The Witnesses is a period-piece but feels utterly contemporary through its characters' urgent, overlapping imperatives.

It's another jewel of modern French cinema, remarkably attuned to the ups and downs of both life and cinema. Observing how the AIDS epidemic shatters the complacency of a Parisian quartet, Andre Techine masterfully - heroically - weaves a film of utter profundity, soul, passion and grace. As if a greatest hits collection, it echoes the genius touches of Godard, Bresson, Rivette, Chabrol and Spielberg sometimes all at once. The Witnesses is ultimately one thing: an immortal film about mortality.

"A moral tale that isn't saddled with moralism, The Witnesses is a novelistic film in the best sense." - Bill Weber

Not without flaws and never anything special, but generally well handled. To its credit it avoids the kind of sensationalism and sentimentality that can really harm films like this.