35 Rhums - Claire Denis (2008)

Let's agree it's not my kind of film. But if you read anything about this film, you're most likely to be expecting a masterpiece, I thought it might be more interesting when I rent it and everyone says great things about Claire Denis (and yes, I do have a soft spot for French films).

35 Rhums is the story of the relationship between a widowed father and his university student daughter, they share a flat and have a very close bond, almost too close bond. Almost. It's all father-daughter love.

That's it. That's all there is. I've mentioned before films that don't follow the traditional structure but might rely on the characters. Here, you know this father and daughter are very close but you don't get to know a lot of them. As if the director wanted to protect their privacy (which we can say is a bit silly). So you don't really engage on whatever is going on, you don't find that humanity, that something that makes you feel something for them and keeps you hooked to the drama. It's a bit disappointing. Something didn't work. I'll mention Mike Leigh again. In Another Year you witness these people's lives but they also touch your heart... these father and daughter aren't touching, you observe them without participating and that's not what I want from a film.

The camera work and cinematography are very nice. The pensive moments. But is that enough? Not for me anyway.


35 Shots of Rum

Tirez sur le pianiste - François Truffaut (1960)

I like Truffaut's work.I enjoyed the Antoine Doinel series and Jules et Jim. This is a little masterpiece. It does take a lot of genre elements but it is also an author film and very innovative. 

Simplicity is something I like in films. This is just casual and natural yet very creative. The night walks are great... you can even see the camera shadow, but it doesn't matter as the narrative flows so well.

There are things like inserting subtitles... you do wonder what was that about, as it's not repeated anywhere else. I wasn't too bothered by the non-related stories added in the middle.. I didn't really think it wasn't related. 

Charles Aznavour is just great. His performance is just perfect, he was such a good actor he should have been in better known films in his youth. I should probably see more of his films.

Tirez sur le pianiste

Bellamy - Claude Chabrol (2009)

This poster is quite nice. The idea of this film is quite interesting: a policeman on holidays gets involved with a case out of curiosity. The policeman is Gerard Depardieu, the director is Chabrol. It sounds promising. Well I felt cheated. Instead of it becoming interesting it becomes boring. The problem isn't that it's slow, the problem is that there isn't enough there... There are also certain uses of zoom. I hate zooms, but it can be tolerable in certain films. Not in this case.

I'm disappointed. Maybe I should have expected less of Chabrol.

Bellamy

Baisers volés - François Truffaut (1968)

I expected this to be a drama... I was surprised it was a lighthearted comedy! Instead of feeling sorry for his character he makes fun of him, taking the best out of his funny nature.

I was also surprised it was colour, it looks nice. The camera is nice. The editing... has strange things, but I liked it. Maybe the cuts are a little bold but I like it that way (I am really not sure who else notices cuts).

Antoine Doinel is older, he's not the rebel boy any more. He tries to be as normal as everyone else is... though he's a little dodgy. I think Jean-Pierre Léaud does a great job: he's comic without exaggerating, Antoine is a little confused and out of place but it doesn't really matter to him.As I saw the film I couldn't help but think about Truffaut himself, and really he couldn't have found an actor who looked more like him (even the hair!)

Baisers Volés

Antoine et Colette - François Truffaut (1962)

This is a short film, part of a collection called L'amour à vingt ans. One shouldn't expect more from it than what you would of any other short film (somehow I think it's a format not considered entirely seriously). Anyway, I think it works well for all 27 minutes of it - I have a very personal theory that an average short film can be 8-10 minutes and it won't be damaged, only very good short films can last 10-15 minutes and they will keep you engaged for so long... and there are very few excellent short films that can last more than that and still remain interesting and not bore you. You can say in those terms that Antoine et Colette does that.

It's not a big story or very innovative but it's really well narrated. It's also an incredibly modern storytelling, it's the kind of narrative that's still used these days.. it fools you so much that you forget it was actually done fifty years ago. 50! 



Antoine et Colette

Zéro de conduite: Jeunes diables au collège - Jean Vigo (1933)

This is another innovative film, bold, subversive, surreal at times.. fun. Les quatre cents coups older sister (more humourous, less grim...). I need to see more of Vigo.

Zéro de Conduite

Je l'aimais - Z. Breitman (2009)

Perhaps I wasn't in the mood for this film.

