tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4222475879097604897.post8862142514728703190..comments2023-10-31T10:21:00.796-04:00Comments on Thanks for the Use of the Hall: Le père de mes enfants: IFC Center, starts May 28, 2010Dan Sallitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13136066978329749513noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4222475879097604897.post-13018483636298943132010-08-22T10:17:35.182-04:002010-08-22T10:17:35.182-04:00The only Veysset film I've seen is the 2006 Il...The only Veysset film I've seen is the 2006 <b>Il Sera une fois...</b> Somehow I didn't take to it: it didn't really make sense to me either in terms of the characters or as an allegory; and it had a grim, portentous tone that wore on me a bit. Did I pick the wrong entry point?Dan Sallitthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13136066978329749513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4222475879097604897.post-78986524877931163922010-08-22T09:07:10.656-04:002010-08-22T09:07:10.656-04:00hey dan: have you thought of mia hansen-løve's...hey dan: have you thought of mia hansen-løve's work in comparison with sandrine veysset, a young, french, female auteur that humbert balsan championed?<br /><br />the natural, unforced, utterly alive work with children is something that unites them, to me; and, beyond that, there's the way that they quietly observe these minor moments of life and let them add up to something major. and, of course, the notions of families in flux, spirits held together.<br /><br />just vague thoughts at the moment... which you may entertain as you see fit.the light of the white page hurts my eyes.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4222475879097604897.post-82220579387176827012010-07-20T02:08:54.797-04:002010-07-20T02:08:54.797-04:00Dan - The way camera lingered on some of them, and...Dan - The way camera lingered on some of them, and the way Hansen-Love composed her shots so that the titles are not only perfectly readable, but often feature in the frame as a clear-cut background for the characters' actions, I couldn't help but ascribe meaning to them. What's more, FAMILY PERCHANCE becomes a subject of an in-joke between two characters at one point.<br /><br />I may be reading too much into this, but I think it's significant that Hansen-Love chose to invent roughly 10-15 titles to grant "Moon Films" on-screen credibility, and I think the choices she made weren't entirely disconnected from the themes *she* was working with in THE FATHER OF MY CHILDREN.Michał Oleszczykhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11521760881710382872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4222475879097604897.post-60395336838803907282010-07-15T18:36:46.746-04:002010-07-15T18:36:46.746-04:00Michał - it never occurred to me that the film tit...Michał - it never occurred to me that the film titles could be comments on the film's themes! I can't help but wonder if a film like this, which deals with so many aspects of life, might not lend itself to a thematic connection with a great many film titles.Dan Sallitthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13136066978329749513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4222475879097604897.post-3466918032619047242010-07-12T17:46:02.970-04:002010-07-12T17:46:02.970-04:00Wonderful review. I watched the movie earlier toda...Wonderful review. I watched the movie earlier today and loved it (I carefully avoided spoilers, so the suicide shocked me appropriately).<br /><br />Even though the theme of suicide is introduced much earlier (Gregoire makes a jocular suggestion that maybe jumping off the window could solve his problems), his seeming mellowness precludes all suspicion of possible violence on his part.<br /><br />Some of the metaphores that Hansen-Love injected too close to the surface of main action bothered me slightly, though. I particularly mean the ominous and overtly meaningful titles of movies that Gregoire once produced or is about to produce, which make their appearences mainly as the posters decorating his office. "Heritage", "The Trip is the Destination", "Jackpot", "Family Perchance" (the latter is even quipped upon in a dialogue) -- all seemed to me a hair too heavy-handed intrusions of the author's commentary on the world she created.<br /><br />This is a minor complaint, though, and doesn't diminish my enthusiasm for the film. As far as the abruptness of the main hero's mid-movie death goes, only PSYCHO and TO LIVE AND DIE IN LA are in the same category.Michał Oleszczykhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11521760881710382872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4222475879097604897.post-78819637475953828022010-06-29T02:19:38.807-04:002010-06-29T02:19:38.807-04:00Dan, thanks for the info on Usmonov; I don't b...Dan, thanks for the info on Usmonov; I don't believe I've seen any films from Tajikistan yet. I can't think of another film looking at the psychological underpinning of the cinephile impulse either.