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"Magicians don't exist"

In keeping with my recent film choices of the French and animated variety, we watched a beautiful film that happened to be both French and animated. 

L'illusionniste (The Illusionist) is an 80 minute animation based off a screenplay written by Jacques Tati and directed by Sylvain Chomet, who also directed The Triplets of Belleville and the Tour Eiffel segment of Paris Je T'aime (which I also happened to have just watched) about amorous mime artists that can be seen here. Chomet has developed a completely unique style with almost a complete lack of language, save for a few common words and some incomprehensible chatter, and beautiful hand drawn animation of real world landscapes and caricatures that push the aesthetic towards humorous fantasy. The muted colours and the subtle humor transcend language and allow this film to be understood visually and emotionally by all ages.

The film centers around Tatischeff (Jacques Tati's real name), an aging vaudeville illusionist struggling to make ends meet in the music halls of Paris in the late 1950s. He travels to the grey and very wet London in hopes of revitalizing his career, only to discover how irrelevant his act is in a city overcome with the rock and roll sensation and Beatlesque band Billy Boy and the Britoons, a lament for a lost era of  entertainment. He at last finds an appreciative audience in Scotland and in one particular young girl named Alice who becomes enamoured with his illusions and accompanies him to Edinburgh. She wishes for new shoes and dresses and when they appear for her, she has no idea that he has to scrape together his pennies and work numerous demeaning jobs in order to conjure them up for her. His is a dying breed and we watch as other fellow variety artists struggle with alcoholism and suicide as they discover more and more that their talents are no longer needed and appreciated as they used to be. The world is changing with several Cold War allusions portrayed through newspaper headlines on the street.



He cultivates the illusion to transform Alice into a young woman who, though still naive, looks and dresses like a member of high society. It is through his own demise and sacrifices that she rises and makes something of herself and gets a chance at a life better than the poor one she had before. Just as she is opening her eyes to the world, he is losing his faith, his illusions of keeping magic alive fading from his eyes. It's these emotions and bonds of this film that resonate. Though it is often somber, the film is beautifully lightened by its unique and charming supporting characters and scene-stealing sketches of a drunken Tatischeff stumbling upstairs or fretting for his grumpy rabbit who he believes may have been cooked into Alice's stew, only to emerge from under the couch to gobble up a bag of sausages.

With Chomet's beautifully evocative recreations of Paris, London and Edinburgh from a bygone age and his amazing attention to detail he manages to create a sense of illusion and wonderment. I especially loved the scene where feathers from an open pillow case turn into an unlikely snowstorm, tricking young Alice into thinking winter has suddenly arrived and feeling the need to light a warm fire. Or even more remarkably when Tatischeff stumbles into a theater playing Mon Oncle (a Jacques Tati film) and for a few surreal seconds, the real and imagined Tati come face to face. These moments of beauty are what bring such life to this melancholy tale.

Dimanche Rouge

Deeply Moulded

"Mary Dinkle's eyes were the colour of muddy puddles, her birthmark the colour of poo."

 Had a bit of an impromptu movie night the other night, or at least attempted to. I began with watching Don't Look Now on Netflix which I've wanted to see for ages. Unfortunately, 10 minutes in Netflix decided to disconnect itself and I couldn't continue to watch it. That was annoying and very disappointing so I'll have to just watch it another time. After that I watched this animated film called Mary and Max that I picked up a while back from one of those Blockbuster sales and hadn't watched yet. I'm always drawn to interesting looking animations and when I read the voice cast, I was sold. I finished with The Pit and the Pendulum with Vincent price which was a late Christmas present from my sister and then a couple of episodes of Bored to Death, Jason Schwartzman's new show that we just finished watching the first 2 seasons of and I highly recommend because it's hilarious (it also stars Zack Galifianakas). I now want to share a bit about Mary and Max.

Mary and Max (2009 Australia) is a clay animated flick for adults who seek a departure from the usual (but also wonderful) more Hollywood animations from Pixar/Dreamworks, etc. It's a film that follows the 20 year friendship between Mary (voiced by Toni Collette), a young girl from a small village in Australia and her pen pal Max (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) who is a middle aged, overweight Jewish man in New York with a penchant for chocolate hot dogs.

It feels very personal in it's depictions of these two people who are both so equally naive and unaware of how the world works, and is frankly, much darker than I expected it to be. It uses witty and comical childlike frankness to explore the deep issues of a depressed little girl and a sheltered, lonely man who suffers from Asperger's Syndrome. We see Mary's world through a sepia filter and Max's in black and white, both with touches of bright red here and there that give this film such visual impact. I am always so impressed with the amount of time and creation put into clay animation and when it's coupled with amazing characters and a great story, it's all the more impressive.

We watch as they discuss every topic imaginable, swapping assumptions they've made and lies they've been told about where babies comes from, how to handle bullies, "sexing", animal facts and more, each more hilarious and naive than the next. We see their lives unfold, through the ups and downs, and how the one piece of happiness that remains constant in their lives is their friendship with one another, the only place they've ever truly fit in. Delivering funny anecdotes, cute visual jokes and many emotional scenes, Mary and Max deserves a watch. It's funny, dark and endearing at the same time and a striking piece of animation.

