Pola X 1999
5.7 / 10
Pola X
A writer leaves his upper-class life and journeys with a woman claiming to be his sister, and her two friends.
A writer leaves his upper-class life and journeys with a woman claiming to be his sister, and her two friends.
Videos & Photos
All 0 Videos & 2 Photos
cast
Full Cast & Crew
... Pierre
... Isabelle
... Marie
... Lucie
... Thibault
... Marguerite
User reviews
See All 1 Reviews23 Jun 2021 by CRCulver
When Leos Carax's film POLA X premiered in 1999, it was seen then as part of the New French Extremity movement, with critics and audiences picking up on its unsimulated sex scene. Yet that forms only a brief few minutes of quite ample film. Two decades on, audiences of today ought to look past the sensation and appreciate the film for what it really has to offer: a convincing contemporary take on Hermann Meville's psychological novel PIERRE, and the way Carax interweaves Melville's structure of 19th-century wealthy elites with harrowing references to contemporary France, Bosnia and the plight of Balkan refugees. The son of a deceased diplomat of some note, Pierre (Guillaume Depardieu) lives in splendor in rural France, in a manor house with his widowed mother (Catherine Deneuve). Things are going well for young Pierre: a novel he has written has become a bestseller and he is engaged to the lovely Lucie (Delphine Chuillot). But then he encounters a mysterious woman named Isabelle (Yekaterina Golubeva) who tells him in broken French that she is his half-sister, born to Pierre's diplomat father and an unknown Balkan woman. Isabelle is in fact less a character and more a spectral presence that haunts Pierre's life. Intrigued by this otherworldly creature, Pierre gives up his privileged existence and enters into a vividly depicted bohemianism that brings about his physical and mental decline. POLA X prefers to tell its story more through visceral images than dialogue. In fact, the dialogue is deliberately stilted, allowing the film to dip in and out of its basis in Melville’s 19th-century novel. So much of the story of Pierre's decline is told through the bucolic idyll of the first half of the film and the brutal squalor he later chooses. This imagery is so strong that even if POLA X feels somewhat too tentative about itself to rank as one of the all-time greatest films, it has haunted this viewer's thoughts since watching it. Another nice touch of POLA X is the close way in which Carax worked with the composer of the film's score Scott Walker, who was then fresh from his acclaimed album TILT. When Pierre leaves home after meeting Isabelle, he enters into a bizarre community of artists in an industrial setting, who seem to be hiding sinister plans behind their avant-garde work. It is here that Walker's score goes from the subdued strings of the first half of the film into brasher, more aggressive sounds. Carax has set things up so this music is both diegetic and non-diegetic, part of the outside narration of Pierre's psychological decline and contemporary political strife as much as the film's action itself.
Directors:
Release Date:
May 12, 1999 (France,Germany,Japan,Switzerland)
Run Time:
2hr 14`
MMPA Rating:
Original Language:
French
Production Countries:
France,Germany,Japan,Switzerland
Status:
Released
Plot Keywords:
Related Movies To
Pola X
When Leos Carax's film POLA X premiered in 1999, it was seen then as part of the New French Extremity movement, with critics and audiences picking up on its unsimulated sex scene. Yet that forms only a brief few minutes of quite ample film. Two decades on, audiences of today ought to look past the sensation and appreciate the film for what it really has to offer: a convincing contemporary take on Hermann Meville's psychological novel PIERRE, and the way Carax interweaves Melville's structure of 19th-century wealthy elites with harrowing references to contemporary France, Bosnia and the plight of Balkan refugees. The son of a deceased diplomat of some note, Pierre (Guillaume Depardieu) lives in splendor in rural France, in a manor house with his widowed mother (Catherine Deneuve). Things are going well for young Pierre: a novel he has written has become a bestseller and he is engaged to the lovely Lucie (Delphine Chuillot). But then he encounters a mysterious woman named Isabelle (Yekaterina Golubeva) who tells him in broken French that she is his half-sister, born to Pierre's diplomat father and an unknown Balkan woman. Isabelle is in fact less a character and more a spectral presence that haunts Pierre's life. Intrigued by this otherworldly creature, Pierre gives up his privileged existence and enters into a vividly depicted bohemianism that brings about his physical and mental decline. POLA X prefers to tell its story more through visceral images than dialogue. In fact, the dialogue is deliberately stilted, allowing the film to dip in and out of its basis in Melville’s 19th-century novel. So much of the story of Pierre's decline is told through the bucolic idyll of the first half of the film and the brutal squalor he later chooses. This imagery is so strong that even if POLA X feels somewhat too tentative about itself to rank as one of the all-time greatest films, it has haunted this viewer's thoughts since watching it. Another nice touch of POLA X is the close way in which Carax worked with the composer of the film's score Scott Walker, who was then fresh from his acclaimed album TILT. When Pierre leaves home after meeting Isabelle, he enters into a bizarre community of artists in an industrial setting, who seem to be hiding sinister plans behind their avant-garde work. It is here that Walker's score goes from the subdued strings of the first half of the film into brasher, more aggressive sounds. Carax has set things up so this music is both diegetic and non-diegetic, part of the outside narration of Pierre's psychological decline and contemporary political strife as much as the film's action itself.
