I’m a Delusional Angel
July 13th – July 19th
L’heure d’été (Summer Hours) - I left the theatre after seeing Oliver Assayas latest film feeling a little like how Frédéric felt about the Corot paintings. I felt a strong affinity for the film, even if I couldn’t quite say why. After all, it was the French who invented je ne sais quoi, right?
In essence, the film is about the value we place on things–art, family, tradition, etc.–without being overly judgmental about the particular choices people make. But of course, we cannot help but be judgmental about the things we are passionate about. Otherwise, what would sustain the passion?
This was the second film that started out as a commission from the Musée d’Orsay to celebrate their 20th anniversary. Four filmmakers–Assayas, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Jim Jarmusch, and Paul Ruiz–were commissioned to create films that featured the museum as well as Juliette Binoche. The first was Hou Hsiao-hsien’s wonderful Le voyage du ballon rouge (Flight of the Red Balloon), an homage to both Félix Vallotton’s painting Le Ballon as well as the classic Albert Lamorisse short Le Ballon rouge (The Red Balloon). Summer Hours featured a number of actual pieces loaned by the museum for the production (as well as some actual Musée d’Orsay appraisers).
Umberto D. - Well, if you want a Neo(-Neo) Realism double feature with dogs, and you don’t mind sobbing like an infant, this is the perfect companion to Kelly Reichardt’s Wendy and Lucy. This film landed in my queue because I’m a sucker for dogs and because I was interested in the Italian realism that may have influenced the Neo-Neo Realist directors of today, including Reichardt, Rahmin Bahrani (Man Push Cart, Chop Shop), and Lance Hammer (Ballast).
Even I who am rather ignorant of Italian history could not help but me moved by the Fascist implications of the dog pound scene. And the closing scene just very well may be my go-to scene whenever I need to let out a good cry. The love and loneliness in that scene is incomparable.
This one (directed by Vittoria De Sica) was shot on location with mostly non-professional actors (only the landlady and Flike, the dog, were professionals) and is considered by some to mark the end of Italian realism. Next, I need to see De Sica’s The Bicycle Thief…and revisit Wendy & Lucy and Ballast (which features perhaps my favorite single shot of a dog on film).
Before Sunrise - I wasn’t too crazy about this one. I really like some of Linklater’s other stuff, like Slackers, Dazed & Confused, and Waking Life, but this one didn’t really do it for me. I found myself more enamored with Vienna then with either Jesse or Céline. I should probably give it another try before categorically dismissing it though–I might not have been in the right mood. At any rate, I liked it enough to still give Before Sunset a shot.
Meteor (TV) - At least with a Sci-Fi Channel (er, Syfy) Original movie you know that the pain won’t last for too long. But this was a four-hour miniseries. I understand that it’s probably cheaper to make one really long bad movie than it is to make two separate bad movies. But, still…those are four hours of my life that I will never get back. I don’t even know whether I have the strength in me for the next installment of NBC’s Survival Sundays, next week’s The Storm.
