Mixed results so far with French films...
The Dinner of Idiots was very funny.
Innocence: Beautiful, weird, frightening, but ultimate plotless.
Manon Des Sources: Seemed like a good film, and all the actors were great. But... and here is where it all probably falls down: I don't have the patience. I get bored so easily.
L'argent (money), by many considered the final and greatest film by Robert Bresson, I just disliked intensely. Poorly acted, mediocre cinematography, and a downbeat story of escalating hopelessness (based on a Tolstoy story). Hark at Amazon's review, starting thusly: "Robert Bresson always claimed his films are about hope and redemption, but so many end in death or suicide that it's a struggle to reconcile the statement with his films." Yes indeed.
Regarding My Life To Live by Godard...
Anna Karina was just beautiful. (Danish too.)And the pictures were very nice. Great tones, nice and avant-garde compositions.
The story though was like chinese water torture. People sitting around reading poetry or talking about their feeeeelings.
And one of my biggest pet peeves: the wonderful "high culture" misunderstanding that the way to be profound is to have the good guys die in the end, preferably for no good reason whatsoever. (Other examples: Chinatown and The Unbearable Lightness of Being.) (Not surprisingly all pretty much European productions.) That friggin ticks me off... what kind of message is that?
Exactly.
ReplyDeleteHow about one that shows in an entertaining way that crime pays off:
ReplyDeletehttp://imdb.com/title/tt0088002/
:-)
...to have the good guys die in the end ...
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, good guys do die in real life too. In the end. All people die in the end.
But the point you are missing is that there are no good guys. Nor evil guys for that matter. These are beliefs.
Ya, but these are stories, not real life. They have ends, and they have good guys.
ReplyDeleteIf stories are not different from real life, why have them at all?
That's a fair question Eolake, but similarly, why have stories at all if you already know what's going to happen - i.e. the goog guy wins, the bad guy loses/dies?
ReplyDeleteRemember, the point of Buñuel's synoptic chart was to show how predictable, and therefore uninteresting, all Hollywood films were.
I'm sorry to report that eXistenZ was also a movie which really rubbed me the wrong way.
ReplyDeleteIt is exceedingly difficult to do those surreal movies, nine out of ten seem blatantly Fake to me, just not ringing true.
I think it is because if one thing is slightly "off" then *everything* has to be slightly "off", and nobody has the imagination, not to mention the budget, for that.
"Good guys always die for a reason - they stop the bad guys from doing what they want"
ReplyDeleteexactly, I have no problem with that. I do have a problem when the hero dies in the end from a freak accident which has nothing to do with the story.
Have some sympathy for me, I have to live with me all the time!
ReplyDeleteI liked eXistenZ.
ReplyDeleteBut you're right, Eolake : your eXistenZ is not one to be envied. ;-)
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI have launched a blog in English fully devoted to French cinema ; hopefully, it
will offer an English language audience a less academic and standard view of
French films and correct certain prejudices or "idéees reçues" with a healthy
dose of humour.
You can visit it http://forgivemyfrenchfilms.blogspirit.com
I believe the postings may interest your readers. Please visit and pass the
information to them.
Your comments and advice are welcome.
Best regards,
Pierre Marmiesse
http://forgivemyfrenchfilms.blogspirit.com
Thanks for the tip, I'll take a look.
ReplyDelete