FILMS I SAW IN THE FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL
(in roughly preferential order)
1.CAPTAIN AHAB (2008, Philippe Ramos, A+)
2.SERAPHINE (2008, Martin Provost, A+)
http://ferdyonfilms.com/2009/06/seraphine-2008.php
3.VERSAILLES (2008, Pierre Schoeller, A+)
4.ALL ABOUT ACTRESSES (2009, Maiwenn, A+)
5.THOSE WHO REMAIN (2007, Anne Le Ny, A+)
6.PUBLIC ENEMY PART ONE (2008, Jean-Francois Richet, A+)
7.ON THE ROPES (2007, Magaly Richard-Serrano, A+/A)
8.I'VE LOVED YOU SO LONG (2008, Philippe Claudel, A+/A)
9.MODERN LOVE (2008, Stephane Kazandjian, A)
10.THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF YOUR LIFE (2008, Remi Bezancon, A-)
11.PUBLIC ENEMY PART TWO (2008, Jean-Francois Richet, A-)
12.LARGO WINCH (2008, Jerome Salle, B-)
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5 comments:
1.CAPTAIN AHAB (2008, Philippe Ramos, A+)
2.SERAPHINE (2008, Martin Provost, A+)
3.ALL ABOUT ACTRESSES (2009, Maiwenn, A+)
4.THOSE WHO REMAIN (2007, Anne Le Ny, A+/A)
5.PUBLIC ENEMY PART ONE+TWO (2008, Jean-Francois Richet, A)
6..I'VE LOVED YOU SO LONG (2008, Philippe Claudel, B+)
7.FEAR(s) OF THE DARK (2008, Various directors, A)
CAPTAIN AHAB is very powerful. I love its images and some of its camera movements very much.
I love that SERAPHINE presents the obstacles in life as coming from the society structure (lack of opportunities for lower-class people), fate (WW I which delayed the fame of Seraphine), and oneself (Seraphine's insanity). It is very sad to see Seraphine being destroyed by herself like that.
I like Marina Fois in ALL ABOUT ACTRESSES. I think I had never seen her films before. The scene in which Jeanne Balibar climbs out of a dumpster somehow reminds me of the playfulness in Jacques Rivette's films.
CAPTAIN AHAB is so unique. It is the one and only. It has its own class. Manotham liked it very much too (I talked to him on the last day of festival). He suggested that, the more chapter comes, the more Captain Ahab loses his part of body. But Manotham didn’t prefer the spectacle of the whale. He thought that in the novel, the reader wont sure if there is a real whale. He thought that the whale is a symbolic of all : his father, the thief, the aunt, the aunt’s husband, the father’s new wife etc. a.k.a everything that Ahab is afraid of when he was a child. Manotham’s interpretation made me respect the director more and more.
SERAPHINE is so tragic. I love that the director chose plumb middleage woman to play her. In 80s, a story like this can be Isabelle Adjani’s vehicle but the director chose to walk on the Bresson’s road. I love that the director add the element about the way she made her own color : from mud, blood and holy water. Firstly, it made me think that this artist made EVERYTHING in her art by herself, literally. So it is her own work, her own way, her own world. Secondly, when she mixes the holy water in her color, that means her art is from god. It is her way to worship god. and it’s very tragic when she wore the wedding gown (to be with god?, the only man/woman in her life who always stay with her). At some part, she reminds me of Emily Watson in Breaking The Waves but while Watson’s Bess does everything for her husband, this woman does everything for her god (and maybe...herself? She wants a big house!).
In ALL ABOUT ACTRESSES, Melanie Doutey looked so familiar. So I googled and found that she is Natalie Baye's daughter in THE FLOWER OF EVIL. Romane Bohringer reminds me of Nareekrajang Kantamas (after her facial plastic surgery). The stand up comedian who faces a challenge when she must be in dramatic play is very interesting. I don’t know how can she plays it in the scene that she is the clown. How can she paints her face white and nose red while her hand moves backward? And I think Maiwenn made the right decision to choose Yvan Attal, not Charlotte Gainsbourg. Because we can see Gainsbourg in MY WIFE IS AN ACTRESS. And when Yvan said “I can work with other actress too” , it s really real.
Manotham (again) suggests anout the poster in Maiwenn’s apartment. There are Lola, Betty Blue and another movie ( ididnt remember the title) directed by Bertrand Blier. And that Blier movie is a film within a film.
The funny thing is, Maiwenn complicates the whole idea by asking the real Bertrand Blier to plays in this movie which is a film within a film too. That means in some part, All About Actresses is a film within a film which pay a tribute to a film with a film and have a scene that is a film within a film within a film.
What a Complex!
I haven’t checked my grammar, I hope u don’t mind my poor English : )
Thank you very much, Vespertine, for your comments and Manotham's opinions. I hope he writes about CAPTAIN AHAB.
Another thing that I like very much about SERAPHINE is its serene tone, which may corresponds to Seraphine's mind, though she is mad. This serene tone makes it very different from many biographical films about artists, which have a passionate tone, such as CAMILLE CLAUDEL (1988, Bruno Nuytten, A+), A JOURNEY CALLED LOVE (2002, Michele Placido, A), and CARAVAGGIO (2007, Angelo Longoni, A-). The serene tone of Seraphine reminds me of the serene tone in THE QUINCE TREE SUN (1991, Victor Erice, A+), though the artist in THE QUINCE TREE SUN is not mad at all.
The scene in which Seraphine pees is quite memorable, and beautiful in its own way. Most peeing scenes in films are not presented in a beautiful way like this. The peeing scene in WINGED CREATURES (2008, Rowan Woods, A+) has a tragic feeling. The one in PEPI, LUCI, BOM (1980, Pedro Almodovar, A+) is very funny, while the one in LA MADRE MUERTA (1993, Juanma Bajo Ulloa, A+) is very thrilling.
In ALL ABOUT ACTRERSSES, Melanie Doutey seems to have grown up a lot since THE FLOWER OF EVIL, while Rohmane Bohringer seems not to age that much after SAVAGE NIGHTS. I didn't notice the poster of Blier's film, but I guess it might be MERCI LA VIE (1991). I also think Maiwenn's lips seem to be as wide as Beatrice Dalle, after I saw the poster of BETTY BLUE.
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