Photo Penchant

Can I live here?

"Ma Bête!"

“Children believe what we tell them, they have complete faith in us. They believe that a rose plucked from a garden can bring drama to a family. They believe that the hands of a human beast will smoke when he slays a victim, and that this beast will be ashamed when confronted by a young girl.
They believe a thousand other simple things. . .”

45 years before Disney's adaptation of "Beauty and the Beast", Jean Cocteau- poet, playwright, sculptor, surrealist- adapted Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont's famous story in a far more magical and visually stunning way. Cocteau dazzles us with dreamlike imagery, scenes that could easily stand alone as paintings, and potent sexual imagery that is left open to psychological (and psychosexual) interpretation. Cocteau desired "to make the Beast so human, so sympathetic, so superior to men, that his transformation into Prince Charming would come as a terrible blow to Beauty." and he succeeded. Not only does Belle react to his transformation with less than fawning delight, but the audience is left missing their Beast as well.

Henri Alekan's beautiful camerawork compliments the fairytale special effects of the castle in such a stunning way. Simple camera tricks like smoking hands, jewelry turning into snake-like roots, and Belle gliding down the castle hallways in an entrancingly beautiful and ghostly fashion, paired with living furniture- arms holding up the chandeliers on the walls, faces in the fireplace and architecture of the castle- make the film feel stunningly fantastical and brings Cocteau's poetic vision to life. Since there isn't enough that I can say to do justice to this work of visual enchantment, I will leave you with a collection of images and a clip to entice you to see this for yourself.

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Voleur!

The other night my sister and I ended up having an unplanned French Criterion movie night. We ate delicious salads, nostalgic KD (which we have officially retired) and Baileys lattes (mine was quite heavy on the creamy beige). We started off with Gervaise which I brought over because I'd had it for a year and hadn't gotten around to watching it yet. This was followed by a quick episode of The Golden Girls (Jackie insisted and it was quite funny) and then we watched her copy of Jean Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast. It was a lovely escape into black and white french splendor that has left me wanting more and constantly humming Charles Trenet.

René Clement's 1956 screen adaptation of Emile Zola's L'Assommoir (The Dream Shop) is a harrowing and somewhat excruciating tale of working-class Parisians in the mid-19th century. It stars Austrian actress Maria Schell as Gervaise Macquart, a young lame laundress who's dreams are slowly crushed by her alcoholic husband.

The film begins with Gervaise being left by her lover Auguste Lantier, leaving her with two young boys and the embarrassment of everyone else being privy to his cheating, long before her. This leads to quite the cat fight when Gervaise is confronted by the other woman's sister, Virginie, at work and before you know it, there's hair being pulled, buckets of soapy water being thrown and behinds being spanked! Unfortunately for Gervaise, this incident has long-term ramifications for her. 


Gervaise eventually moves on and marries affable roofer Monsieur Coupeau (Francois Perier). They have a daughter together, Nana, and living happily together, Gervaise thinks about opening her own laundry. Sadly, her dreams are set aside when Coupeau has a roofing accident, injuring himself quite severely and preventing him from working. It takes all of their money for Gervaise to care for him and it looks like she'll never get her shop until Coupeau's good friend Goujet (Jacques Harden), the tender and dignified bearded blacksmith, loans Gervaise the money.

They live happily for some time and just when it looks like things are finally working out for Gervaise, Virginie returns with a plan to destroy her. Coupeau begins his spiraling descent into acoholism, Gervaise struggles with a love for Goujet and Lantier returns to turn her life upside down. Coupeau befriends Lantier and invites him to live with them and we watch as Gervaise's life and dreams are destroyed by the men she tried to love. It isn't a happy ending as Gervaise herself turns to alcoholism and little Nana runs around with all the little boys, foreshadowing a similar future full of men and peril for the little girl.



It's very tragic and perilous to watch, although from what I've read, L'Assommoir is even more savage and tragic. What I appreciated about this film was how Clement kept it from turning into a weepy melodrama. It was so artfully put together and he was able to communicate basic human feelings that evoke a genuine emotional response without the need for contrived sentimentality. He utilizes devices like overly cheerful music during moments of crisis that direct us to feel Gervaise's brief moment of happiness so that when the blow comes, we have a deeper feeling and understanding for her pain.

The film also offers gorgeous sets that effectively reproduce working-class areas of Second Empire Paris and compliment the tremendous acting. It's no surprise that Maria Schell received the Best Actress award at the Venice Film Festival for her gripping portrayal of Gervaise. When you watch her you can't help but form a strong emotional attachment to her character and feel every blow as she takes it. The character of Gervaise symbolizes the working-class woman of the mid-19th century, a strong and determined heroine trying to create a better life for herself and hold her family together, whilst still dependent on men, who do nothing but hinder her and show contempt. Francois Perier's convincing performance as an alcoholic, showing the erosion of a man's confidence and hope, really emphasizes Gervaise's despair and fills you with such disgust and disdain for his character that you find yourself just waiting for him to finally do himself in.

