Ghost River

Name: Ghost River
Genre: Drama
Released: March 5, 2004
Duration: 93 min
Rating: 52

2004

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Mixed or average reviews based on 14 Critic Reviews

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Movie Details & Credits

Empire Pictures | Release Date: March 5, 2004

Summary: A prostitute working the streets of Nice must leave town with her estranged daughter.

Director: Olivier Dahan

Genre(s): Drama

Runtime: 93 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Phil Hall

This amazing tour-de-force presents Huppert in a role, which is equal parts abrasive and vulnerable, exasperating and pathetic, monstrous and saintly. Read full review

Mick LaSalle

Huppert shows everything to us, and it's fascinating. Read full review

Lisa Nesselson

Huppert's mastery aside, this is a European Art Film writ large, complete with classical music, gorgeously filmed landscapes, expository voiceovers, poetic transitions and only a ghost's footprint of a story. Read full review

Frank Scheck

Unfortunately lacks much in the way of compelling narrative or credible characterizations, but it once again reaffirms Huppert's place in the pantheon of French film actors. Read full review

J. Hoberman

The only conceivable reason to immerse oneself in this inexplicable release is, of course, Huppert. Gravely, she accepts the challenge of delivering a coherent performance in a wildly incoherent role. Read full review

Stephen Holden

Expressive touches are finally inadequate. Ms. Huppert's hard work notwithstanding, they don't take the place of psychological texture and narrative weight. Read full review

Ty Burr

Truly, there is nothing the woman (Isabelle Huppert) can't do - except save "Promise'' from the valley of the shadow of bad French movie pretensions. Read full review

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ChadS.

Apr 20, 2007

Flowers are a constant motif in "La Vie Promise" because Sylvia's grandmother adored them. Too bad the old woman didn't make pina colidas when Sylvia was just a percocious urchin(and not a destitute hooker/runaway mom) so her future adult grandchild could slam into a fruit Flowers are a constant motif in "La Vie Promise" because Sylvia's grandmother adored them. Too bad the old woman didn't make pina colidas when Sylvia was just a percocious urchin(and not a destitute hooker/runaway mom) so her future adult grandchild could slam into a fruit cart(instead of a flower stand). If the annoying voiceovers makes you shrug your shoulders(Isabelle Huppert sometimes acts with just her eyes; she don't need no stinkin' voiceovers), the overripe symbolism(Sylvia no longer embodies any of her grandmother's favorite blooms) will make you want to chant, "USA! USA!..." "La Vie Promise" is about an older, wiser(and less crazy) French woman who decides it's time to find the husband and son she left behind. But Sylvia is conscience-stricken only after her daughter Laurence(sired by another man) kills one of her johns, and flees Nice(where she turned tricks for a living) for the open road; daughter in-tow then daughter let go(they part at a pasture), mainly because she'd be a third wheel when Sylvia finds her family. This is the difficult issue that "La Vie Promise" ducks. The voiceover tries to suture Sylvia's parental dedication for her bastard daughter(Maud Forget), reassuring us that she'd be welcome during her reverie about familial reunification, but we have our doubts. If Joshua(Pascal Greggory) was a murderer(he's a fugitive from the law, but non-violent), her persistence on finding the men in her past in lieu of Laurence would be more pronounced.… Expand

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