Confessions of a Francophile (Part 1 of 2)

I am half Japanese so I have a bias towards Japanese films.  I also enjoy Chinese films.  I recently wasted an hour during the weekend watching Zhang Yimou's Hero (2002) on television; a film which I have seen numerous times.  Despite the Asian population it the Bay Area, it seems clear to me that the cinematic foreign language of choice is French. 

I have to admit, I'm a big fan of many French films and directors.  Godard's Breathless (1960) and Contempt (1963) are among my favorites as is Jules Dassin's Rififi (1955).  More recently, I was supremely impressed with Claire Denis' Beau Travail (1999) and Daniel Auteuil's turn in The Closet (2001) still brings a smile to my face. 

I'm clearly taking advantage of the many French offerings being screened in Bay Area theaters.  I am greatly anticipating Mick LaSalle's upcoming series at the Roxie focusing on modern French actresses.

Over the past three months, I've seen 10 French films I've yet to document here.

The Kid With a Bike starring Thomas Doret & Cécile De France; directed by Jean-Pierre Dardenne & Luc Dardenne; French with subtitles; (2011) - Official Website
Children of Paradise starring Arletty; directed by Michael Carné; French with subtitles; (1945)
Four Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle starring Joëlle Miquel & Jessica Forde; directed by Eric Rohmer; French with subtitles; (1987)
La Rayon Vert starring Marie Rivière; directed by Eric Rohmer; French with subtitles; (1986)
Grand Illusion starring Jean Gabin & Pierre Fresnay; with Erich von Stroheim, directed by Jean Renoir; French, German & English with subtitles; (1937)
The Wages of Fear starring Yves Montand; directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot; most French with subtitles; (1953)
Hôtel du Nord starring Annabella, Louis Jouvet & Arletty; directed by Michael Carné; French with subtitles; (1938)
Romantics Anonymous starring Benoît Poelvoorde & Isabelle Carré; directed by Jean-Pierre Améris; French with subtitles; (2010)
A View of Love starring Jean Dujardin & Marie-Josée Croze; directed by Nicole Garcia; French with subtitles; (2010)
Empty Days starring Valeria Bruni Tedeschi & Patrick Dell'Isola; directed by Marion Vernoux; French with subtitles; (1999)

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The real confession I have to make is that I went to Sacramento see a few films...and I liked it.  I cannot recall the last time I went through the Caldecott Tunnel much less Sacramento for any reason except work.  With the exception of the PFA, I rarely venture to the East Bay proper much less the Central Valley.  I've pretty much confined myself to the City with occasional trips to the Stanford Theater and the two weeks of Cinequest in San Jose.

However, I've been eyeing a trio of Sacramento film festivals for a few years now.  The Sacramento International Film Festival (SIFF) is held in April, the Sacramento French Film Festival (SFFF) is held in June and the Sacramento Japanese Film Festival (SJFF) is held in July.  Unfortunately, the SIFF conflicts with the SFIFF.  This year, the SJFF conflicts with the SFSFF.  That's too bad because I would have probably gone to Sacramento to see the SJFF screenings of A Good Husband, A Boy and His Samurai and Yoji Yamada's Kabei: Our Mother.  Not wanting to delay my Sacramento trip for another year, I decided to spend a weekend in Sac for the SFFF.

I was also interested in seeing the Crest Theatre on K Street in Downtown Sacramento.  With a main auditorium that can seat nearly 1,000 people, the Crest is an old-time movie palace on par with the Castro.  The Crest has subdivided what was probably the balcony into two smaller screening rooms which can seat 180 each.  That indicates the original theater could hold somewhere around 1,400 people which is about the capacity of the Castro. 

Opened in 1949 and restored for $1 Million in 1995, the Crest is a little more upscale than the Castro but nowhere near as glitzy as the Paramount in Oakland.  The first 10 or so rows are slightly raked while the back section is 20 or more rows of steep, stadium-style seating.  You enter the theater from the left or right of the auditorium via the main aisle which separates the upper and lower sections.  I didn't get to see the smaller screening rooms.  The lobby is split level with the concession counter and restrooms on one level and a lounge with photos and artifacts on the lower level.  The men's restrooms has a large anteroom which I imagine was used as a smoking room.  What looks like the original urinals are still in use; remarkably maintained I might add. 

Street parking was difficult in the area as the streets were metered on Saturdays.  Not to worry, the Crest provided parking validation for City of Sacramento Parking Garages; the closest being the Capitol Garage which you enter from 10th Street between K and L Streets.  Ask for the validation at the concession counter.

I went to the SFFF during its first weekend (June 16-17) and saw Hôtel du Nord, Romantics Anonymous, A View of Love & Empty Days.  I could have watched two more films but the timing wasn't good.  It was brutally hot in Sacramento that weekend & I was anxious to get back home.  The traffic was unusually bad for an early Sunday afternoon.  It took me over two hours to get from downtown Sacramento to the Financial District and I didn't see any accidents.  Although I drove, I wished I had taken the train instead.  Slightly more expensive than driving, I would have been saved the stress of the traffic and stifling heat which my car's air conditioner could not keep up with. 

