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Movies Forum Index » International Movies Forum » _Contempt_, _Flight of the Red Balloon_
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| Guest |
 Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 6:00 am |
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I wasn't planning on watching _Contempt_ but am so glad I did.
It has really been 10 years since I last saw it and I am shocked
how much I have forgotten. I always thought it was the most
classical of Godard's films of the 60s, but it is still radical in
its own way. So much of it is about translation of the spoken
words, or the impossibility thereof. (Even the opening credits
are spoken, not written.) The incredible simmering passive-agressive
fjgbt between Piccoli abd Bardot in their apartment (to be paid
by Hollywood money) is legendary of course, and I have forgotten
the use of color filters there (or was it in the early apartment
scene?), The film is operatic and almost Wagnerian in the
way it pits man vs woman, Art vs Hollywood, modernity vs.
antiquity, man vs. nature, all the while leaving these collisions
unresolved in a most satisfying way. Fritz Lang's pithy epigrams
anchor the film; Godard must have intended hiim to be the modern
equivalent of the Greek Gods portrayed in the film (and in his film
within the film).
I'm the biggest fan of Juliette Binoche but my humble opnion
is that she doesn't really fit into _The Flight of the Red Balloon_.
She gave an amazing performance, vivacious and brave, but
the rest of the characters by comparison are completely in her
shadow. Even (especially) the child actor playing her son.
When she is not on screen, I find myself pining for her return,
waiting for the next soap-opera moment to happen. |
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| Guest |
| Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 3:07 pm |
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Quote: it pits man vs woman, Art vs Hollywood, modernity vs.
antiquity, man vs. nature, all the while leaving these collisions
unresolved in a most satisfying way.
What I forgot to say is that many early Godard films most
certainly have unresolved, contrasting elements, but they
are not as classically, symmetrically arranged as in _Contempt_.
Just about a perfect film.
Quote:
I'm the biggest fan of Juliette Binoche ...
When she is not on screen, I find myself pining for her return,
waiting for the next soap-opera moment to happen.
Perhaps Binoche is the real "red balloon" in the film? |
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