It's nice to watch, the transitions in between scenes are very good, the actors are ok (you even believe the love affair between Daniel Auteil and the younger girl *and* his version of his old self). It's a film about the choice between love and comfort. Not excessively cheerful, not excessively romantic even, not excessively about the crisis of love... it either needed something else or I wasn't in the right mood for it.

Je l'aimais

My afternoons with Margueritte - Jean Becker (2010)

What does this still say?

A big overweight Frenchman sits in a park with an adorable old lady, surrounded by pidgeons. We can already sense he's not very bright and she's very distinguished. They read and develop a friendship that would change them both.

That's it. That's the film.If you expect a small feel-good French film, that's what it is. Nicely acted - Depardieu is meassured, unlike the also not very bright Quentin from Tas-toi!, his character is likeable (to me he now seems a little dodgy after his plane incident). Correctly filmed. Nothing more than that.

Also, it isn't excessively sweetened or full of unrealistic hopes. Sometimes we need films like this to pass the time.

La tête en friche

Des hommes et des dieux - Xavier Beauvois (2010)

Can I be objective about French films? Possibly no. That said, this is a very good film.

The photography is impeccable. It captures both the geography, the light and the story. Beautiful.

I have to say I didn't know much about the story, which helped. I didn't know it was based on a true story and what happened. I still thought it was well paced, it goes well with what it's talking about. Still, it's a 122 minutes film and it didn't feel long at all. I thought it kept going and moving on. I read a few reviews that say it can be slow at times. To me it wasn't. I saw it in one night, I didn't fall asleep even when I was tired.. that surely says something.

The cast is very good in their characters: they are monks, they don't play caricatures of monks. I  think it's a film about determination and it's very well portrayed, not forced in any way. It's not a religious film, it's more a story about humanity and tolerance, and that's what makes it universal.

Sadly, there's not much to say about the sound. Correct. Fits the story. Nothing extraordinary.





Des hommes et des dieux

Le Concert - Radu Mihaileanu (2009)

I enjoy both French and Russian films. So how can I be objective about this one?! It's a great mix of things I like. In any other film I would have not forgiven the fact that's full of stereotypes. 

Le Concert is a nice feel-good film, bits of comedy, bits of drama... it's fun. It's not a major drama like Les Choristes, but it's not a cheesy comedy like Amélie... it's somewhere in the middle and I think it works well.

The photography is nicely done, that always helps. The sound is also well done, not great when it comes to design but it does sound 5.1 and it's full of music. (In this case it works, as it is part of the story). Nothing bold but as I said, I am more tolerant with this film than I would be with any other. The Russian cast is very charming and they are all good in their roles (some a bit too stereotyped, but still effective).

Le Concert

Sur Mes Lèvres - Jacques Audiard (2001)

I'm not sure where to begin with this film. First, I watched it over in a couple of nights. That means it's not a great film.

I had seen it before and enjoyed the French thriller thing. I still did. Though I do think it's not really strong all the time.

It's implied in the story that people don't shower. Ever.

I liked the cinematography. The cold colours and dark ambiences appeal a lot to me. The camera work is very good at making the story look unclean: dodgy characters in a grime situation... That is done very well. Very delicate in parts too. 

I've seen De Battre Mon Coeur S'est Arrêté and I can't remember much about it, but I thought he played with delicate parts too. Still at the time. I thought I liked Read My Lips better. Now I think it's because of the actors. I think they are dodgy and weird but very strong in their acting, particularly Emmanuelle Devos.

The Sound work. I decided to rewatch it because I was looking for how a deaf character is presented and how does her world sound. Hm. I was a little disappointed.

You'd think a deaf character is a good opportunity to play with sounds.

Does her world sound different with or without a hearing aid? Well. Yes... sort of. She continuously keep turning it on and off and things getting quieter. I like a scene where there's a fight and she can't hear much until  she finds her hearing aid and then it is a fight in sound too.

There's a playing with delicate sounds and loud ones too. As if that was the way she sees the world. That I liked.

But she goes from hearing to not hearing, without anything in particular happening when she's deaf. No ringing in her ears, no nothing....

And the music. It's alright music. Delicate, again. But there's just too much of it, used indiscriminately. Personally, I would have left those music moments for when she's alone in her world, no hearing aid. It would have made it more about her, rather than being everywhere and taking the beauty out of it.

I thought the sound could have been bolder. Sure it's technically very good, but it could have been a lot better if they had pushed it only a little bit more. Shame.

The story develops okay... but the end is not very surprising. (Even if it's your first watch)

Sur mes lêvres