Once I fell into the rhythm of the sung dialogue, and it registered that this is an opera (of sorts) on film, I settled back and enjoyed it very much.
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg ' had a lyric fairytale feeling about it because of the color, the rhythm, and the pace of the music. It was a sweet
film.
WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?
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Sue Sue Applegate
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feaito
Yes Moira, the movie's color is definitely striking and I'm specially thinking of the variety of wallpapers at Cathérine's home; the very bright colors, the patterns, caught my attention. I'm not quite sure that I liked them but they impressed me.
I have read that "Les Demoiselles de Rochefort" is not half as good as "The Umbrellas..."; What do you think Moira?
I'm also curious about a sort of prequel to "The Umbrellas.." titled "Lola" (1961) with Anouk Aimée and Marc Michel, who plays Roland Cassard in both. Have you seen it?
I have read that "Les Demoiselles de Rochefort" is not half as good as "The Umbrellas..."; What do you think Moira?
I'm also curious about a sort of prequel to "The Umbrellas.." titled "Lola" (1961) with Anouk Aimée and Marc Michel, who plays Roland Cassard in both. Have you seen it?
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feaito
I've just watched a very pristine print of "It Started in Naples" with Sophia Loren and Clark Gable. A completely charming little film of the kind "they don't make anymore". It's so uplifting and funny. And the little boy who played my namesake "Nando". What a rascal! He completely won me over. And the beautiful Capri landscapes! Such beauty!
Thanks Judith and April for highly recommending this film to me on another thread.
Before we become too old to travel, my wife and I have to visit both Italy and Greece. Beautiful countries. One of my great great grandfathers on my mother's side came from Geneva, Italy and my wife's great grandfather on her mother side was born in Mitilene (I believe) and raised in Lesbos, Greece.
Thanks Judith and April for highly recommending this film to me on another thread.
Before we become too old to travel, my wife and I have to visit both Italy and Greece. Beautiful countries. One of my great great grandfathers on my mother's side came from Geneva, Italy and my wife's great grandfather on her mother side was born in Mitilene (I believe) and raised in Lesbos, Greece.
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moira finnie
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Christy & Fernando,
You're right! The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, (or more precisely Les Parapluies de Cherbourg--ya gotta love that French word, Parapluies, don't ya?), is sort of an opera and I'm still not entirely sure that the saturated colors worked, but they deliberately heightened the artificiality of the movie, which at times is beautiful, and at other times, it hurt my eyes, frankly!
On reflection, do you think it's possible that this movie and "Les Demoiselles..." explored the transitory, fragmented way that human beings experience love and longing (and how time runs through our fingers like water), the way that decisions made at certain points of your life can only become clear in retrospect, and the way that our memory can sometimes gloss over and heighten past experiences?
I thought that Demy might be using color to illustrate the fact that the film is really a memory of the past--and a look back at the most vivid moments in the early life of the movie. I noticed that as the movie progresses, the color becomes more subtle, with softer shades of intense hues, just as our lives often take on different shades as we mature. Some of the vividness may be gone, but the memory is still real though less keen, as is the understanding and compassion between Guy (Nino Castelnuovo) and Geneviève (Catherine Deneuve) in the last scene. I don't mean to burden this discussion with too much philosophical weight, but some of these things occurred to me when watching this movie a couple of times.
Les Demoiselles de Rochefort (1967) doesn't have the dramatic impact of "Umbrellas", but it does have a similarly fine score by Michel Legrand and the similar dazzling & jarring production design. It also doesn't hurt that this seems to be one of the last times that we'd get to see Gene Kelly and George Chakiris sing and dance on film. I enjoyed it, but I don't know if others would necessarily. Maybe Demy's films need to sneak up on you in time.
I'd really like to see Lola (1961)! Anouk Aimée is one of my faves. I'll have to track this one down soon. Thanks for the heads up.
You're right! The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, (or more precisely Les Parapluies de Cherbourg--ya gotta love that French word, Parapluies, don't ya?), is sort of an opera and I'm still not entirely sure that the saturated colors worked, but they deliberately heightened the artificiality of the movie, which at times is beautiful, and at other times, it hurt my eyes, frankly!
