| The Witnesses | 
 enlarge | Director: Andra Techina
Actors: Emmanuelle Baart, Michel Blanc, Jacques Nolot, Michale Moretti, Xavier Beauvois
Studio: Strand Releasing
Category: DVD
List Price: $27.99
Buy New: $15.20
You Save: $12.79 (46%)
New (33) Used (14) from $13.96
Avg. Customer Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 30192
Format: Color, Dolby, Dts Surround Sound, Dvd-video, Ntsc, Subtitled, Widescreen
Languages: French (Original Language), English (Subtitled)
Rating: Unrated
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 112
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: SRED27242D
UPC: 712267272426
EAN: 0712267272426
ASIN: B0016MXK9O
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
Release Date: June 24, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Studio: Strand Releasing Release Date: 06/24/2008 Run time: 112 minutes Rating: Ur
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
Provokes mixed feelings August 23, 2008
Andre Techine's "The Witnesses" was a moving film for me on several levels. The cast and acting are generally superb. The story line which takes us back to the early 1980s and the beginning of the AIDS crisis, is probably (and disturbingly) an accurate reflection of the times which continued to echo the sexual openess of the 1970s and self-absorption of the 1980s.
Still, as one reviewer points out, there is a cold-blooded perspective that would appear to be uniquely French that made me somewhat uncomfortable with the interactions of the film's characters. For people who are supposed to care for each other to the point of obsession, there is precious little affection on offer. This starts with the female lead's complete lack of interest in her new enfant. This same character (a writer) eventually sees opportunity in a tragedy that affects her family and friends. With an American cultural background, it's hard to accept this kind of hard-hearted "moving on."
As for the gay/bisexual characters who are often at the center of the film, they are sympathetic at times, but ruthless and seemingly uncaring at others. Another reflection of the times? Maybe, but I couldn't say it's very close to what I remember of the period in the U.S.
In any event, it's an interesting film with a distinct point of view and serves as a reminder of the ongoing tragedy of AIDS and the huge loss of young lives since the disease first appeared nearly 30 years ago.
 Sexy. Sad. True. Perfect. August 6, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Perfection. Awesome. Sexy. Surprising. Heartbreaking. Revelatory. Witty. Cherishable. Astonishing. Revealing. True. Brutal. Funny. Sexy. Sad. True. Sexy. Sad. True. Perfection.
 Remembering the Earliest Victims of AIDS July 28, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is the story of what happened to a few lives in France when AIDS was first diagnosed and the world struggled to understand this new mystery illness that was so devastating.
It follows the life of a young man, fresh from the countryside as he discovers Paris, life and sex. He becomes entangled with a married police detective from the vice squad, and plationically with an older doctor. The doctor realizes he is an early AIDS victim and tries his best to keep him alive. The police detective struggles with knowing he might have caught the disease and even passed it to his wife.
It is a fast-paced and well-done movie and clearly recalls many of the horrors associated with the earliest forms of this dreadful disease, when no medications were sufficient to control it.
Wonderful film, not so wonderful presentation June 29, 2008
5 out of 9 found this review helpful
Andre Techine's excellent and engrossing film is marred by the use of non-optional subtitles. DVD viewers should have the basic option of turning the subtitles on or off. So much is concealed and distorted when viewing a film with non-optional subtitles, and it is a pity to see a movie of this caliber formatted for DVD in such a shabby way. It is particularly disappointing coming from Strand, a distribution company that offers some of the most interesting foreign language films.
Love and Passion in the 1980s: Enter the Spectre June 28, 2008
17 out of 19 found this review helpful
Les Temoins (The Witnesses) is another fine artwork by French director Andre Techine that continues to examine relationships in times of stress and through areas of rough travel. As written by Techine, Laurent Guyot, and Viviane Zingg this film is a love story and a social commentary on life in 1984 when AIDS raised its ugly head and disrupted lives, hopes and relationships. What could have been a heavy-handed woeful tale is instead a story about ordinary people and how the spectre of the then 'new disease' affected a small group of friends. In the intimacy of the story there is an opportunity to reflect and to see more clearly the atmosphere of that time in history.
Sarah (Emmanuelle Beart) is a writer of children's books married to Mehdi (Sami Bouajila), a member of the Paris police force vice squad. They have an open marriage and have just given birth to a baby boy - a factor that disrupts their separate lives while conflicting their married life. Sarah has a physician friend Adrien (Michel Blanc, so memorable in his role in 'Monsieur Hire') who is gay, and while he is older, he still longs for the company of young men. Adrien meets the young catering student Manu (Johan Libereau), a lad whose sexual appetite is satisfied by trysts in parks, back rooms of bars, etc. Manu and his opera singer sister Julie (Julie Depardieu) live modestly in a sleazy hotel cum brothel that is under surveillance by Mehdi. Adrien and Manu strike up a friendship and are invited to join Sarah and Mehdi to Sarah's mother's cabin by the sea and while there a relationship between Manu and Mehdi begins, one that will become an affair in secret.
A strange disease comes to public attention and it is Adrien who is in charge of the investigation of the disease now called AIDS. Though Adrien's ties with Manu have become platonic while Manu see Mehdi daily, Adrien is the first to notice lesions on Manu, lesions that are the hallmark of AIDS. How this discovery affects the lives of each of the characters we have met (the 'witnesses' to a very important time in our history) serves as the crux of the story - part tragedy and part a torch of resilience the weaves the story to a close in an honest, touching but never maudlin manner.
The acting is consistently excellent, the sort of ensemble acting that keeps the focus on the message of the film rather than on individual attention to characters. The movie is beautifully photographed by Julien Hirsch and the musical score by Philippe Sarde wisely blends excerpts from Vivaldi and Mozart with original music that recalls the 1980s. This is yet another triumph for Andre Techine - a film that deserves the widest possible audience. Grady Harp, June 08
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