Set in 1799 Italy, the Marquise of O's father's house is being invaded by Russian forces. She attempts to escape but is caught by Russians and they attempt to rape her. The Count (Bruno Ganz) saves her by scaring them away, and lets her sleep in her bed. The Russian forces surrender and all is well. Until a few months later when the Marquise realizes she is pregnant. After confirmation, the family send her into exile, and the father's identity is investigated.
The final film in the 'Eric Rohmer Collection' (at last!), is completely different from every other film in the collection. You can still tell its a Rohmer film, but everything has changed drastically. The most notable difference is that this is a period film set in the 18th Century. Clothes, props and locations are all suited to that time period, eliminating the fashion atrocities present in his other films. All these things add to the mise-en-scene, giving the film an entirely different feeling. This also effects the cinematography, which is tinged brown giving this film a old quality to it. It's more interesting visually then the majority of Rohmer films, but its still not that great.
The plot develops very slowly. The first ten minutes is action packed during the invasion of the citadel, but the pace slows immediately afterwards. The story itself is similar, as the beginning is exciting while the rest of the film never surpasses dull. Rohmer promises us edge of your seat action, and delivers bland talking and sobbing. The film revolves around a "Who's the father?" conundrum, when it's obvious who the father is from the first 20 minutes. There is only one male character which isn't a family member of the Marquise, so it's bound to be him. The Whodunnit lasts until the last 10 minutes, where the expected is revealed. I'm not sure if it's because I have been watching an abundance of 'Game of Thrones' and 'True Detective' lately, but I found the whole film absolutely boring.
The acting is to a good quality, with a film-stealing performance from Bruno Ganz (Adolf Hitler in 'Downfall') and some very sobby acting from Edith Clever (Die Marquise). I'm not sure why the film is a German production (perhaps the French got bored of him), but it sort of lends itself to the film. In his French films, the characters talk about love in the typical French way, but there is none of that here. There isn't any talking about boring relationships in bedrooms and there is no trips to cafes with secret lovers. It's a side of Rohmer I have never seen before, or even knew existed, but I can't say it's revolutionary or even moderately exciting.
The film has a unique and confusing premise, which is: they are Russians, speaking German and living in Italy. The film is directed by a Frenchman, and I watched the whole thing with English subtitles. The film is possible with the help of five countries! Sad to say this is the film's greatest achievement.
TO CONCLUDE
Very different from anything else I have seen from Rohmer, but the story is a bit rubbish, the pace is slow and the whole film is resoundingly dull.
SCORE
62
No comments:
Post a Comment