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Movies Forum Index » International Movies Forum » _Life is a Bed of Roses_; _Gang of Four_
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| Guest |
 Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2008 8:27 pm |
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I should have watched the documentary on
_Life is a Bed of Roses_ before the film --
it really helps orient the audience about what
Resnais wants to to do. He makes a convincing
case that songs (or fragments thereof) are more
expressive and concise than dialog, hence having
character bursting into short clips of songs. This
is admittedly done much more smoothly in
_Same Old Songs_ though. The fact that the
characters are infantile, immature brats in both
1910s France, being
held hostage iin a "City of Happiness," and
in the modern day, attending a conference of
education/imagination, also come through
in retrospect. What is distracting is the acting
style, and the framing technique as well. So
many times the film would cut to the characters
in the center of the screen making the most
exaggerated faces at the camera. Maybe this
is French comedy style but it is very hard to
watch (especially since I've come to expect
elegant tracking shots from Resnais every
time). The writer is the same one who did
_Love Unto Death_ (and a ton of other French
new wave classics), the difference in tone cannot
be more marked. Does anyone have something
more insightful to add than my rambling about this
film?
I rewatched Rivette's _Gang of Four_. It is one
of my favorite, if minor, Rivette films. It is truly
an actor's film and reminds me of _Games of
Love and Chance_, a worthy if completely different
successor. Bulle Ogier is magnificent in it,
Laurence Cote has one of her best roles, and
Irene Jacob (always chewing on an orange or
something) makes an appearance too. |
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| Guest |
| Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 7:22 pm |
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On Mar 9, 11:27 pm, septi...@millenicom.com wrote:
Quote: ... Bulle Ogier is magnificent in it,
Laurence Cote has one of her best roles, and
Irene Jacob (always chewing on an orange or
something) makes an appearance too.
And let's not forget Benoit Regent (Olivier in _Blue_)
plays the slimy shadowy worm (almost the only male
character in the film) who insinuates into the gang's
life. Such an interesting little film, especially compared
to the recent Rivettes like _Secret Defense_ and
_Marion and Julien_, which literally bored me to tears.
I think I fell asleep during one of them too. |
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