Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
Here's a quick couple of reviews from Yellow_Shu, one of our friends in Montreal. Check this out...
hey harry...call me yellow_shu...reporting from Montreal...World Film festival....didn't have much time to catch too many things...so chose wisely...
recently, european "erotic" indies have been invading arthouses (such as Romance and Baise-Moi)...and Film festivals are prime locations to catch them upfront and fresh off the boat....this years WFF presents two highly anticipated (and wildly different) ones....Catherine Breillat's follow-up to her groundbreaking "Romance", "A Ma Soeur" (loosely translated into "Fat Girl")...and Patrice Chereau's award-winning "Intimacy"
"A Ma Soeur" tells the cruel story of two teenage sisters, Anais (Anais Reboux) and Elena (Roxane Mesquida) who, when walking side by side, look like Laurel and Hardy. On vacation, Elena (the pretty one) falls for Fernando (Librero de Renzo), an italian law-student. They quickly shack up and (in one very very long scene) end up in bed, Fernando trying to convince Elena to give up her virginity. Anais (the fat one) is forced to watch (the sisters share a room). This love-hate relationship fuels the whole movie which climaxes in a shockingly violent finale.
Breillat once again displays her trademark sexual frankness but yet again manages to not let it dive into the exploitive. The story is touching and incredibly acted, particularly Anais Reboux in her big-screen debut. The supporting cast pales a bit in the background but is not spared of good actors (notbaly Arsinee Khanjian playing the mother). While this movie might not garner as much attention as Romance because of it's nudity, the brutal ending will grab you by the throat. Shocking, yes but necessary. Breillat seems to be specializing in one specific subject matter : the masochism of female heterosexual relationships. With Romance, she got the ball rolling (and our attention); this time, she takes it one step further.
On another note, Patrice Chereau attacks another facet of human sexuality : the fine line between making love and a good fuck. "Intimacy" could have dived easily into banality (the ever-so-popular themes of infidelity, desire and the impossibility of a relationship) yet manages to avoid this AND become a deep, effective and disturbing film.
Jay (Mark Rylance) and Claire (Kerry Fox) meet every wednesday at his flat to fuck. They don't say a word to each other and she leaves immediately after it's over. One day, he decides to follow her and this leads him to a cheap theatre where he meets her husband Andy (the always excellent Timothy Spall). An ugly ending ensues...
The actors are aboslutely brilliant. Mark Rylance (in a departure from Shakespearian roles) makes Jay a man who used to have it all (a wife and two kids) and walked away. Kerry Fox is outstanding as a woman who is plain and simple a failure. These two lost souls complement each other nicely.
The overall look of the movie is quite cold (blueish, whiteish) but the movie manages to reach out and change you. The sex scenes are shot in a raw manner but never feeling pushy or porny (kudos to Eric Gauthier, the cinematographer, for an excellent job).
Grabbing me from the first minutes, i was thrilled when the credits started rolling. What a great two hours. This is good cinema, i tought : a story, actors and a camera.
yellow_shu out. : )
ps : just for the envy factor : our festial/town might not be as star-powered as Toronto.....but we did get "Pacte des Loups" in a commercial release last SPRING.....and "Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amelie Poulain" comes out commerically in theatres on Friday...HA ; )
ACK! I can't wait to see AMELIE, and I adore BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF, and can't wait to see it on a bigscreen. Lucky Yellow_Shu...
"Moriarty" out.