I saw a flyer for Trash Film Orgy (TFO) which is hosting a midnite movies series at the Crest every Saturday night from July 14 to August 18.  Battle Royale is screening July 21 but it's the Five Deadly Venoms (August 11) and to a lesser extent Flesh Gordon (August 4) which I'm targetting.  The Sacramento Amtrak station is about five blocks from the Crest so I may take the train if I go. 

It turns out I like quite a bit of the schlock that TFO screens.  I've seen about 30 of the films they've screened in the past decade.  They even screened Switchblade Sisters (Jack Hill, 1975) a few years ago.  That's an exploitation film I've long wished the Maniac or Another Hole in the Head would screen.  Jesse has screened the trailer but not the film. 

Three of the SFFF features were preceded by short films.

Rendez-Vous directed by Yohann Gloaguen; French with subtitles; (2011)
Révolution directed by Nadia Jandeau; French with subtitles; (2011)
Dripped directed by Leo Verrier; animinated; no dialogue; (2010) - Official Website

Dripped can be seen on YouTube.

Claire Denis Was All Around the Bay

This spring, Claire Denis films turned up all around the bay. The 2011 San Francisco International Film Festival brought the Tindersticks to the Castro to perform the film scores they composed and performed for Denis' films between 1996 and 2009. One of short films I recalled from the 2011 San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival was Dirty Bitch which the credits stated was inspired by Denis' Nénette and Boni.

Finally, the PFA had a six week series on her films. I was able watch three films in the series. All films were directed by Denis. Agnès Godard was also the cinematographer on all three films.

Nénette and Boni starring Grégoire Colin & Alice Houri; French with subtitles; (1996)
Beau travail starring Denis Lavant & Grégoire Colin; French with subtitles; (1999)
Trouble Every Day starring Vincent Gallo & Béatrice Dall; French with subtitles; (2001)

I'm embarrassed to say I had not seen Claire Denis film before this series. I was aware of White Material and 35 Shots of Run (her two latest films) but had not watched them.

Although not by my design, those three films are sequential in Denis' filmography. In other words, she directed Trouble Everyday immediately after Beau travail which she directed immediately after Nénette and Boni. In addition, I saw them in the same chronological order they were made.

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Nénette and Boni reminds me of a French New Wave film. Nénette and Boni are teenage sister and brother. Nénette is several months pregnant. Boni is involved in fencing stolen merchandise, running a pizza van and fantasizing over the neighborhood baker's wife. Nénette and Boni is episodic and portions of the film are Boni's fantasies. Even the portions that represent parts of the narrative have a surreal and exaggerated feel such as Boni's many methods of coping with sexual frustration. In one memorable scene, Boni's kneads some pizza dough with a fervor bordering on pornographic.

Nénette's (Boni's younger sister) pregnancy does not allow her to indulge in teenage pursuits and diversions. The two have been separated as a result of their parents' divorce. Nénette has returned to Marseilles to find her brother - a safe harbor to dock while she prepares for childbirth. Although estranged and initially distant from his sister, Boni & Nénette eventually form an ersatz couple (nothing incestuous).

Fragmented and stylized, the film primarily follows Boni as his hormones rage, his imagination stirs and he confronts his rather shabby surroundings. Nénette and Boni is a poetic film that evinces more than is on the screen.

Partly choosing to attend Nénette and Boni due to its reference in Dirty Bitch, I can see the parallels but Dirty Bitch is a vulgar and violent reimagining of Nénette and Boni with some over the top comedic moments. Reportedly, director Sun Koh saw a heavily censored version of Nénette and Boni from Singaporean library. The artistic qualities of Nénette and Boni were so badly mangled that she was inspired to make Dirty Bitch.

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I was auitably impressed by Nénette and Boni and its director. However, I hadn't seen anything yet.

Beau travail is loosely based on Herman Melville's Billy Budd. To further highlight the relationship between Beau travail and Billy Budd, Denis used some music from Benjamin Britten's opera adaptation of Melville's work.

Semi-random thought - about 12 years ago or so, I saw a great stage adaptation of Billy Budd which was performed on the Balclutha, a ship at the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park.

I don't think I have the skills to really express my thoughts on Beau travail. It's one of the best films I ever seen.

Grégoire Colin (Boni in Nénette and Boni) plays Sentain, the Billy Budd proxy. Sentain has joined the French Foreign Legion. Attractive, young and pleasant, Sentain has provoked an irrational hatred in Sergeant Galoup (Denis Lavant), his immediate superior.

The rest of the film is Galoup simmering as his feelings towards Sentain intensify. There is an undertone of homoeroticism in Galoup behavior but either insecurity and/or jealousy causes him to manifest his feelings as animosity. On this somewhat slender thread, Denis weaves her masterpiece.

It's appropriate that Denis used Britten's opera music for the film because the film has an operatic feel. Balletic too as the Legionnaires go about their exercises. More like tai chi, the soldiers with their shaved heads, look monastic with their ritualistic and synchronized movements. The seeming calmness of their exercises masks the inner turmoil felt by Galoup who joins his men in their exercises.

