To the resonant narration of actor Jean Servais, this movie surprises with its gentle moments of truth about love -- all flowing from the pen of a master of world literature.
My late father always admired the fiction of Guy de Maupassant, and he would have enjoyed an opportunity to experience this quiet gem.
This evocative film presents three visions of pleasure, each bittersweet, from the French master. In the first, based on "Le Masque," we're swept into the frenzy of a masquerade ball. All types converge onto the dance floor -- including "rich, old, diamond-laden women chasing their youth." In the midst is a hoofer so dynamic that he collapses into a faint. It's no wonder, perhaps -- he's an old man in the guise of a young buck, experiencing "regret at not being what he once was...A man changes, quickly." A kindly physician escorts the man home, where he is descends into sleep and the care of his spouse. We recognize these souls, perhaps in ourselves.
The second tale, "La Maison Tellier," introduces the perplexed clientele of a bordello inexplicably closed one evening. The ladies are off to Normandy for a rare few hours of respite. A steam-locomotive jaunt into the countryside -- check out the peasant woman in their coach ("Hussies -- just like in accursed Paris!") -- a chance to imagine the domesticities of what might have been, unexpected tears in a country church, intriguing repartee between one of the women (Danielle Darrieux) and a local cart driver (Jean Gabin), and fleeting minutes of flower-gathering on the hurried trek back to the train station. This segment reminds us of what might have been -- and of what might still be. ( Did anyone else wish Gabin showed up at Tellier's?)
In the final tale, "Le Peintre," we ponder the tragedies of physical pleasure. Just when we think we've secured our ideal...oh, how terribly deluded we find ourselves to be! Here we meet impetuous artist Jean (Daniel Gefin), who pursues winsome Josephine (Simone Simon), who, "as she passed...had no idea her fate had been settled." And, for Jean's part, "he never noticed that Josephine was like all models." His ardor cools as he grows to know the possessor of that tiny waist. This tale builds in unexpected horror and suspense. I think it must have inspired "Fatal Attraction."
The cinematography here is exquisite. I had DVR'd the film, and luxuriated over it for a week.
A wonderful thing about my Penn State education in the Seventies was the French film festival organized by one of my French profs. This profound film took me back to that basement screening room. Like the doctor in "Le Masque," here we "learn a valuable lesson."
My late father always admired the fiction of Guy de Maupassant, and he would have enjoyed an opportunity to experience this quiet gem.
This evocative film presents three visions of pleasure, each bittersweet, from the French master. In the first, based on "Le Masque," we're swept into the frenzy of a masquerade ball. All types converge onto the dance floor -- including "rich, old, diamond-laden women chasing their youth." In the midst is a hoofer so dynamic that he collapses into a faint. It's no wonder, perhaps -- he's an old man in the guise of a young buck, experiencing "regret at not being what he once was...A man changes, quickly." A kindly physician escorts the man home, where he is descends into sleep and the care of his spouse. We recognize these souls, perhaps in ourselves.
The second tale, "La Maison Tellier," introduces the perplexed clientele of a bordello inexplicably closed one evening. The ladies are off to Normandy for a rare few hours of respite. A steam-locomotive jaunt into the countryside -- check out the peasant woman in their coach ("Hussies -- just like in accursed Paris!") -- a chance to imagine the domesticities of what might have been, unexpected tears in a country church, intriguing repartee between one of the women (Danielle Darrieux) and a local cart driver (Jean Gabin), and fleeting minutes of flower-gathering on the hurried trek back to the train station. This segment reminds us of what might have been -- and of what might still be. ( Did anyone else wish Gabin showed up at Tellier's?)
In the final tale, "Le Peintre," we ponder the tragedies of physical pleasure. Just when we think we've secured our ideal...oh, how terribly deluded we find ourselves to be! Here we meet impetuous artist Jean (Daniel Gefin), who pursues winsome Josephine (Simone Simon), who, "as she passed...had no idea her fate had been settled." And, for Jean's part, "he never noticed that Josephine was like all models." His ardor cools as he grows to know the possessor of that tiny waist. This tale builds in unexpected horror and suspense. I think it must have inspired "Fatal Attraction."
The cinematography here is exquisite. I had DVR'd the film, and luxuriated over it for a week.
A wonderful thing about my Penn State education in the Seventies was the French film festival organized by one of my French profs. This profound film took me back to that basement screening room. Like the doctor in "Le Masque," here we "learn a valuable lesson."