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| mo_flixx |
 Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2008 8:42 pm |
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Joined: 30 May 2004
Posts: 12533
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I want to highly recommend Techine's 1994 film WILD REEDS, a coming of age film about French students set against the backdrop of the Algerian War in 1962.
I was unaware of its 1994 production date when I watched it and was in total awe of just how right every single detail is in this film. I actually believed I was watching a film made in 1962. The film has the same kind of attention to period detail we have admired in "Mad Men," except this locale is the South of France, not Madison Avenue.
I would rank "Wild Reeds" right up there with some of the most outstanding Nouvelle Vague films about youth, such as the "400 Blows," "Le Beau Serge," and "Les Cousins." In fact, I would have to say that I find this film superior. I can't remember such a sensitive treatment of emerging sexuality (and gay sexuality) or such a historically accurate portrayal of the Algerian debacle. The soundtrack is magnificent with all the best hits of 1962 (all American btw).
All four young actors show tremendous promise. I'm not sure why their names don't resonate today. They continue to work according to the imdb.com . The film won many awards: Cesars plus best foreign film awards from L.A. Critics, Nat'l. Soc. of Film Critics, and the NY Film Critics.
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Here's more info. from the imdb.com on this film. Minor spoilers.
Author: Dennis Littrell (dalittrell@yahoo.com) from SoCal
"The slightly loose and episodic feel of this charming coming-of-ager doesn't matter because the characters and the conflicts are so well presented that we are enthralled throughout.
"Three boys on the verge of manhood (with the French-Algerian conflict smoldering in the background) are in residence at a boarding school in the south of France in 1962. One is gay, the second is bi-sexual and the third is straight. Through their interactions we (and they) discover their sexuality.
"Francois Forestier, played attractively by Gael Morel, is gay as he discovers one night when Serge Bartolo (Stephane Rideau), an athletic schoolmate with a natural style, awakens his sexuality by seducing him. For Serge it is just a school age sexual adventure; for Francois it is love so intense he is transformed. The third boy, Henri Mariana, who is from Algeria, is a little older and a little more cynical. He finds heterosexual love with his enemy, Maité Alverez, who is a hated communist. Elodie Bouchez, whom I recall from The Dreamlife of Angels (1998) for which she shared a Cannes Best Actress award, plays Maité whose style is earnest, witty and brave.
"As it happens I was in France during the period of this film, and a teenager as well. The Algerian conflict haunted the young men because as soon as they were of age they could be sent away to fight. Also the Communist Party was strong in France and an attraction to some who opposed what they saw as French colonialism in Algeria and Vietnam. Director André Téchiné who characteristically explores human sexuality in his films (e.g., Rendez-Vous (1985) with a young and vital Juliette Binoche; Le lieu du crime (1986) with Catherine Deneuve; and Ma Saison Préférée (1993) also starring Catherine Deneuve) attempts to integrate these larger issues into his film but I don't think is entirely successful. Serge's older brother is killed in Algeria and his teacher blames herself for not helping him to escape his military service and suffers a nervous breakdown. However this story is not well-connected with the rest of the film. Also more could have been done with the divergent views of Maité and Henri. What I loved was the club scene where suddenly the French girls are twisting to Chubby Checker's "Let's Twist Again" which propelled me back to 1962 when indeed the Twist was all the rage in France.
"What makes this film superior is the warm and truthful way in which the sexual awakenings are realized. The kids seem absolutely real and the dialogue is sharp and authentic. Morel is very winning. I especially liked the earnest way he confronts and then accepts his sexuality. Interesting was the scene in which he seeks out the shoe salesman whom he knows is gay for his advice on how he should cope with unrequited homosexual love.
"This is a film about young people for open-minded adults attractively done. For many it will strike a strong cord of recognition." |
Last edited by mo_flixx on Thu Dec 25, 2008 11:29 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Thu Dec 25, 2008 12:00 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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Sounds good, Mo.
I don't know much of anything about André Téchiné, except the barest of bios, but just yesterday picked up his 1986 film, Scene of the Crime, with Catherine Deneuve. Skimming through IMDb comments, it sounded worthwhile, and I always like CD. Some call him a "novelistic" filmmaker. Scene focuses on a 13 year old boy and his mother, so is also a coming of age and fitting into the world story. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Thu Dec 25, 2008 1:19 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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It looks like I'm going to be spending time on my Christmas vacation watching Jeanette MacDonald films. For some reason, I keep finding these in VHS editions, which makes me think that some company is about to come out with a six disk definitive collection.