Layered on top of this are the vistas of Djibouti. The action shifts an urban (at least what passes for urban in Djibouti) to the desolate as the Legionnaires go on maneuvers near the sea. Denis makes good use of the deserts and water as backdrops for the Legionnaires unending training. There are several extended scenes of the men exercising with the desert or sea as a backdrop. The beauty of Denis' direction is that she makes the repetition hypnotic and lyrical rather than boring and distracting. Her success is likely due to the fact that there isn't much plot to the film.

Denis has constructed a film where the viewer can infer what s/he wants within the parameters established by the film. Galoup and Sentain are left superficial with much backstory or expository dialogue. However, Levant and Colin imbue their roles with much more depth than the spoken dialogue. With a lesser skilled director, this is a recipe for disaster. "Look into the camera and emote." That Denis has managed to make such a film immensely watchable is the highest praise from me.

Finally, there is Galoup's dance scene which serves as the coda. Throughout the film, the young Legionnaires go to the disco to dance. At the end of the film, Galoup who has attempted to kill Sentain, dances alone on the set of the disco. No one else is there and the dance is largely symbolic - inner turmoil, suicide, repressed emtion, etc. Lavant dances like a man possessed. In a very brave decision, Denis changes the tone and look of the film in the final scenes by letting Lavant do his interpretive dance of Galoup's psyche. It could easily be criticized as pretentious because by this point Denis has already established the contemplative even meditative tone for the film. Like everything else in Beau travail, Denis films this scene perfectly.

I was not familiar with Denis Lavant before watching Beau travail. The film is almost a solo vehicle for him. His appearance and performance make it seem like he was born to play the role of Galoup. I'm almost afraid to seek out any of his other performances for fear of disappointment. Actually, I have seen Lavant before. He was the monster in Leos Carax's portion of Tokyo!. Honestly, I can't remember the performance.

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Trouble Every Day was quite a departure form Beau travail. Essentially a vampire story, Trouble Every Day includes some gory scenes but again Denis gives the film comtemplative veneer. Vincent Gallo (who had a small role in Nénette and Boni) plays an American scientist. He is a newlywed (married to Tricia Vessey) who has combined his honeymoon with a business trip to Paris. His business is to find a cure for the disease with which he is afflicted. The unnamed malady causes him to go into a murderous and cannibalistic frenzy whenever he is sexually aroused. You can see how that would put a damper on your honeymoon. Apparently he contracted the disease in Africa (or was it South America)?

Gallo's Shane is not alone though. While searching for Léo, a fellow researcher (Alex Descas), Shane discovers that Coré (Béatrice Dalle) suffers from the same affliction as he does and that Léo is searching for a cure also. Shane's search for Coré and a cure lead to disastrous circumstances.

In Trouble Every Day Denis films two of the most amazing sex scenes I've ever seen. In one, Coré has sex with a punk/intruder. To protect the public, Léo locks Coré in their house. Coré seems to be promiscuous as well as bloodlustful. Anyway, the sex scenes devolves into Coré attacking and killing her paramour. That scene had the feel of a horror film. Dalle looks sexy and malevolent so it had a black widow feel.

Later, Shane stalks a hotel maid. He "rapes" her in the laundry room of the hotel before he kills her. That scene has a much more menacing feel as I always thought there is something creepy about Vincent Gallo.

By contrasting the two scenes, Denis must be commenting on gender roles as well as sex and violence which goes together like bread and butter (at least in films). Denis also throws in the virginal looking Tricia Vessey whose character's marriage is unconsummated due to Shane's disease which he keeps secret from her. Shane is carrying some heavy emotional baggage - he is a killer, he cannot allow himself to be aroused by his wife for fear of killing her and he is guarded about the peculiarly chaste state of their marriage.

Denis trains her circumspectful camera on the horror genre with interesting results. I'm sure the close proximity of sex and murder make many feel uncomfortable. Her languid pacing and Gallo's introspection hint at a genius in Denis' direction that could get lost in the shuffle. Trouble Every Day also has a 1970s aesthetics. It reminded me a little of The Hunger which was 1983. Trouble Every Day is closer to the film I wish Tony Scott aspired to when he made The Hunger. Shane looks like he played for Oakland A's in the 1970s with his mustache and unshaven look.

After seeing Beau travail, I think any film would have been a letdown but Denis creates an interesting genre piece that she stamps with her trademarks. Trouble Every Day is a serious film within the broad confines of the horror genre that I liked which is only another testimonial to Denis. I typically get bored by the cinematic sophistry filmmakers exhibit to give their horror films the patina of art.

I'd like to see Denis' later films because the three I saw were distinct from each other but have a common look and feel that define them as a Denis filme. Does that auteurism run through all her films? Perhaps what I am sensing are common themes in Agnès Godard's cinematography rather than Denis' direction.

Seeing these three films makes me wish I had sampled Denis' films long ago.