Seul sur Mars

Défi cinéma en situation de confinement – actrices préférées : Jessica Chastain. Pour moi, ces films américains, ce ne sera jamais ça – mais vraiment jamais ! Ce film, je le considère comme un gaspillage de la beauté et du talent de Jessica Chastain et de Kate Mara. Mais malheureusement, il a fallu que je fasse ce choix regrettable dans le cadre de mon défi. Jessica, tout comme Kate et d'autres membres de l'équipage, n’apparaît pratiquement que dans le dernier tiers du film, sinon tout tourne autour de Matt et de Houston. Et ça me frustre, parce que si j'avais plutôt sélectionné pour Jessica, disons, Miss Sloane, elle resterait alors quasiment indétrônée. En fait, je me demande bien si un réalisateur américain éclairé pensera jamais à remplacer les scènes d’applaudissements typiquement américaines par d’autres où l’on verrait de jolies femmes recevoir des claques au derrière, par exemple, histoire de changer un peu. Est-ce que nous, les Européens, pouvons seulement nous extasier sur les scènes d’applaudissements ?! (11/07/2020)

"Le martien" a surpris en ce sens qu'il ne s'agit pas d'atmosphère et de philosophie, mais de personnes et de la joie de raconter une histoire positive. Une source d'idées inspirantes pour les monteurs de films débutants. Un excellent Damon et enfin un bon rôle pour Jeff Daniels. Dommage juste pour une finale plus faible, qui n'a aucune chance de rivaliser avec "Gravity" dans l'ombre profonde. Comparez "Le martien" avec "Prometheus"... Ridley est toujours le capitaine. Il a juste besoin d'un bon scénario. (06/10/2015)

The anti-Interstellar. Nolan’s sci-fi opus was a space colonisation western about the search for an alternative to our devastated blue planet. By contrast the “coloniser” in the delightful The Martian has to be rescued from a wilderness that somewhat resembles Monument Valley and returned to Earth. The celebration of the human ability to make maximum use of available resources is only one level of the narrative, which in the film is better interwoven with the parallel organisation of the rescue mission than it was in the book. The cutting between events on Earth and on Mars starts earlier than in the novel and the two storylines are better synchronised. As a result, the film has more momentum and, unlike Mark, it never loses its breath. Despite the individualistic title, Matt Damon’s lonely face on the poster, and its reputation as the ultimate professional drama for geeks, The Martian is, in my opinion, a particularly successful example of a story with a collective hero. Even in the interconnected world of high-speed internet, enabling media coverage of events in other countries, on other continents and even on another planet, it works best on the principle of mutual cooperation and coordination. Each of the many characters enjoys their own moment of glory. Thanks to their gradual introduction to the scene and the clear establishment of professional and personal relationships between them (there are no characters in the film who fight solely for themselves), we have no problem remembering them. Not only people of different races, ages and genders, but also of different nationalities join forces. The Martian creates the illusion that the individual comes first in a massive organisation like NASA, as well as in a totalitarian country like China. The creation of sound bridges between scenes and the precise editing, when a question directly or indirectly asked on Earth is answered in the following shot from Mars, reinforce the cohesiveness of the narrative and the impression of a global village, where even a distance of tens of millions of kilometres is not insurmountable. The Martian is outstanding feel-good entertainment that may not restore your faith in humanity, but it’s highly probable that your faith in Ridley Scott’s skill as a director will have been restored by the time the end credits roll. 80% (05/10/2015)

An adventure film, rather than sci-fi; a crowd pleaser, rather than survival; feel-good, rather than smart. But even with all these dichotomies, I would’ve rated with it with five stars as Ridley Scott garners all the strengths of his old age to put together a technically flawless film that treads from beginning to end, it’s not even for a moment boring and the most tense scenes are reliably gripping. But for me it’s just too safe and user-friendly. 85 % (18/10/2015)

In the space of three years comes a third major sci-fi hit that may not be all that much science fiction. By contrast, it's the blockbuster approach that works best, the hallmark of Scott's unmistakable craft confidence that last affected me this way 14 years ago. Sure, Goddard loses the plot a fair bit at the end, but the celebration of human knowledge and indomitable will is literally palpable through the screen for the vast majority of the runtime. I don't think anyone else will conjure up such feel-good emotions this year. 4 ½. PS: It's nice to see a Ridley Scott film in the movie theater that doesn't make you cry after watching it that you have to wait for the DC Blu-ray to fully appreciate it. PPS: I felt full satisfaction after the second screening. It actually works even at the end. A better "feel-good" film than Love Actually. (18/10/2015)