On reflection, do you think it's possible that this movie and "Les Demoiselles..." explored the transitory, fragmented way that human beings experience love and longing (and how time runs through our fingers like water), the way that decisions made at certain points of your life can only become clear in retrospect, and the way that our memory can sometimes gloss over and heighten past experiences?
I thought that Demy might be using color to illustrate the fact that the film is really a memory of the past--and a look back at the most vivid moments in the early life of the movie. I noticed that as the movie progresses, the color becomes more subtle, with softer shades of intense hues, just as our lives often take on different shades as we mature. Some of the vividness may be gone, but the memory is still real though less keen, as is the understanding and compassion between Guy (Nino Castelnuovo) and Geneviève (Catherine Deneuve) in the last scene. I don't mean to burden this discussion with too much philosophical weight, but some of these things occurred to me when watching this movie a couple of times.
Les Demoiselles de Rochefort (1967) doesn't have the dramatic impact of "Umbrellas", but it does have a similarly fine score by Michel Legrand and the similar dazzling & jarring production design. It also doesn't hurt that this seems to be one of the last times that we'd get to see Gene Kelly and George Chakiris sing and dance on film. I enjoyed it, but I don't know if others would necessarily. Maybe Demy's films need to sneak up on you in time.
I'd really like to see Lola (1961)! Anouk Aimée is one of my faves. I'll have to track this one down soon. Thanks for the heads up.
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Sue Sue Applegate
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Well, Moira, I've only seen Les Parapluies de Cherbourg, but I do think it speaks to those moments that we remember, and to some of us, the pain is more real than the delight, and vice versa.
Such heightened feelings, exemplified by words and music, often are the nucleus of one dramatic or comedic mask we place upon those chambers of our hearts, like a valiant shield a warrior places on the door of some recess where we choose never to trod again, but we want to remember how we survived the emotional battle, either one we waged with ourselves or with others. The trophy of the final act, as it were.
I find myself reviewing moments like that and revising and sometimes changing the colors of battle from defeat to victory, depending upon my perspective at the time.
BTW, Fernando, I loved It Started in Naples. I think Gable was so charming in this film, and Sophia was dazzling, but the little boy showed how tender both of the adults could be...
Such heightened feelings, exemplified by words and music, often are the nucleus of one dramatic or comedic mask we place upon those chambers of our hearts, like a valiant shield a warrior places on the door of some recess where we choose never to trod again, but we want to remember how we survived the emotional battle, either one we waged with ourselves or with others. The trophy of the final act, as it were.
I find myself reviewing moments like that and revising and sometimes changing the colors of battle from defeat to victory, depending upon my perspective at the time.
BTW, Fernando, I loved It Started in Naples. I think Gable was so charming in this film, and Sophia was dazzling, but the little boy showed how tender both of the adults could be...
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Thelma Ritter: Hollywood's Favorite New Yorker, University Press of Mississippi-2023
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Thelma Ritter: Hollywood's Favorite New Yorker, University Press of Mississippi-2023
Avatar: Ginger Rogers, The Major and The Minor
Umbrellas, Demoiselles, Lola
Umbrellas is a film I didn't quite cotton to the first time I saw it, but subsequently have grown to admire - I still cry buckets at the end. A good friend of mine loves Demoiselles and I only recently saw this when it played on TCM. I enjoyed it more than I was expecting to, liked the older folks better, especially Danielle Darrieux, more than the "Mod" youngsters. I suppose how the characters pine away after lost loves, and the subsequent return of these lost loves to a happy, or not so, ending is the appeal for me. I did seek out Lola; Moira, this film is available on Netflix. For me, it was curious to see it as a prequel, and also has the "pining away after lost loves" theme, but I did not warm much to the characters here, especially Lola, who's "profession" is a cabaret dancer (of limited ability).
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movieman1957
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Feaito:
My Dad's family was all from Naples, and Sicily. My Dad was first generation American, actually born on the boat coming over, but in NY harbor.
A very close friend went to Italy about 2 years ago - Her family is also from Sicily and she said when you get out of the cities to the countryside, it's like stepping back 50 years in time.
Italy is the only place outside of the U.S. that I ever wanted to see, but my husband died after 38 states, and I only made it to 5 more, and it's not even in the realm of possibility anymore for me, but I hope you can get there some day.
