Libramedi Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

TaryBiggBall It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Asad Almond A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Andres Salama This is an attractive French mix of a romantic comedy and a mild, warm satire of French politics. She is Baya (the very beautiful Sara Forestier), a free spirited, very attractive girl in her early twenties. Her mother is a leftist hippie, her father is an Algerian immigrant. She has followed the politics of her mother, and she tries to get into bed with right wingers, in order to convert them to a progressive outlook. He is Arthur (Jacques Gamblin) a shy, mild mannered, middle aged minor public bureaucrat. He denies being a right winger (since he voted for the moderate socialist candidate Lionel Jospin, who by the way has a cameo appearance in the movie) but he comes from a very staid family. His father is a respected engineer in the politically incorrect field of nuclear energy, his mother is the daughter of a survivor in Auschwitz (when Baya learns of his family background, she is excited at the possibility of becoming an Arab-Jewish couple, but he plays down his Jewish connections). Very entertaining, and at its best when it mocks the more emotional strands of western leftism.

Greg This film is totally original in its approach. The characters are interesting (Baya as a caricature of a leftist), the various other characters where no one is as he or she seems. There is a lot more commonality than difference in the characters. There past traumas and origins come out through the course of the film.The film is interspersed with characters and snippets from the past, including a young Arthur Martin and a Pere Martin who looks old even when he was young. The destinies/ambitions/mindsets of the main characters all meld in a very interesting way. It is an unusual love story and you truly find the ways the two principle characters reach out to each other quite touching. But unlike many French romantic comedies, where people just think and feel, there are many surprising and titillating developments in the film. We can go from a naked Baya in the subway to memories of the Holocaust.The film represents a lovely pastiche, medley and tapestry of the elements which make up modern France. It does so with very original characters and scenarios and is a real pleasure to watch. It makes some strong points about stereotypes, origins, perceptions yet presents it all in a quirky, sexy and intriguing way. Totally worth seeing!

sfdphd I just saw this film and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's difficult to create a sexy laugh-out-loud comedy with quirky characters who fall in love that also intelligently and subtly considers complicated political differences on volatile subjects such as Jews, Arabs, Muslims, immigration, animal cruelty, bird flu, sexual abuse, fascists, and the Holocaust. I know it sounds like a bizarre combination but once you see the film, you will understand and appreciate the pleasure of it. It's quite an achievement that the filmmakers were able to maintain the hilarity and high level of political discourse all the way through while adding poignant elements to the story as well. Bravo to all involved, I was quite impressed.The only other film I can think of that can be compared to this is the Billy Wilder film One, Two, Three that's set in Berlin during the Cold War and has a capitalist and a communist falling in love with the help of the girl's reluctant guardian, a Coca Cola executive who pretends the communist is the son of an Old World aristocrat so the girl's parents don't freak out.But the Wilder film is more of a broad farce and doesn't have any poignancy to it. The Names of Love is much sweeter and more authentic in a real life way, which is more difficult to do well.

Stephan I watched the film (dubbed into German) yesterday in Berlin and this is by far the most beautiful movie, I've seen in decades! An excellent cast, an outstanding script, breathtaking photography and direction and great music makes watching 'Le nom des gens' a lifetime experience!! You can cry, you can laugh, you can think about your own family's past and you can remember a lot of the things that happened in the film from your own life!! Once again did the French prove, that they are the only filmmakers out there, who have the sense for that 'certain something'! When the credits appear, you feel like you have to watch the film over and over again.