From _Celine_ to _I Have Loved You So Long_ 1
sept...@millenicom.com
self-imposed prohibition against DVD rental (sorry
Leenna), which is back in full force. A main reason
was to catch some of the older Jean-Claude Brisseau
films (_Celine_ and _Life the Way it is_). The one-time
blue-collar protege of Eric Rohmer is so unlike those
from the long-tradition of critic-turned-director French
auteurs. At times he almost strikes me as naive and
primitive (in an interesting way). I tried to find the Film
Comment article about him but have misplaced that
issue. Instead, I guess briefly document the stuff
I've rented (supplemented by my own collection).
I've always meant to see _Fiorile_ and finally did.
I guess this film, along with _Elective Affinities_ and
_Night Sun_, constitute some kind of bourgeoise
trilogy for the socialist minded Taviani brothers?
In the DVD extras, the directors talk about how
much they care about cinema as a popular art
watched by millions. _Fiorile_ is definitely a crowd
pleaser, weaving playful, fantastic stories from
the Napoleonic era all the way to the present. It is
gorgeous, my second favorite after the austere
_Night Sun_. Their tone and style vary so much
from film to film, I really don't know how to place
them.
_George Washington_ and _Snow Angel_ both
deal with those who are definitely not bourgeois;
other than that, there is hardly any hint of David
Gordon Green's celebrated first film on his latest.
In particular, I was shocked by the fast, workmanlike
editing -- bearing no resemblance to the leisurely
sequences in _GW_. He seems all but finished
as an auteur. On the plus side, this is the first
time I have like Kate Beckinsale's acting. Playing
a single mother, she seems so much more humane
than her previous acts.
I finally get to rewatch Lou Ye's _Purple Butterfly_
too. The lighting and dream-like rhythm is just
beautiful beyond words. There is a shot of Zhang
Ziyi learning out the window of her apartment, with
the interior in noirish blue and the exterior neon-red;
what a shot that is! Lou Ye is clearly the most poetic
and gifted of young mainland Chinese directors. The
story is downright nihilistic, but sometimes you just
have to yield to the sensual pleasure of a film like
this. I hope his next film will get more attention in
the U.S.
(Incidentally, _24 City_, touted as "popular," seems
to have sold 2400 tickets in the U.S. That's about
10% of the circulation of Film Comment (which has
been Jia Zhangke's relentless booster for years).
Hardly a surprise when the premise is so off-putting;
it includes Joan Chen playing someone who looks like
Joan Chen -- a conceit so sophomoric I'd have been
embarrassed by it in my freshman year in college.
I heard good things about _Still Life_ but personally
I'd personally wouldn't see _24 City_ if you paid me.
Really, the audience have spoken. We don't like
Jia Zhangke, we don't want him. Can we finally
put to rest this "leading Chinese director of his
generation" nonsense and move on?)
I also rewatched my copy of _My Sex Life, or How
I got into an Argument_. The New Yorker DVD looks
terrible, but the acting is truly delightful. The story
is enriched by the constant, literary voiceover. This
is a film genre (university life) that simply does not
exist in the U.S. (except as frat house comedy I
suppose). Of course it has something to do with
the fact that French filmmakers are usually highly
educated critics, while in the U.S. you are much
better off jumping into filmmaking young (or go to
film school to "network" with potential employers).
The characters seem so genuine and alive here,
compared to the recent Desplechin characters
who seem so contrived. The characterization
rescues the film from being too self-indulgent, and
it is genuinely funny in places too -- like the scene
where one of the leads is trying to get into a
semitary despite having no faith. Needless to say,
like Assayas' _Late August, Early September_, the
director drew on his personal experience. Is this
the film where Marianne Denicourt, his one-time
girl-friend, sued him for using her personal life
in his script? By the way, and I seldom make a
fuss about such things, Denicourt has several
nude scenes where she seems totally uncomfortable.
Otherwise she is one of the most interesting character
in an amazing ensemble cast.