Anne
My Dad's family was all from Naples, and Sicily. My Dad was first generation American, actually born on the boat coming over, but in NY harbor.
A very close friend went to Italy about 2 years ago - Her family is also from Sicily and she said when you get out of the cities to the countryside, it's like stepping back 50 years in time.
Italy is the only place outside of the U.S. that I ever wanted to see, but my husband died after 38 states, and I only made it to 5 more, and it's not even in the realm of possibility anymore for me, but I hope you can get there some day.
Anne
Anne
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feaito
Beautifully put Moira. I hadn't thought of it. I guess that watching it for the first time, the fact that all the dialogue was sung distracted my attention from everything else save ravishing Deneuve and the wallpapers! I was left with a nostalgic feeling after watching the film. A sense of loss for what might had been. Those final moments were played by the two leads in a heart wrenching, understated way. For me the ending had the most poignant scenes of all the movie. I'll have to revisit this film once again in the future.On reflection, do you think it's possible that this movie and "Les Demoiselles..." explored the transitory, fragmented way that human beings experience love and longing (and how time runs through our fingers like water), the way that decisions made at certain points of your life can only become clear in retrospect, and the way that our memory can sometimes gloss over and heighten past experiences?
I thought that Demy might be using color to illustrate the fact that the film is really a memory of the past--and a look back at the most vivid moments in the early life of the movie. I noticed that as the movie progresses, the color becomes more subtle, with softer shades of intense hues, just as our lives often take on different shades as we mature. Some of the vividness may be gone, but the memory is still real though less keen, as is the understanding and compassion between Guy (Nino Castelnuovo) and Geneviève (Catherine Deneuve) in the last scene. I don't mean to burden this discussion with too much philosophical weight, but some of these things occurred to me when watching this movie a couple of times.
This film might be a good subject for an essay on the Movie Morlocks Blog. Don't you think?
Thanks for your kind wishes Anne. I hope we'll make it some day too.Italy is the only place outside of the U.S. that I ever wanted to see, but my husband died after 38 states, and I only made it to 5 more, and it's not even in the realm of possibility anymore for me, but I hope you can get there some day.
I have just watched a captivating comedy "The Gilded Lily" (1935) with Claudette Colbert, Fred MacMurray and Ray Milland. It must be one of the best pairings of Claudette and Fred. They're just grand together. Fred gives such a good performance. I really feel that his career should be re-evaluated, especially in regard of the polished comedies he made at Paramount with Colbert, Lombard and Madeleine Carroll. Ray Milland plays an English aristocrat and he's good too. And Luis Alberni is always a joy to behold. What a funny actor!
Claudette plays a no-nonsense working girl who becomes the Toast of New York.
Miss me?
I managed to watch a movie this past weekend. I saw The Angel Levine and it's one of the most depressing and ambiguous films i've ever seen. The direction was also very "art house" which I normally dislike but since this was a pretty stagy movie for the most part it wasn't too bad.
Zero Mostel gave a tremendous performance and Harry Belafonte was pretty good as well. The thing is, how does one take the movie? Is it supposed to be literal or is it supposed to be taken as a symbolic type of thing?
The movie did bring up a lot of issues such as racism, beliefs in God, redemption, and faith. It was a very talky movie which allowed all these and more to be explored however some things were left unexplained such as Levine's problem that he's desperately trying to escape from and the whole matter of whether he really was an angel.
The movie has some flaws (the drugstore scene) but overall I thought it was a minor classic and should be viewed once at least. I had seen the first scene with Belafonte and Mostel before but I never got to the point of watching the whole movie which I did this past weekend. I'm glad I watched it tho I was very depressed afterwards.
2 1/2 out of 5 stars
I managed to watch a movie this past weekend. I saw The Angel Levine and it's one of the most depressing and ambiguous films i've ever seen. The direction was also very "art house" which I normally dislike but since this was a pretty stagy movie for the most part it wasn't too bad.
Zero Mostel gave a tremendous performance and Harry Belafonte was pretty good as well. The thing is, how does one take the movie? Is it supposed to be literal or is it supposed to be taken as a symbolic type of thing?
The movie did bring up a lot of issues such as racism, beliefs in God, redemption, and faith. It was a very talky movie which allowed all these and more to be explored however some things were left unexplained such as Levine's problem that he's desperately trying to escape from and the whole matter of whether he really was an angel.