Clement so beautifully depicted humour, affection and loveliness, as well as despair, squalor and cruelty in a perfect blend that completes the irony of the film. It's a harrowing and deeply moving look at life in the slums that is truly affecting and a must-see for film lovers.

Photo Penchant

Photo Penchant

Exploitation Film of the Month

"I'd climb aboard a porcupine if it struck my fancy."

 A new month has finally arrived and James and I wasted no time in heading down to our favourite video store and purchasing this month's flick, Score. There were a lot of choices but this film just couldn't be ignored and with a recommendation from Cinema Sewer (a filthy, independently produced movie magazine written and illustrated by one of the guys at the video store), we knew it would be worth checking out!

Radley Metzger directs 1972's Score (was released in the US in 1974) based off a 1971 off-Broadway play of the same title, written by Jerry Douglas (who also wrote for the film). This piece of "high class erotica" is just one of many directed by Radley Metzger, having directed over 20 of these films between 1961 and 1984. After checking this film out (and seeing a couple of previews on the DVD extras) I definitely want to check out some more of his work.


Score tells the story of a swinging married couple, Elvira (Claire Wilbur who reprises her role from the Broadway production) and Jack (Gerald Grant) who have a sexual appetite for men, couples, telephone repairmen- you name it! Elvira, somewhat bored with their usual hookups, and looking for a bit of a challenge, decides to seduce an innocent younger couple, Betsey (Lynn Lowry of The Crazies, I Drink Your Blood) and Eddie (Calvin Culver gay XXX icon) and make a bet out of it. You see, they have this little game where they find a couple (or individual) that catches their fancy and one of them is challenged to seduce them within a 6-month time limit. It's sort of unclear about what happens when they lose but that isn't really the point.

Elvira is quite the sex pot. She goes out in a trench coat, wearing nothing under it, and parades around the house in a sheer house coat. You can tell that Claire Wilbur knows this character inside and out and everything about her exudes confidence and sexuality. She starts off "operation music box", as the humorously innocent sounding narrator puts it, seducing a telephone repairmen(Carl Parker who has only 4 acting credits, two of which being Radley Metzger films) in front of Betsey while Jack is at work. Poor, naive Betsey is a little shocked by this, thanks to her Catholic upbringing, and tries to feign sickness when her and Eddie are expected to be over for dinner that night.

After she shows up, wearing white lace practically up to her eyeballs, Jack and Elvira start their conquest. They begin by getting the couple to relax with a bit of pot (from their pepper grinder!) and innocent little Betsey, who's never done any drugs, keeps asking "am I stoned yet?". After a bit of "Chopsticks" on the piano from the ladies, and inhibitions lowered, a costume trunk is brought out. Jack reveals how he wishes he had been a sailor, goading Betsey into revealing that she wishes she had been a model and Eddie a cowboy. The two men don possibly the most homoerotic outfits you could pick, Betsey a very minimal black lace number and Elvira comes out in a rather revealing nun outfit, emitting the response of "Jesus Christ" from Betsey.

It's certainly on now as the clock ticks closer and closer to midnight and if they're going to score, they're going to have to do it soon!This leads to splitting up the couples, Elvira with Betsey and Jack with Eddie, and after some heart to hearts (Betsey confesses her marriage issues and suspicions of Eddie's sexuality) and some poppers, it doesn't take long for both of them to score!



It's a simple story with humorous and campy dialogue delivered in the best way that it can be by it's actors, despite being a little stiff at times. It's a bit talky but the pacing is very quick and smooth. Each of them seemed to have a strong sense of who their characters were and played them convincingly. And let's face it, it's a movie about sex and having fun so we're not expecting top notch acting and dialogue here. We also see a subtle degradation of religious views into sexual exploration which leads to the glorious and freeing transformation of Betsey.

The erotic aspects of the film are noticeably uneven. The sex scenes between the two women are never more than a softcore skin flick and camera tricks playing off the mirrors to make it look like the women are touching more than they are. I discovered that this was due to hostility between the two actresses off screen, apparently because of Lynn Lowry making more money. This unfortunately ruins their chemistry and makes their scenes together look a bit silly. The scenes with guys however, are very explicit and quite raw. Little is left to the imagination as we see the men engaging in actual felatio, sitting on the edge between soft and hardcore (no worries, there's no penetration or ejaculation). I think Metzger's exploration in homosexuality and not holding back is commendable and genuinely erotic.

All of this is of course aided by the bright colours and fun camerawork. It's all very tastefully shot and paired with a mixed and amusing soundtrack ranging from strange flute to the somewhat horrible but catchy uncredited song "Where is the Girl" the reoccurs throughout the film and switches to "Where is the Boy" at the end. There are also plenty of gorgeous shots of the village of Bakar, Croatia where the movie was filmed, or as they liked to call it "Leisure City".

Score is a great mix of sex and comedy and has such a delightfully cheery ending. Everything about it is just so upbeat, fun and sexy! Though it may not be for everyone, it is the perfect example of "high class eroticism" and is undeniably enjoyable to watch (It's just too bad the carefree notions of the film didn't foster more safe sex all around as both Grant and Culver died of complications related to HIV/AIDS). I think we made a good pick for this month!