Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12
Results 16 to 22 of 22

Thread: Paris movie report (oct. 2011)

  1. #16
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Posts
    4,843
    A Very Hot Summer

    My original reaction to your review was rather violent, to be honest. How could you dislike it so? That was Friday night after the first showing at the Cosford. I've realized since then that most people find it too slow or sad or indulgent. Only a minority of people I know liked it. The film does not break new ground and Louis G. can play this part in his sleep. And yet, I sense the presence of an author who is very sensitive to the lives of the characters he depicts and genuinely likes them despite, or perhaps because of, their feebleness and sometimes pathetic vulnerability. Also, I happen to like the effect of letting scenes linger a second or two longer than they should, which strikes me as typical of Garrel if memory serves. Having said that, I recognize his films are enjoyed by the few and that there is something lacking in Garrel that keeps one from truly rallying behind them. I felt that way even before reading Rosenbaum's notes on Garrel which I excerpt below:

    "Considering how much admiration I have for the films of Philippe Garrel, it's hard to avoid some feelings of guilt and consternation for not liking them more – especially when I consider how much they mean to others whose tastes I admire. Why do I find myself preferring the work of his best-known disciple, Leos Carax?
    This is a problem I've been wrestling with for a quarter of a century. For the past decade, I've been trying to theorize my disaffection by ascribing the passion of my younger friends for this melancholy star of the French underground to a generational taste I can't share." (Rosenbaum on Garrel)

  2. #17
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Location
    SF Bay Area
    Posts
    15,840
    You may be saying that if even Rosenbaum doesn't "get" Philippe Garrel -- or "admires" him but has never "liked" him enough -- we humbler mortals may be forgiven, but I don't fit in that category. I haven't been trying for 25 (now maybe over 30) years like Rosenbaum, by his admission, to more fully appreciate Garrel. I don't "admire" Garrel, or know exactly what that would mean. But I love those of his films that I find successful. I didn't completely feel that way about his REGULAR LOVERS (my introduction to his work) when I first saw it in the 2005 NYFF as you can see by my reserved original description but it grew on me, I soon saw it again, and it became a special favorite of mine. I amended my original comment on it when I saw it again at Cinema Village in 2007. I've seen it since on DVD. I also loved J'ENTENDS PLUS LA GUITARE when I saw it at Film Comment Selects in 2009. So I don't condemn A BURNING HOT SUMMER as a failure out of a chronic lack of sympathy for Philippe Garrel. I suppose your defense of A BURNING HOT SUMMER, concerning "an author" who cares about even his most irresponsible characters, is a recognition that he is an "auteur" whose work by definition is always relevant to his oeuvre, which is true, but doesn't make this recent film one of his successes. I disagree with your assertion that Louis can do this kind of role "in his sleep," because I think he is miscast and the setting and the wife are wrong, and one can't play the wrong role in one's sleep. Moreover I think it's a (common) fallacy to assume Louis plays suicidal poetic types so often he can play them in his sleep. Honoré has given him constant opportunities to show his giddy, silly side, characters who aren't poetic or suicidal at all, or when they are, get over it, and he's played in more films for Honoré than for his father and quite a wide variety of roles and situations. Apart from that, he may be sleepwalking in A BURNING HOT SUMMER but this is not a role he can play convincingly, as written. I'm not sure anyone can. Besides that there are other serous flaws. Things go wrong with this production, particularly with the cinematography and the improperly balanced color in some sequences. Both Garrels are out of their element in the Italy sequences. None of the cast members is acting at anywhere near his (or her) best. And you know things are not going right when the cinematographer doesn't even make Garrel or Bellucci look good.

    That said, I may have judged the film too harshly and might take another look at it some time. Certainly Philippe Garrel does know his bad romances.

    I've read Rosenbaum's SIGHT AND SOUND article that you quote from more carefully, but naturally I personally don't feel obliged to feel strong reservations about either Bertolucci's THE DREAMERS or Garrel's REGULAR LOVERS as Rosenbaum apparently does because their versions of Paris in 1968 fail to correspond to his personal experiences of Paris at around that time (slightly after the main barricades events in both films). THE DREAMERS to me is a beautiful, posh, more square version of roughly (not exactly) the same world and time referenced in REGULAR LOVERS, and I don't condemn either film for inauthenticity. In fact both evoke a world none of us has known, one that is cinematic and magical and highly seductive. In the case of REGULAR LOVERS the experience is more unique and has better atmosphere than Bertolucci's, and works on a larger social palette than Bertolucci's claustrophobic ménage a' trois. Rosenbaum's comments about the drugs used in Garrel's film are speculative and even a bit of a red herring. It's obvious that in the second half of REGULAR LOVERS the friends have lost their verve and energy, and the drugs are more a symptom than a cause. This situation may be not so much the despair or "voluptuous embrace" of "political defeat" as just not knowing where to go next, something that happened to a lot of non-drug useers after '68. The slowdown prepares the way for Clotilde Hesme's character to take the opportunity to drop Francois (Louis Garrel) and move to New York.
    Last edited by Chris Knipp; 07-19-2012 at 06:39 PM.