The movie has some flaws (the drugstore scene) but overall I thought it was a minor classic and should be viewed once at least. I had seen the first scene with Belafonte and Mostel before but I never got to the point of watching the whole movie which I did this past weekend. I'm glad I watched it tho I was very depressed afterwards.
2 1/2 out of 5 stars
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klondike
Just rented & watched: Deathproof, and am happy to report that Quentin Tarrantino is back in top form.
This movie (the latter half of this past spring's "Grindhouse" double-feature bill, balanced-off by Robert Rodriguez' Planet Terror) is clever, creepy, smarmy-cool fun, with acres of tribute to films like Duel, Vanishing Point, Black Moon Rising, Go!, Road Warrior & Mulholland Drive.
It's funky, funny, gritty, slutty, brutal, serpentine, droll, gripping, bittersweet & bizarre, and by my estimation, Tarrantino's only film since Pulp Fiction that is entirely successful by its own internal formula.
Whether or not you like it will probably depend entirely on your current tastes; but it is a good, thick club-sandwich of a movie: despite being the latter half of an original double-feature bill, it weighs in at just over 2 full hours, and like myself, whether or not you do like it, you just may feel like a nap afterwards!
This movie (the latter half of this past spring's "Grindhouse" double-feature bill, balanced-off by Robert Rodriguez' Planet Terror) is clever, creepy, smarmy-cool fun, with acres of tribute to films like Duel, Vanishing Point, Black Moon Rising, Go!, Road Warrior & Mulholland Drive.
It's funky, funny, gritty, slutty, brutal, serpentine, droll, gripping, bittersweet & bizarre, and by my estimation, Tarrantino's only film since Pulp Fiction that is entirely successful by its own internal formula.
Whether or not you like it will probably depend entirely on your current tastes; but it is a good, thick club-sandwich of a movie: despite being the latter half of an original double-feature bill, it weighs in at just over 2 full hours, and like myself, whether or not you do like it, you just may feel like a nap afterwards!
Last edited by klondike on October 8th, 2007, 6:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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SSO Admins
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I watched The Joe Louis Story[/b] and the less said about this movie the better. Oh it wasn't a badly made movie by any stretch but the acting was HOOOORIBLE. I also didn't like the semi-documentary feel to some of the training scenes. It felt like I was watching some kinda old timey boxing instructional film.
The only person in the entire film I warmed up to was James Edwards as "Chappie". Everyone else was cardboard to say the least. I also didn't like the fact that it seems they really went on the cheap and more or less used old film reels of Louis' fights rather then filming original material.
It was all around one of the worst films i've had the "pleasure" of watching.
The only person in the entire film I warmed up to was James Edwards as "Chappie". Everyone else was cardboard to say the least. I also didn't like the fact that it seems they really went on the cheap and more or less used old film reels of Louis' fights rather then filming original material.
It was all around one of the worst films i've had the "pleasure" of watching.
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feaito
Last Night I watched the Noir-Thriller "The Big Clock" (1948). I was very pleased by this film, because I had not much previous knowledge of it or its plot. Ray Milland plays (very well) a successful editor of a crime magazine who works for Media Magnate Janoth (superbly played by Charles Laughton). The film caught my complete attention and had me on the verge of my seat for almost all its running time. Deftly directed by John Farrow and with some fine cinematography and excellent use of B&W photography, it must be one of the best Thrillers that I've seen lately and one of the least known too.
Maureen O'Sullivan plays well Milland's wife, but the ladies who get the acting kudos here are sexy Rita Johnson as the model who's Janoth's lover and the hilarious Elsa Lanchester as a daffy, eccentric artist. She's simply divine. George Macready plays a sinister character (Laughton's right hand) and Henry "Harry" Morgan impersonates Janoth's mute bodyguard and henchman. Superb, first class entertainment!
Maureen O'Sullivan plays well Milland's wife, but the ladies who get the acting kudos here are sexy Rita Johnson as the model who's Janoth's lover and the hilarious Elsa Lanchester as a daffy, eccentric artist. She's simply divine. George Macready plays a sinister character (Laughton's right hand) and Henry "Harry" Morgan impersonates Janoth's mute bodyguard and henchman. Superb, first class entertainment!