Cast & Crew of
Pola X
Directors & Credit Writers
... Director
Cast
... Pierre
... Isabelle
... Marie
... Lucie
... Thibault
... Marguerite
... Razerka
... La Petite
... Le Chef
... Fred
... Présentateur TV
DS
Dine Souli... Chauffeur de Taxi
MY
Miguel Yeco... Augusto
... FIls du Patron du Café
... L'Ami Roumain
AR
Anne Richter... Femme du Chef
... Policier
... Policier
... Policier
... Policier
Produced By
Videos & Photos of
Pola X
Photos ( 2 )
Related Movies To
Pola X
Private Collections (1979)
5.3 /10
Three stories. A solitary sailor falls from his boat and washes ashore on a tropical island. While seeking rescue, he's found by a nearly naked woman who is playful and compliant. He decides to erase his signs of distress and remain on the island. What awaits? In the second, an adolescent searches for the words of a nursery rime he remembers bits of. His journey takes him into dreams, sexual awakening, and Oedipal fantasy. Third, a man of wealth in late-nineteenth century Paris hires a prostitute for the night. She's also cabaret performer and takes him to her room. He fears he's about to be robbed. What's her secret?
Run Time: 1hr 43` . MMPA: . Release: 27 Jun 1979
Director: Walerian Borowczyk , Shūji Terayama , Just Jaeckin
Producer: Pierre Braunberger
Stars: Roland Blanche , Marie-Catherine Conti , Marpessa Dawn , Laura Gemser , Jūzō Itami , Hiromi Kawai
K.O. (2025)
0 /10
A former fighter must find the missing son of an opponent he accidentally killed years ago, taking on a brutally violent crime gang in Marseille.
Run Time: 1hr 24` . MMPA: R . Release: 05 Jun 2025
Director: Brieuc Vanderswalm , Leo Bourdon , Elsa Truscello
Producer: Florian Vadelorge , Jean-Christophe Gastaudo
Stars: Cyril Gane , Alice Belaïdi , Maleaume Paquin , Foued Nabba , Mathieu Lestrade , Anne Azoulay
Savages (2024)
0 /10
In Borneo, near the tropical forest, Kéria rescues a baby orangutang in the palm oil plantation where her father works. Kéria's cousin Selaï comes to live with them seeking refuge from the conflict between his indigenous tribe and the logging companies. Kéria, Selaï and the little orangutang, now named Oshi, will have to fight against their forest’s destruction.
Run Time: 1hr 27` . MMPA: . Release: 16 Oct 2024
Director: Emmanuelle Nicot , Claude Barras
Producer: Barbara Letellier , Hugo Deghilage , Olivier Glassey
Stars: Babette De Coster , Martin Verset , Laetitia Dosch , Benoît Poelvoorde , Pierre-Isaie Duc , Michel Vuillermoz
Last Bullet (2025)
0 /10
Car genius Lino returns to conclude his vendetta against Areski and the corrupt commander who ruined their lives in this turbo-charged trilogy finale.
Run Time: 1hr 51` . MMPA: R . Release: 06 May 2025
Director: Ludivine Doazan , Cheyenne Corre , Guillaume Pierret
Producer: Mathieu Ageron , Rémi Leautier , Monalisa Marchand
Stars: Alban Lenoir , Stéfi Celma , Nicolas Duvauchelle , Anne Serra , Gérard Lanvin , Pascale Arbillot
Skin. Like. Sun. (2009)
4 /10
Real-life young couple Wim and Floor spend an afternoon in the sunwashed rooms of a crumbling home in Belgium. In a unique twist, this artistic erotic documentary is edited in nearly real-time. In the slowness, we get the build, the sweetness, and the sexiness. Forget about fingersnapping fast editing. Slow is where it’s at.
Run Time: 1hr . MMPA: NR . Release: 10 Oct 2009
Director: Murielle Scherre , Jennifer Lyon Bell
Producer: Murielle Scherre , Jennifer Lyon Bell
Stars: Wim van Damme , Floor Wyns
Dangerous Liaisons (2022)
4.1 /10
The innocent Célène might be falling in love with popular surfer Tristan at her new school. But she has no idea that, in actuality, she’s the object of a cruel bet between Tristan and Instagram influencer Vanessa.
