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Movies Forum Index » International Movies Forum » _Love Unto Death_
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| Guest |
 Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2008 9:42 pm |
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Most of the Resnais films I saw are comedies/musicals of one type
or another. I didn't know what _Love Unto Death_ was about
but assumed it is in the vein of _I Want to Go Home_. Imagine
my shock when I found out this is one of Resnais' most serious
and unrelentingly bleak films, even more so that _Hiroshima
Mon Amour_ and maybe in the neighborhood of _Night and Fog_.
It is an intense meditation of love and death, but mostly death.
Dying. Suicide too. Religious themes abound. Fanny Ardant and
Andre Dussollier play Protestant ministers giving advice to Azema
and Arditi's death-haunted couple in a wintry French town.
and they get into discusions
of the words "love" and "soul" in the Bible. At one point Ardant's
character gives a passionate defense of the right to suicide,
saying that the Bible doesn't forbid it.) Watching this film
reminds me of the experience of Kieslowski's _No End_,
Bresson's _Diary of a Country Priest_, Bergman's _Through a
Glass Darkly_, Tarkovsky's _The Sacrifice_. Also _Under
Satan's Sun_. The canvas is smaller but the intensity is the
same. But strangely it seems more hopefully than all the
rest of them. Not an enjoyable experience but perhaps a necessary
one -- it has been a very long time since I seen a Resnais film
this fiercely, relentlessly serious. Arditi (who has appeared in a
lot of Resnais films, including _Private Fears in Public Places_)
gives
a moving tribute to the filmmaker in an interview, the only extra
on the DVD. Sacha Vierny did the color-coded cinematography. |
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| Guest |
| Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2008 9:57 pm |
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I got so carried away by the ending I forgot to say something about
the formal elements of this film. The first 2/3 (or more) of the film
have exceptionally short scenes separated by falling snow (or
bacteria culture?)/black screen spacers than are in some cases
longer than the scenes with actors. This is reminscent of _Muriel_,
but feel even more fractured and radical. It gives you the chance
to fully reflect on what the actors said and did, and gives a cosmic
feel that reminds you of Godard's _Two or Three Things I know about
Her_ or _Nouvelle Vague_. The very modern soundtrack does not
stop though, and carries the feeling of unease forward ... The DVD
transfer is less than perfect, but Vierny's cinematography and
lighting perhaps anticipate his work with Greenaway. This is the
last of Resnais' film he would work on. |
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| Guest |
| Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 8:02 am |
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On Mar 2, 6:52 am, Manfred Polak <ma...@gmx.com> wrote:
Quote: And with Jean Dasté from "L'Atalante" in one of his last films. It
was Resnais who talked him back into movies in 1963 for "Muriel".
He also played in Resnais' "The War Is Over", and a small part
in "My American Uncle".
I didn't recognize Jean Daste as the doctor at all! You're right,
he is in quite a few Resnais films. As is Arditi, although my
strongest impression of him is in _Coeurs_. The interview with
him on the disc is quite amazing. Arditi venerates Resnais
above all directors he has worked with. The sound and images are
out of sync (though. One can complain too much; I'm glad to be
able to see these films at all on this "Kim Stim" label).
Next up: either _Melo_ or _Life is a Bed of Roses_. Someone
should release _Je t'aime, je t'aime_ too; I saw a poor print
once, during the U.S. Resnais retrospective tour a few years
ago. |
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| Manfred Polak |
| Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 9:52 am |
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Guest
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septimus@millenicom.com wrote:
Quote: Fanny Ardant and
Andre Dussollier play Protestant ministers giving advice to Azema
and Arditi's death-haunted couple in a wintry French town.
And with Jean Dasté from "L'Atalante" in one of his last films. It
was Resnais who talked him back into movies in 1963 for "Muriel".
He also played in Resnais' "The War Is Over", and a small part
in "My American Uncle".
Manfred |
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