Tonight's film is New Moon, which in some ways is a reprise of the great Naughty Marietta. This time, Nelson Eddy is the one in disguise; he is Charles Henri, the Duc de Villiers (Nelson Eddy), a revolutionary who has succeeded in escaping the home country by getting himself arrested for sedition under an assumed name. He is consequently shipped to the New World as a bond servant. He meets cute Marianne de Beaumanoir (Jeanette), who mistakes hime for a nobleman, and is astonished to discover that she has bought him as a bond-servant. (I'm more astonished that this is taking place in New Orleans, which was under Spanish rule in 1789. The chronology of this movie induces headaches.)
However, Charles Henri has a master plan; he has arranged a revolt of the bond servants, and a ship, the New Moon, to carry them away. The French monarchy is not going to simply let them go, so they enter on a career of pseudo-piracy, including capturing a warship which happens to have sixty mail-order brides aboard, and Jeanette MacDonald. Eventually they crash on a deserted desert Isle with Gilligan, the Skipper, too, where they start off building a republic. Charles Henri announces that, since they are here for the long haul, couples should start building families, which means guys surround Jeanette MacDonald and women surround Nelson Eddy because they can read the credits to the film. So Marianne and Charles Henri must enter a marriage of convenience for self-preservation, and anyone who thinks this is a marriage of convenience should have their heads examined. Eventually the colony is discovered, with the inevitable news the monarchy has been overthrown, and Charles Henri and Marianne go home to France (little realizing that the Reign of Terror awaits them.)
Some great songs here, the most famous of which is the martial clong song "Stouthearted Men," which is better done elsewhere. "Lover, Come Back to Me" is a nice song, but my favorite is the seditionist song the prisoners sing underdeck ("There's a madman in the Tuileries"). The film's biggest problem (outside of being totally ridiculous), is that the setting and plot is too reminiscent to Naughty Marietta, which is one of the great screen musicals. IMDb credits Jeanette MacDonald as sing La Marseillaise, but I never heard her sing it, and I'm damned if I can see where she could have sung it in the movie,
This is a shoe film. Nelson Eddy has a song where he is polishing shoes, and fully realizes the importance of footwear. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Thu Dec 25, 2008 2:06 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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Location: Shanghai
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| Sounds a lot like the 1935 Flynn-DeHavilland film Captain Blood. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| Rod |
| Posted: Thu Dec 25, 2008 2:07 am |
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Joined: 21 Dec 2004
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Location: Lithgow, Australia
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| New Moon is in The Fifty Worst Movies of All Time. Not that that means much. |
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| lissa |
| Posted: Thu Dec 25, 2008 12:19 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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| Whatever will they do when the 2nd of the Twilight series is released? That, too, is entitled New Moon and it's a book title, unable to be changed without corrupting the series... |
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| Nancy |
| Posted: Thu Dec 25, 2008 12:24 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Norman, OK
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gromit wrote: Sounds a lot like the 1935 Flynn-DeHavilland film Captain Blood.
Yes, there were elements of Captain Blood, which is why I knew the warships that arrived would have the news that the French Revolution had started. Except for the singing, Captain Blood is a better movie. (Which is scheduled for a remake, BTW. I am not optimistic.) |
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| Nancy |
| Posted: Thu Dec 25, 2008 12:28 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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lissa wrote: Whatever will they do when the 2nd of the Twilight series is released? That, too, is entitled New Moon and it's a book title, unable to be changed without corrupting the series...
They'll just use the title anyway. It's not like they figure anyone knows about the earlier movie. |
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"All in all, it's just another feather in the fan."
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| gromit |
| Posted: Thu Dec 25, 2008 1:51 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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Location: Shanghai
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Capt. Blood, the first of the Errol-Olivia films, was an enjoyable romp. I just watched They Died With Their Boots On, their last pairing, and it was fairly disappointing. Custer gets the Hollywood treatment in spades, so that even his last battle is a noble self-sacrifice on his part. Custer isn't made out to be wonderful, but rather a colorful dashing Hollywood type -- basically Errol Flynn -- with self-correcting flaws. The history gets seriously distorted and is blended with a hefty serving of hokum.
Some of the battle scenes are well-done, and its Raoul Walsh at the helm, so there is a breezy fairy tale quality to the whole yarn, but its really hard to take seriously, and the interiors all look like sets.