Run Time: 1hr 49` . MMPA: R . Release: 08 Jul 2022
Director: Rachel Suissa
Producer: Edouard de Lachomette , Nicolas Derouet , Eleonore Dailly
Stars: Paola Locatelli , Simon Rérolle , Ella Pellegrini , Héloïse Janjaud , Jin Xuan Mao , Oscar Lesage
The Future Awaits (2025)
0 /10
In July 1942, during the Vel’ d’Hiv’ Roundup of Jewish families in Paris, 13 year old Tauba Birenbaum and her parents, who are Polish Jews, find refuge in a tiny room for the next 765 days. Living conditions are tough and they fear being discovered at any moment. But while her parents sink further into despair, Tauba’s fighting spirit shines through. She finds joy in every little thing, from a piano drawn on the floor, to the views of Paris through an open window. Despite extreme circumstances, she will keep hope until the liberation of Paris, and take back control of her life.
Run Time: 1hr 33` . MMPA: . Release: 26 Feb 2025
Director: Emmanuel Mathieu , Aurore Moutier , Tatyana Umek
Producer: Jean-Baptiste Guittard , Robin Ludig , Christophe Desenclos
Stars: Guillaume Gallienne , Violaine Guillon , Sandrine Bonnaire , Adeline D'Hermy , Bernard Le Coq , Rod Paradot
Arthur & Diana (2024)
7 /10
Arthur & Diana are siblings. Together with Diana's 2-year-old son, they leave Berlin for Paris for a small, relaxed trip to do the annual safety inspection of their old rusty Renault. But the journey will not be relaxed, the direction not Paris and whether the car will go along is all too questionable...
Run Time: 1hr 48` . MMPA: . Release: 26 Sep 2024
Director: Sara Summa
Producer: Lisa Roling , Cecilia Trautvetter
Stars: Lupo Piero Summa , Sara Summa , Robin Summa , Livia Maria Antonelli , Claire Loiseau , Ugo Fiore
Oscar and the Lady in Pink (2009)
7 /10
Listening in to a conversation between his doctor and parents, 10-year-old Oscar learns what nobody has the courage to tell him. He only has a few weeks to live. Furious, he refuses to speak to anyone except straight-talking Rose, the lady in pink he meets on the hospital stairs. As Christmas approaches, Rose uses her fantastical experiences as a professional wrestler, her imagination, wit and charm to allow Oscar to live life and love to the full, in the company of his friends Pop Corn, Einstein, Bacon and childhood sweetheart Peggy Blue. Written by American Film Market
Run Time: 1hr 45` . MMPA: . Release: 15 Nov 2009
Director: Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt
Producer: Olivier Rausin , Bruno Metzger , Philippe Godeau
Stars: Amir Ben Abdelmoumen , Michèle Laroque , Max von Sydow , Mylène Demongeot , Jérôme Kircher , Amira Casar
Freestyle (2022)
0 /10
One morning, Louise, 45, is suddenly unable to step out of her car. Sweats, anxieties, palpitations... she is having an inexplicable panic attack. She is tetanized and simply cannot set foot outside.
Run Time: 1hr 29` . MMPA: . Release: 29 Jun 2022
Director: Didier Barcelo , Grégory Troy , Marina Bouscarrut
Producer: Michaël Gentile , Jean Ozannat , Julie Navarro
Stars: Marina Foïs , Benjamin Voisin , Jean-Charles Clichet , Albert Delpy , Ariane Mourier , Jean-Pierre Martins
Morlaix (2025)
0 /10
A young high school student marked by the recent death of her mother, Gwen, spends her time with her group of friends, including her lover Thomas, an apprentice baker. When Jean-Luc, a Parisian student who looks like an artist, moves into the area, Gwen does not hide her trouble, as if a decisive life choice was before her. One day, she discovers a film at the cinema that seems inexplicably inspired by her own life. Will she find the answers she is looking for?
Run Time: 2hr 4` . MMPA: . Release: 14 Mar 2025
Director: Jaime Rosales
Producer:
Stars: Mélanie Thierry , Àlex Brendemühl , Samuel Kircher , Aminthe Audiard , Jeanne Trinité
Sidonie in Japan (2024)
0 /10
Sidonie Perceval, an established French writer, is mourning her deceased husband. Invited to Japan for the reedition of her first book, she is welcomed by her local editor who takes her to Kyoto, the city of shrines and temples. As they travel together through the Japanese spring blossoms, she slowly opens up to him. But the ghost of her husband follows Sidonie: she will have to finally let go of the past to let herself love again.
Run Time: 1hr 35` . MMPA: . Release: 11 Jan 2024
Director: Hagen Rohling , Elise Girard
Producer: Louis Houdoin , Michiko Yoshitake , Sébastien Haguenauer
Stars: Isabelle Huppert , August Diehl , Tsuyoshi Ihara , Yuoko Hitomi , Aurora Catalano , Yusuke Kitaguchi