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A real breath of fresh air this was, and now that I’m thinking about it, it serves as a fine counterpoint to the crap that pissed me off about Gabrielle. Here too we have a woman in an oppressive time (Vichy France) who assumes some level of power (performing illegal abortions, running a small-time whorehouse, and earning plenty of money from both). Her actions and their consequences are portrayed so even-handedly, without objective moral judgment or histrionic agonizing from the characters. Huppert’s performance here is light and human; she is affected by the women who enter her life, but she also makes calculating and selfish decisions, and all of this is done very subtly. Heavy material handled with freshness and fairness: thank you, Claude Chabrol. This is how it’s done. Screencaps
This is not as bad as some would have it be, and not nearly as good as it could have been. Works out to be just enjoyable enough to sustain my interest for four hours — which, actually, might be high praise. I can’t really imagine anyone else as Cleopatra, though this is not one of Taylor’s greatest performances; Burton & Harrison are quite good. Mankiewicz’s signature wit keeps everything chugging along nicely. Pretty badly dated, probably, but I don’t generally care about that sort of thing. Screencaps
Oh, Chabrol is fun. This raises more questions than it answers, but he creates such a lively, intriguing atmosphere of mystery that it’s a pure delight steadily building to the finish — and so what if the finish is just a little unsatisfying? The leads’ acting in the final moments more than make up for it, actually. Chabrol’s idea that he has to couch larger philosophical ideas in the form of a suspense thriller to make them palatable to a wide audience is sort of patronizing, but all the same it’s nice to have a fun sophisticated movie for once, something between Antonioni and Adam Sandler. Screencaps
Another fucking masterpiece from Fassbinder! I think I expected something a bit Hitchcockian. What this is instead is profound existential angst. Blame the translation. “Fear” doesn’t come close to the concept. Margot is not crazy. She is acutely alive. Existence is absurd; selfhood is unmanageably disconcerting. Margot looks in the mirror, attempts simple declarative sentences beginning with “I,” and begins to lose her grip. It is too much to bear to feel, acutely, the absurdity of existence. She attempts to numb it with sex, alcohol, Valium, Leonard Cohen… What she is looking for is meaning, a real connection. This is denied to her, and eventually she is left completely “calm” by a cocktail of prescribed drugs. Fassbinder, you’ve killed me again! Oh how I love you for it… So many interesting things going on in this film. As in Cassavetes’ Woman Under the Influence, Margot’s “mental illness” is not fully diagnosed or explicitly directed, but he effectively shows the direct effect from her point of view. Very cool — and, importantly, subtle — camera work putting the viewer in her head; tons of interesting stuff going on with themes of voyeurism (many observers take in the action from the window in their flat; at one point, Fass even seems to suggest Margot watching herself from this vantage point) and triangulated gazes. I want to write a term paper. Boy, do I… I’m not sure whether I prefer this or Martha, but along with Petra these are as strong a top three as I have from any director. I worship him. I really do. Screencaps
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about
 Lauren, 25, out-of-work librarian. At the moment, TLC is but a review blog and catalogue of my film-related perversions. I always plan to do more with it — and to one day step outside 30s Hollywood again. Who knows?
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Films: All reviewed | FavoritesActors: Profiles | Favorites Directors: Profiles | Favorites Screencap galleries All films by year 2008 Viewing log
Screening Log
» Appaloosa 2008, Ed Harris
» Belle toujours 2007, Manoel de Oliveira » Duel in the Sun 1946, King Vidor » Dragonwyck 1946, Joseph L Mankiewicz » The Spiral Staircase 1945, Robert Siodmak » The Man Who Knew Too Much 1934, Alfred Hitchcock » Tell No One 2008, Guillaume Canet » Heaven Knows, Mr Allison 1957, John Huston » Vicky Cristina Barcelona 2008, Woody Allen » The Great Lie 1941, Edmund Goulding
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