Also features Edward Kennedy as a fairly one-dimensional bad guy, Sydney Greenstreet is a fairly 1-D good guy (as Gen.Winfield Scott, who was actually retired before Custer's career got underway), all-purpose ethnic Anthony Quinn as Crazy Horse, and Hattie McDaniel in her usual stereotypical comic relief role. So it wasn't the casting that let this film down. Not a bad film, but a throwaway Hollywood treatment, not on par with Captain Blood. |
Last edited by gromit on Thu Dec 25, 2008 4:39 pm; edited 1 time in total
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| mo_flixx |
| Posted: Thu Dec 25, 2008 4:15 pm |
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Joined: 30 May 2004
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Here's another winner. Especially in light of the unfortunate "Valkyrie," here is a sensitive and thoughtful film about WWII. I am speaking of LE SILENCE DE LA MER, Jean-Pierre Melville's first film made in 1949.
The film is deceptively simple and based on a short story by Vercors (Jean Brullers) about a Nazi lieutenant who chooses to stay with an elderly Frenchman and his attractive niece in their provincial cottage instead of in palatial digs. He is obviously not welcome and for six months, the uncle and niece refuse to say a word to their uninvited guest.
The Nazi (played by Howard Vernon, a Swiss who went on to a career in horror films) is a handsome, cultivated, lonely man with a great love for French literature & Shakespeare. He tries to win over his silent hosts every evening by discussing his admiration of French culture but at the same time can't help but blurt out his feelings about the superiority of German composers.
Gradually, the Nazi's feelings of superiority begin to erode. He relates the sad tale of his broken engagement to a German girl who sadistically pulled the legs off a mosquito one by one after it bit her. The Nazi (from rural southern Germany) goes to Paris for the first time where he finds himself in awe of all things French, only to be repulsed by his German compatriots' jokes about the French and Treblinka.
When the Nazi returns, he realizes that he's been forever altered. Although his provincial hosts still will not speak to him, he reveals how his feelings have changed and confides his personal dilemma. The ending of the film is bittersweet and subtle, but we can't help but sympathize for all three characters for whom things might have been different if they were not in the midst of war.
This is a remarkable first film. Bruller's short story is ideal for adaptation. Most of the script is narration - practical too, because it did not necessitate synchronized sound. The shots of Paris are perfectly believable as wartime (1941).
Decae (who went on to photograph many of the most famous films of the New Wave) creates many memorable shots. I don't think I've ever seen so many low angle shots which include the ceiling this early in a French film. In any case, Decae seems heavily influenced by the work of the American noir cinematographers of this era -- but who knows if these films were even playing in France in 1949.
Melville preceded the Nouvelle Vague and made a number of films which became classics such as "Bob, le Flambeur" and "Les Enfants Terribles." Don't miss an opportunity to view LE SILENCE DE LA MER, a neglected gem. |
Last edited by mo_flixx on Thu Dec 25, 2008 11:28 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Thu Dec 25, 2008 11:02 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Rod wrote: New Moon is in The Fifty Worst Movies of All Time. Not that that means much.
It's not quite that bad, but pretty mediocre. It's not as bad as The Lottery Bride or Let's Go Native, but it isn't in the same league as Naughty Marietta or The Love Parade. |
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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| Rod |
| Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 12:26 am |
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Joined: 21 Dec 2004
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Location: Lithgow, Australia
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Oy, Wanted is dumb. Despite all the raves (including Richard Corliss naming hers one of the performances of the year), Angelina Jolie's Gal With No Name is utterly wasted. So is James McAvoy, truth be told. He can be cool; but here someone told him to play shrill even after he turns into a super action dude. Timur Bekmambetov supplies strong rapid-fire action scenes, but the ugly visual palette makes it hard to watch, the plotting too dumb, the drama too superfluous. Doomsday was way better.
Casting Morgan Freeman as Sam Jackson was, however, a master stroke. |
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A long time ago, but somehow in the future...It is a period of civil war and renegade paragraphs floating through space. |
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| Nancy |
| Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 1:18 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4607
Location: Norman, OK
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The movies I got for Christmas are:
From Syd - The Fall, which I've been wanting to see.
From another friend - a Gary Cooper collection with the pre-code Design for Living and several other Cooper films, including Beau Geste and Lives of a Bengal Lancer.
From myself - Sea Monsters, which has held the top rating on Rotten Tomatoes for months now.
That should keep me busy for a while. |
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"All in all, it's just another feather in the fan."
Isaacism, 2009 |
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| mo_flixx |
| Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 1:28 am |
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Joined: 30 May 2004
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amazon.com no longer has its 40% off sale on box sets! Just noticed that today.
Bah humbug.
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| Syd |
| Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 1:40 am |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12921
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| Double post. |
Last edited by Syd on Fri Dec 26, 2008 1:51 am; edited 1 time in total
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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