Monday, June 23, 2008

TWO DAYS IN PARIS, or how could a film on MOLIERE be so dull.

Many times I find myself attracted to films which have an actor or two that I like in it or the setting or time frame are appealing. Julie Delpy's TWO DAYS IN PARIS is really well done, in the end. She is able to give a glimpse into her world as an international citizen and as a woman who grew up (and probably lives sometimes) in Paris.

Her character is hard to take sometimes because she is rude to her American boyfriend, played by an actor I don't really know. He's good at being a doormat, however. And yet he is also assertive in a crudely manly way in that he insists on taking all the pictures during their vacation (they live in NYC) despite the fact that she is a photographer by trade. She also has a visual acuity condition that is only mentioned during a portrayal of the pre-pubescent Marion (Julie).

Meanwhile, her parents--in fact everyone who speaks French--talks about the boyfriend while he understands nothing. Ah, love. And there are a few cab rides in which the fascistic undertone of the underclass is shown. Julie's parents are bourgeois.

The end of the film is one many women who may have married early and then not by their forties may find hard to take. This film is not light on details.

Another film which one might say is overly detailed is the latest film on MOLIERE. I remember seeing a film called MOLIERE from France when I was in graduate school. It was very different from this one. This one is like walking through the kennels of the animal shelter and never finding the way out until you just have to scream. Enough said.

No comments: