 2h 0m