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Avant l'hiver (2013)
But who sent the flowers?
Paul keeps receiving wonderful red roses bouquets and wonders who sends them. But the mystery won't ever be lifted.
Médecin de campagne (2016)
I loved this film because it is subtle, delicate, sober and subdued.
The complexity of feelings is hinted rather than spread out, the sequence of events is suggested rather than shown. The unsaid prevails, concealing the characters' emotional depth, which leaves a lot to the spectator's imagination. Unlike Anglo-Saxon movies it is not overacted, loud, vulgar and stuffed with sex. Also the casting is excellent, all the patients and inhabitants of the region are more real than in real life.
My only criticism would be about too much music. Silence, as in most Ingmar Bergman films, has my preference. This is the reason of my 9 out of 10 stars.
Clouds of Sils Maria (2014)
Ambiguity
Ambiguity is the key world of this film. You are the major actor in the sense that your interpretation makes the film. Each scene is so ambiguous that you can always interpret it in various manners so in the end _you_ are the director. When Maria and Val work on the text, rehearse the play, the feelings are so mingled that you are the one who decide if they are those of Helena- Sigrid or rather Maria-Val. Reality is entangled. I loved the Alps hiking shots and overall the mysterious Maloja snake. I would have rated it a 9 to the Writer-Director Olivier Assayas but reduced it to a 8 because I was disappointed in Juliette Binoche's performance. She is usually better than in this film, it is as if she didn't feel like acting this character, a bit like what happens in the film itself. At several occasions her laugh is artificial and fake. She is obviously ill at ease in this character, which proves what I wrote before about entangled reality between the film itself and the play prepared in the film. I'm not sure I am very clear but those who have seen and felt/perceived the movie as I, will understand.
Florence Foster Jenkins (2016)
Outstanding
Unlike Deborah Ross in her 7 May 16 review for the Spectator 'Not a trip to the cinema you'll bitterly resent – or hugely enjoy: Florence Foster Jenkins reviewed', I think that Stephen Frears is at his best here. This film is a masterclass in the craftsmanship of directing, acting and casting. The actors display unbelievably subtle facial expressions, absolutely spot on. Unlike most of the Anglo-Saxon cinema it is not overacted. All the details of the old NY are there: streets, cars, interiors, light, clothes, manners, atmosphere. It is a feast from beginning to end. We all know how outstanding Meryl Streep is but Simon Hellberg and Hugh Grant are outstanding as well and I guess that this is all due to the director. I indeed hugely enjoyed every minute of it.
Nationale 7 (2000)
A lesson in Cinema
The "tu-vous" sequence between Julie and Jacques is a genuine lesson in Cinema, worthy of Eric Rohmer.
I copy here the text:
Julie: - Why don't you say "tu" to me? Jacques: - I think "tu" is so trite "tu" is cold, "vous" is more subtle, more refined. It has a certain otherness, a tension, a distance whereas "tu" is brutal, it sits there and does nothing. Julie: - I don't mind the "tu". Jacques: - You're still in a childhood "tu" It's often the case in the working classes, the "vous" form is used as a defense or to be polite. Using "vous" doesn't put up any barriers, it's an invitation to find out more. Saying "vous" is far more sensual than saying "tu"
But the whole sequence is a work of art: note the camera angle, the light, the background music, what the actors do (they do a lot in this short sequence), how they move, the expression of the faces, the eyes. It is worth watching more than one time, because there is so much to catch in these 2-3 minutes.