London Film Festival 2012 – day seven: You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet!

Wednesday 17^th October, 6.30pm – BFI Southbank

Sunday 21^st October, 4pm – Ciné Lumière

You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet! is the latest film from legendary French film maker Alain Resnais (Hiroshima mon Amour, Je t’aime, je t’aime). The plot is an adaptation of Eurydice and Cher Antoine ou l’Amour, both written by Jean Anouilh.

A playwright summons a group of his friends to hear the reading of his will. Instead of the reading of the will, the friends have actually been invited to the playwright’s house to watch a filmed production of one his plays. As the friends watch the film they begin to slip in and out of their own productions of the play. Some of the friends appear in in all four different worlds whereas some are confined to two or three. A simultaneous production of the play unfolds as each one of the friends is pulled further into the surreal madness of the multi-dimensional play. There are points when all four worlds are shown at the same time on screen, and they playfully interact with one another.

Almost all of the actors in the film play themselves, or a version of themselves playing parts within the play. If this explanation of the cast annoys you, keep away from this film at all costs. You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet! will act as ocular Kryptonite to some. Mathieu Amalric is one of the few people not playing up to the whimsical farce of the plot, he actually acts well, whereas with the others it feels like they are knowingly over dramatising the piece deliberately to make it funnier.

The main issue with You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet! is that it isn’t that funny, there are a few moments of good comedy but on the whole it feels a bit bland and self important.

Verdict: •••

Joey Godman

Read more reviews from the 56th London Film Festival here.

Watch the trailer for You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet here: