Early Bresson. A wonderful film. One of the most important characteristics of his later style, drama stripped to essentials, is already apparent here.
shareAgree with you completely, but, still, it shocks me to see the schism in appreciation of this film; People either love it of dislike it.
" technology...an extension of the human body...It's inevitable that it should come home to roost."
Truly a magnificent film. I've never heard good structured criticism against it. For instance, both Bazin and Truffaut loved it. The people who dislike this film either say it is dull or then that it is not loyal enough to the original story, which is probably the worst argument one can form. Truffaut wrote well that Les dames du Bois de Boulogne is both "a loyal and disloyal" to the original story. I love the film. However, I'd be interested to hear some decent arguments by the people who dislike it.
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I don't dislike this film, however I can understand (some) of the dissenting criticism.
I like the Cocteau dialogue. I also like some of Bresson's choices and I find the final 10 minutes to be brilliant, but this is not among his great films. It would really be merely above average as a film if not for Maria Casares. She makes it special.
That opinion is only slightly colored by the fact Maria is one of my top ten all-time favorite actresses.
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Drama stripped to essentials? Huh. Yeah, I thought this was fairly conventional fare - in visual style and content - compared to his later masterpieces.
As for "wonderful", not quite... not really all that much memorable in it beyond the strong performances, IMO.
Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose.
I loved the film. It was beautiful but so cruel.
A bird sings and the mountain's silence deepens.share