Nicholas Reid reflects in essay form on general matters and ideas related to literature, history, popular culture and the arts, or just life in general. You are free to agree or disagree with him.
BACK AT THE MOVIES I’M AFRAID
Yes I’m sorry to tell you that my wife and I go to the movies only when there is something worth seeing. This means that we rarely see what Hollywood makes; besides, after a few months you can see recent Hollywood films on television. But foreign-language films are likely to be seen only in the cinema. Which brings us to our recent experience with foreign-language films.
A couple of months ago a “festival” of Italian films did the rounds of New Zealand – all being new films. Of course we are not made of money, and so we saw only four of the Italian films. The first was quite a jolly film about an impaired boy who wanted to sing on television and with the help of his loving sister, he got his wish. In other words a “feel-good” film. The next was quite grim – the detailed tale of a woman police-officer in Sicily who tries hard to prosecute a leader of the Mafia… but there is so much corruption in Sicily that she gets nowhere. This film was the very best of the Italian film festival that we saw; and I am sure that most Italians are appalled by the corruption that keeps Sicily down. Next came a promising movie about children who came from Naples to New York just after the end of the Second World War. It was both was amusing and sad in places and at first it worked well. But alas, once it got to the New York section it was smothered in bad, inappropriate, loud music as it collapsed into fantasy. But redeeming the Italian film festival there was a very good documentary about Ennio Morricone, the musician who made most of the music of scores for many Italian films… and sometimes he made scores for films other than Italian. We happily watched this one in the company of our daughter and our Italian daughter-in-law. But of course we had only seen only a sample of this festival so perhaps we had missed some better films.
That was then and this is now. Currently there is now a “festival” of French films going through New Zealand. We booked for six films. Here they are.
L’Etranger [The Stranger] is the second filming of Albert Camus’ novel. The first version was made in 1967. It was directed by Visconti. It was also made in bright colour and the leading character [Meursault] was played by the suave Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni. Amazingly I saw this film when I was a teenager because our teacher took us to see it as we were studying French. Compared with the new film, it was too glamourous and Mastroianni was bad casting. And so to the new version that I have just seen. It is very different and less glamorous. This time it is filmed in black-and-white which is right for a tale set in the 1940’s. It is also more aware of the Arab people in Algeria and their recentness for being colonised. The leading character is played by Benjamin Voisin, a Frenchman, who is an ordinary young man. I will not go into giving you a synopsis. The story is well known. All I can say is that it is well shot, it follows Camus’ story closely… and I still think that Camus’ philosophy was inane.
La Bataille de Gaulle: L’Age de Fer [English translation De Gaulle Tilting Iron ] is mainly about De Gaulle’s activity in the Second Would War, and it is clearly a film that was made on a large budget, as in the episode when the R.A.F. bombs the French Fleet [Churchill was afraid that the Nazi’s would take over the French fleet]; or in the long episode in which the Free French slog it out against the Panzers in the sands of North Africa. Much of it is about de Gaulle’s relationship with Churchill, de Gaulle often being stubborn and Churchill often losing his temper, but ultimately both of them having to agree on major points. On the whole it is true to history but some viewers night be confused by the ending with the assassination of a French Admiral. French viewers would understand what it was about…and so would those who understand that the admiral had worked for the Vichy. The ending makes it clear that ultimately de Gaulle would be in charge.
When I looked at the brochure that came with the French Film Festival, my eye spotted a film called The Money Maker. I was in a hurry and I did not read the blurb, but the name suggested that it was going to be a happy tale about a millionaire. I was so wrong. The Money Maker [French name L’Affaire Bojarski] is a quite serious film – with some humorous moments - based on the true story of an excelled forger who, just after the Second World War and up to the middle of the 1950’s, was able to forge French banknotes so well that even experts could not see the difference from his notes and the real currency. The film had a good pace and I do not want to give away how it ends.
Then there is Maigret and the Dead Lover, a straight-forward, no-nonsense Simenon story with a very good Maigret played by Denis Bonitzer, pipe always in hand. No frills, realistic situations, much talk and exactly what you hope for if you like Maigret. I do.
And then comes Jean Valjean, a very good account of the first third of Les Miserables wherein Jean Valjean learns that there is some good in the world after having been endlessly mistreated. As for the sixth film we booked for… we are going to see it as soon as I leave my desk. We booked for only six films. This year’s French Film Festival has 24. I’m sure we have missed some great ones; but the films we did see were better than anything Hollywood can churn out.
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