Stolen Kisses (dir. Francois Truffaut, 1968, France)
When you watch an Antoine Duhamel story, it’s obvious just how perfect Jean-Pierre Léaud was for his director - restless, mischievous with an unstoppable undercurrent of melancholy, inquisitive and stubborn. Oh, and Stolen Kisses is a beautiful film if you didn’t know. (I laughed my ass off throughout. Romantic and funny is always a good match in my book.)
MOVIE LOG (21 MARCH - 27 MARCH)
Broadcast News (dir. James L Brooks, 1987, US) B+
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (dir. Billy Wilder, 1970, UK) B+
Submarine (dir. Richard Ayoade, 2010, UK/US) B+
Anne and Muriel (dir. Francois Truffaut, 1971, France) B+
All B+, all winners. I’m struck by how Private Life and Anne and Muriel seem to compliment each other - both unconventional period pieces, both passion projects for their directors, both ignored by a changing cinema culture (for Wilder, the road show vaudville event that he planned his film as was passed over by US audiences that cared for a different type of showmanship, and for Truffaut, his patient exploration into the fickleness of emotional and physical desire out-of-touch within an alleged sexual revolution), both tinged with a melancholy that leaves the heart quivering. A salute to Wilder and Truffaut - two of the best that ever did it - as well as their respective musical geniuses at the helm, Georges Delarue and Miklos Rozsa. These films deserve wider recognition in the pantheon.
