...And They Lived Happily Ever After (Yvan Attal, 2004)

A great little film. I think the French have perfected the art of making drama/comedy/romance films that have light fluffy moments but are also quite deep and philosophical at times. This film is the perfect example of this. And I guess, also quite common in these types of French films − there is a love scene within the first five minutes of the film! The original French title, Ils se marièrent et eurent beaucoup d'enfants, can be translated as “they married and had many children” − the French equivalent of “they lived happily ever after”, which I guess also highlights the significant role that children and family have in French culture.

This film stars the wonderful Charlotte Gainsbourg, who is just magnetic − there is something about her that draws your attention whenever she is on screen. And of course, I can’t hide the fact that Johnny Depp also has a cameo in this film because if it weren’t for him then I don’t think I would have come across this charming film (which would be a shame).

The film is about the nature of love and marriage as experienced by three different men − one of them sleeps with a different woman every day, another is constantly arguing with his wife who is portrayed as a feminist of sorts, while the third is married but having an affair. I should also mention the third guy, Vincent, (who is married to Charlotte Gainsbourg’s character, Gabrielle), is played by Yvan Attal, who also wrote the script and directed the film − and is married to Charlotte Gainsbourg off-screen! So not surprisingly, they had a great chemistry on-screen, particularly in the food fight scene, which is just hilarious:

I also like the way the fight is intercut with footage of the horse chase in the film they were watching. Also, a running gag throughout the film is Vincent’s attempts to scare both his son and wife (which often happens when Gabrielle is bathing their son, so the son gets scared and splashes his mother, who then becomes angry at him!). There are plenty more clever moments like this in the film, such as when Vincent is with his wife, who asks him “Do you love me?” and he replies something like: “Yes, but I also love my wife”, and then we see he is suddenly with his mistress, who must have asked him the same question. The film is almost multi-protagonist although it focuses more on the relationship between Gabrielle and Vincent.

So now, on to Depp’s cameo, which just had me both cringing and laughing − it was a great addition to the film. The first time we encounter Depp’s character is when Gabrielle is listening to a CD in a store and he comes up and also puts on a set of headphones. To the soundtrack of Radiohead’s “Creep”, we see a few minutes of awkwardness mixed with attraction as the two share glances. And I have to say, the music suits perfectly and Depp’s smile was just, wow. We don’t see Depp again until the end of the film, when Gabrielle, who is a real estate agent, takes him to an apartment inspection. Depp seems to speak French very fluently and their conversation is quite amusing, and the lift ride is so over-the-top and dramatic, that it’s one of my favourite scenes. It becomes this fantastical trip that is actually the last scene of the film, so we never really know what happens between Gabrielle and Depp:



Another great scene (there seem to be a lot in this well-written film!), is when Gabrielle is actually sitting next to her husband’s mistress in a restaurant (unknowingly, of course). Vincent actually calls both of them in the scene, and many times it seems like his wife is about to find out but it seems like only the mistress discovers who she was sitting next to. This scene reminded me of another film but I can’t put my name to it − for some reason, another film I think of is Lantana though I don’t exactly know why.

Also, just as a little side note, I am a little confused in one scene, where there was an older woman and her husband having dinner at a restaurant − I couldn’t figure out the relevance. Maybe I just lost concentration for a bit but yeah, I don’t know the point of that scene, or who it was depicting. Anyway, that is just a minor qualm in an otherwise entertaining and engaging film about romantic ideals and love (not surprising, given the title) and one that I highly recommend.

4.5/5

The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson, 2001)

After hearing how good this film was, I finally had a chance to watch it. The first thing that struck me was the strong cast − Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow, Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson, Danny Glover and Bill Murray − all introduced in the opening credits. Not surprisingly, this sets some high expectations for the film, which looking back, I think the film managed to fulfil.

It’s a bizarre, original, dark comedy film, which is what I like most about it. The film is about three child geniuses who, after a successful childhood, have several troubles later on in life: from secret lives to love and even suicide attempts. After watching the film, I found out that Owen Wilson wrote the script − I didn’t know he wrote movies but it shows that he’s not only a good actor but good writer as well.

One of the interesting things I noticed about the script was that it was quite complex and full of details and information that the audience needed to take in to understand the motivations behind the characters’ actions. As a result, the film made heavy use of narration and titles (like “Chapter One, etc”), to drive the story forward and explicitly tell the audience what was happening. I was thinking about this while watching the film and I think that in The Royal Tenenbaums, this approach worked, whereas for many other films, it would ruin the experience and perhaps even bore the audience, who are just being told all this information. I think the main difference is that this film assumed an intelligent audience − you had to put clues and minor details together to understand some of the things the characters would say or do.

So overall, this was a good film − I liked it because of its unconventional approach and underlying dark humour.

4/5

Story of a Love Affair (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1950)

I’m quite sure this is the first Antonioni film I’ve seen and I guess it matched my expectations but didn’t inspire me as much as some of the previous Italian neorealist films I have watched. Apparently, it’s Antonioni’s first feature film − he was directing documentaries beforehand. I was a little confused as I had the English dubbing with English subtitles and sometimes at random times the dubbing would stop, leaving just the subtitles, which actually were more concise than the dubbing.

There were some instances of interesting camera techniques, such as a tracking shot following the detective from behind as he walked around the room at the beginning of the film. Also, when Paula and her lover Guido are walking together along the street. I think there is also some symbolism at the beginning of the film when there are stars in the sky shown, then about half way through the movie, they are shown again − a sort of foreboding presence.

In a way although this is a neorealist film, Paula had the air of a star in this film. I guess I’m speaking from watching classic Murnau and Ophüls films, where the main characters are so rich and living in ultimate stylish luxury. Paula was quite beautiful, a typical Hollywood starlet, apart for the fact that it wasn’t a Hollywood film. I found her a very complex character. At the start I may have even felt a little sympathy for her but near the end she became so pathetic, melodramatically blaming Guido for the death of her husband − which he didn’t end up committing, as the husband crashed his car into a ditch (as he was shot by someone else?). She was quite dramatic and confused at times, as if she didn’t know what she really wanted. Actually, I found a lot of the characters, particularly the detectives when they are talking about how little they’ve found about Paula, they tended to use overblown hand gestures combined with really enigmatic and animated language. I guess this made the film stand out from most of the other neorealist films I’ve seen, seeing as though it featured an upper class lady, while most of the others were literally “on the street” films, featuring everyday people. This film made it hard to believe that there were people like this (wealthy) living at the same time as the poor protagonists of Bicycle Thieves. Also, I have to say the saxophone music was a little jarring, it gave the film an eerie feel, which may have been intentional.

Nevertheless, unlike Hollywood films, this one again ended with a sense of uncertainty − Paula’s husband, Enrico, is killed, just like the lovers planned but it seems like things may not be so happy ever after, with Paula dropped off home as Guido drives away into the darkness. So do they actually stay together for the rest of their lives? That is the strongest aspect of realism in the film. Though I have to say it was interesting how Guido’s fiancée was killed − we learn throughout the film that she was killed in an elevator shaft, when Guido and Paula were both present but failed to let her know the elevator wasn’t actually there. That is a unique way of dying − not the most realistic but different. The whole film was like this − ok to watch but I don’t really know how to react.

3/5