<br /><br />Tarr was who I'd been told to expect represented in the film beforehand, though after viewing I learned that another model may have been the Lars von Trier of <b><i>Manderlay</i></b>. As you say, Janson is his own character apart from either model, if either were indeed a model.Brian Darrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17693169310367670898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4222475879097604897.post-31008641407923917802010-06-29T02:19:38.808-04:002010-06-29T02:19:38.808-04:00Dan, thanks for the info on Usmonov; I don't b...Dan, thanks for the info on Usmonov; I don't believe I've seen any films from Tajikistan yet. I can't think of another film looking at the psychological underpinning of the cinephile impulse either.<br /><br />Tarr was who I'd been told to expect represented in the film beforehand, though after viewing I learned that another model may have been the Lars von Trier of <b><i>Manderlay</i></b>. As you say, Janson is his own character apart from either model, if either were indeed a model.Brian Darrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17693169310367670898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4222475879097604897.post-72964970094261664052010-06-28T22:32:12.759-04:002010-06-28T22:32:12.759-04:00Brian - the Central Asian auteur was played by Jam...Brian - the Central Asian auteur was played by Jamshed Usmonov, a director from Tajikistan whom I admire. I liked that scene with Alice de Lencquiesaing and Usmonov too - I can't think offhand of another film that shows cinephilia as a psychological byproduct, which of course is not at all hard to spot in real life.<br /><br />Never realized that Stig Janson might be inspired by Béla Tarr. It's typical of Hansen-Løve to give Larson justifications and dignity, when it would have been easy to color the entire characterization with Larson's narrative function as a threat.Dan Sallitthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13136066978329749513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4222475879097604897.post-39032039539724985772010-06-04T02:08:23.570-04:002010-06-04T02:08:23.570-04:00Skipped this at the festival contra your recommend...Skipped this at the festival contra your recommendation, but finally caught up with it last night and knew I had to come to read your review. <br /><br />I admire your ability to handle the spoiler-aspects of the film. I wonder how I would have reacted to the film if I hadn't first gleaned crucial details about its subject matter from other writings, not only because of the <b><i>Psycho</i></b>-level spoiler, but because thoughts of the film everyone says was particularly financially devastating to Balsam hung like a cloud over much of the film. And Hansen-Løve's style and world view seem about as diametrically opposed to that of the film I'm alluding to as there is room for within the world of European feature filmmaking at the arthouse level.<br /><br />Though I wasn't won over immediately (perhaps because of the kind of fanfare you speak of) it wasn't before the end of the first reel that I was completely hooked in both by the story and by the director's observational approach, which feed off of each other (which is to say, it's hard to imagine this story working with another approach). I loved the film, for just the kinds of moments you describe, and for many others. I particularly loved the way that Alice de Lencquesaing would, while shot in profile or near-profile, turn the irises of her eyes all the way toward the camera, which stood in place for something or someone she didn't want to face, but did want to look at.<br /><br />A small piece of the film that I found a fascinating sidenote was the use of footage from one of Darien Omirbaev's relatively recent films as a stand-in for the first film by a Central Asian auteur Grégoire had championed. Clémence's insistence on the (not so) fictional film's perfection in spite of the fictional director's protestations was a warm and poignant moment.<br /><br />One very minor quibble: "Que Sera Sera" is not the first famous song in the film. I'm not talking about the haunting Lee Hazelwood number playing at the party Malkavian takes us to (I don't think I'd ever heard it before but I'll be asking my Hazelwood-loving housemate about it as soon as I see him), but a beautifully eclectic instrumental arrangement of "What Child is This" for guitar that accompanies one of the driving scenes (I regret that I have already forgotten which one). Otherwise, a stellar review!Brian Darrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17693169310367670898noreply@blogger.com