  3. #18
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Posts
    4,843
    My intention was to acknowledge that the critical reception of Garrel's films is quite divergent. I liked The Birth of Love (1993) and Regular Lovers (2007 US) enough to list at the borderline between top 10 foreign and runners-up. I think they are both clearly better than A Burning Hot Summer and yet I enjoyed it and found your review too harsh. As you have noted, the French reviews range from utter crap to masterpiece. Historically this has been a typical reception to Garrel's films. You make a lot of good comments in your post. I think you are being fair and not prejudiced in your views at all. I think you have genuine reasons to have disliked it which does not mean that I share your views. I do realize the film has flaws and limitations.

  4. #19
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Location
    SF Bay Area
    Posts
    15,840
    Thanks. Nice comment. But there is no need for debate.

    Top ten foreign for what? All time?

    I'm looking forward to Christophe Honoré's new film, BELOVED (Les Bien-aimés). I just saw a trailer for it. Louis Garrel, Chiara Mastroianni, Ludivine Sagnier of LOVE SONGS, Chiara's mother, songs by Alex Beaupin again. This has all the ingredients of an enjoyable Honoré piece. My Lincoln Center colleagues didn't seem to get LOVE SONGS at all (maybe the ones who did just were silent) This one opened almost a year ago in Paris, and got an outstanding press review Allocine rating of 3.7, as good as MOONRISE KINGDOM (but over 4 would be true love from them). I don't think Americans get French songs in movies or particularly like Honoré, though LOVE SONGS officially got a Metacritic rating of 70; his highest here; his average is 54. Philippe Garrel's is 69. Has anybody heard of either? Cahiers du Cinema and Les Inrockuptibles widely split on BELOVED.

  5. #20
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Posts
    4,843
    I am simply and definitely not a fan of Christophe Honore.
    I think that the most talented French director who does not seem to get enough press is ARNAUD DESPLECHIN: Esther Kahn, A Christmas Tale, My Sex Life, The Sentinelle, and perhaps his masterpiece Kings and Queen. His next movie is his English-language debut and stars Benicio del Toro.

  6. #21
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Location
    SF Bay Area
    Posts
    15,840
    I love KINGS AND QUEEN, and CONTE DE NOEL is good stuff, MY SEX LIFE interesting. Of course Desplechin is brilliant, a genius. At least he thinks so. Honoré doesn't get much fanfare here either; no younger French director does but Desplechin has gotten more positive publicity than most. Honoré will never get as much here. I love Honoré's INSIDE PARIS, LOVE SONGS. He has strong ties with the French New Wave; LA BELLE PERSONNE relates to Garrel's films. Of course Garrel gets zero publicity; hardly any of his films have even been shown here. I love Audiard's films, all have been fine, never faltering. particularly the last three, THE BEAT MY HEART SKIPPED, THE PROPHET, and RUST AND BONE. Audiard is at the top of his game, and much admired in France. I love most of Bruno Dumont. Gaspar Noé is stonr, slightly known. Pierre Schoeller's THE MINISTER from last year is a killer movie. Robert Guédiguian, virtually unknown here, had a great one this year, THE SNOWS OF KILIMANJARO. I was surprised by Alain Cavalier's conceptual PATER in March, and loved the energy of Fred Louf's debut 18 YEARS OLD AND RISING. Bertrand Bonello's APOLLONIDE/HOUSE OF PLEASURES drew a lot attention and was released here; it sticks in my mind. There is not just one lacking fanfare. And the French imports to the US shown to festival goers by UniFrance are not bold enough. Desplechin is a safe choice. The safety is indicated by his switching to a US star and English. I would rather champion the director or SISTER, French language Swiss. Ursula Meier. I haven't even seen her first film.
    Last edited by Chris Knipp; 07-20-2012 at 01:23 AM.

  7. #22
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Location
    SF Bay Area
    Posts
    15,840
    The following films opened in New York recently:

    CHICKEN WITH PLUMS (Paranaud/Satrapi). Reviewed in this thread, seen in Paris October 2011. Showing at City Cinemas Village East Cinema, NYC.

    THE AMBASSADOR (Mads Brügger). ] Included in New Directors/New Films Feb.-March 2012, at Lincoln Center and reviewed by me then. Opens Wed. Aug. 29 at iFC Center, NYC.

    NEIGHBORING SOUNDS (Kleber Mendoça, Brazilian). Also part of this year's New Directors/New Films. This one I'd consider a must-see. (It was reviewed by A.O. Scott and is a NY Times movie pick.) IFC Center, NYC, opened Aug. 24.

    CHICKEN WITH PLUMS and THE AMBASSADOR you survie without, but you should probably see Brügger's RED CHAPEL and Paranaud/Satrapi's PERSEPOLIS, their previous films.
    Last edited by Chris Knipp; 08-28-2012 at 09:09 PM.

Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •