There are some films widely praised that certain viewers just don't get and this was one of those for me. I liked the cinematography, the lighting, the music, the acting and the first and last ten minutes. Both scenes were shocking and imaginative, if a trifle Shakespearian.But in between was a complex plot that had to be explained to the audience in its entirety near the end. The explanation of what actually transpired took at least 10 minutes of film time. It seemed like a ham-handed technique. I think in the best films the audience comes to understand what happened on their own.
I also thought the film worked best from the POV of the original protagonist but somewhere the POV shifed to Belmondo's, and it lost its tightness for me. What happened often seemed arbitrary and even after the explication, I said, "huh?"
Is there a film that others revere that leaves you cold? This is my pick. Good looks only go so far.
5 comments:
After watching LE SAMOURAI, I would forgive Melville just about anything. Despite your mixed reveiw I now want to see LA DOULOS desperately!
Best of all, my wife loves art films, so I can convince her to watch anything French.
Okay, now you made me want to see Le Samourai. I'm sure you'll like this one. The people we went with loved it as did the audience. And again, everything was aces but the plot.
Aside from David Lynch's films, where it's pretty clear that he wants nothing to be entirely clear, I'm not usually too easily shook by cinematic obfuscation...perhaps more the fool, I. One *can* draw linear narratives, more or less, out the likes of MULHOLLAND DRIVE (which is worth seeing) and the Assayas-directed DEMONLOVER (which isn't), but it might not be worth the effort. I remember when two WW2 films came out one summer a decade back, both eagerly awaited by many...I knew I wasn't going to like the shallow manipulation of Spielberg's (that's all Spielberg is capable of), but I was among those who were deeply disappointed at the magnificently shot but soporific THE THIN RED LINE.
I don't mind being in the dark as much as I mind having it explained with scenes that were never in the movie and such a lengthy explanation. It also had an excruciatingly long scene at the police station midway.
I want to like them. I know I should like them. But Wes Anderson's films leave me cold.
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