Mélo
For me, the best time for watching a movie now has become the time when I eat lunch and dinner. With a little prolonged lunch, I can easily watch one movie a day. Sadly, I can’t do that every day considering that preparing food takes a little time too.
So, I have watched Mélo over the day yesterday, and after disliking “Providence” and somewhat disliking “On connaît la Chanson”, I really thought I would never find a Resnais film I like – but now I did! Mélo is delightful. It is very different from all the other triangle love stories I have seen so far (in fact, less dramatic and much funnier), and I suppose that is a good thing. Nothing about the story of Mélo is deep in any way, whereas Jules and Jim felt so incredibly emotional to me; it’s more that Resnais is incredibly intellectual. Every single actor in Mélo is absolutely great (and they are long time favorites of mine too), and while the story unfolded extremely slowly, it never felt empty at all.
Nevertheless, as it is always with films like these, Mélo got me thinking and throughout the day, I recapitulate the scenes of the film: Dussolier’s amazing tale of his ex-girlfriend, Azéma’s craziness before her suicide and finally the extremely well-made scene in which Arditi switches between being a friend and a rival to Dussolier. Thinking about that makes me realize that I do find Resnais to be a great director. He just made too many films that escape my mind.
I wonder if certain actors who made an impact on you would always remain in that role for you. I have seen Sabine Azéma the first time in Tanguy; André Dussolier impressed me a lot in “On connaît la chanson” and I know Pierre Arditi from back then when I was really small and watched the “Comte de Monte Cristo” on TV. For me, Azéma would always play one of those slightly neurotic females, Dussolier would always be the super sensual and somewhat charming lover and Pierre Arditi is always the unhappy husband or father. (I love his unhappy face!) And since all three of them are associated with comedies, I would always see them with a little smile on my face. They don’t really take themselves serious, and I keep getting a feeling that they don’t either. The film is delightful with its witty dialogue and feels slightly distant at times; I believe that is mostly the merit of the main characters.
Furthermore, I find it amazing how Fanny Ardant comes second in the credits but she barely had any scenes in the film, tsk tsk. It seems at that time, she really was more famous than the other three.
At any rate, “Mélo” was great and I am not so opposed to seeing Resnais’ other movies anymore, like “Last Year at Marienbad” or “Nuit et Brouillard”. Oh yeah, there also is “Hiroshima mon Amour”, ugh… Well, I am sure “Mélo” is the best!
I love you for liking this! xD
oh yes, the story itself is basically trivial, but the ways in which Resnais’ mise en scène elevates the material is astonishing.
if you are interested, i’d recommend reading J-Ro’s gargantuan analysis
http://www.jonathanrosenbaum.com/?p=7690
what makes the film so special for me, is the way it embraces the stage-origin of the material (complete with those painted curtains!) while utilizing these incredibly smart and effective camera movements that blend the theatrical and the cinematic to achieve these great dramatic heights – eg. the scene in which the three characters converse out in the garden, and André Dussolier begins this story of his casually, which becomes more and more intense while the camera moves from behind the listeners’ back to almost a close-up of the narrator and the lighting seems to become increasingly claustrophobic. or that entire dinner-party in which time seemed to have stood still (this is an eerie quality present in all his best works, while Marienbad is basically build entirely on this effect). or that last scene between the two male protagonists, which I think is the one you mentioned, in which the relationship of theirs shifts from friendship to rivalry, highlighted by that slow 360° shot during Pierre Arditi’s monologue on his dead wife.
ahh. it is easiliy my favorite Resnais, and probably the most enjoyable. Hiroshima mon amour is fantastic as well and should be essential viewing, as are all other Nouvelle Vague debuts :) (though I do prefer Demy’s and Godard’s respective firsts to Resnais’).
Haha, wow J.R. – obviously for him it’s possible to make a huge analysis with this movie XD I can totally see how you can enjoy it and while Resnais feels a little bit less Nouvelle Vague to me, I do see it in Mélo.
I think the greatest about the last scene is how quickly and suddenly the characters switched between friendliness and anger. And I was surprised that Marcel kept lying to Pierre until the very end, considering that he was the one who was speaking about honesty at the beginning. It makes a lot of sense and gave the film a nice closure.
Resnais’ debut doesn’t really count as Nouvelle Vague, no? (In case you are thinking of “Night and Fog”) Also, what about Truffaut’s? “Les 400 Coups” is the best!
I can’t believe I have never seen anything by Demy yet, ahaha.
well, theoretically he may not be considered part of the Cahiers-Group (which is associated with triggering the NV, of course), and with “debut” I mean feature film (Night and Fog is more like a documentary in short film form) debut – but his work at the time of “Les 400 Coups” and “Breathless” is no less characterized by that incredible energy which was unique to the NV and IMO should thus be included when considering those emerging new wave features (same goes for Jacques Demy, Agnès Varda and Chris Marker – if a defining factor for the Nouvelle Vague was an ardent love for and subsequent quoting of classic Hollywood, then Demy’s entire filmography may be considered the “truest” to that spirit out of any work by those above mentioned directors xD)
oh yeah, and of course, Truffaut’s film is absolutely wonderful. see, it is actually pretty hard for me to decide on a particular one – there was probably no comparable moment in film history, when there was a greater surge of sheer creative energy in the art of filmmaking, all coming from the background of simply loving the cinema.