Shortly after seeing his sparkling film The Lovers on the Bridge,I read an old issue of UK film mag Empire,and spotted a very good review on Artificial Eye's DVD and Blu-Ray edition of Cinéma Du Look leader Leos Carax's debut.
Recently going to a local library sale,I was surprised to find that among "local" items were books and movies from London's Camberwell Library!,which included John Hillaby's very interesting book Journey to the Gods,and the DVD and Blu-Ray editions of Carax's debut,which led to me getting ready to meet the boys and girls.
View on the film:
Shooting his debut in crisp,low-budget black and white,writer/director Leos Carax & cinematographer Jean-Yves Escoffier build a halfway house between the French New Wave (FNW) and the Cinéma du Look movements.
Scorched with a rocking soundtrack brimming with David Bowie and the Dead Kennedys, Carax and Escoffier gloss the movie with the vivid comic-book style framing of Cinéma du Look,which gives the film a boldness,and makes Alex and Mireille look like they are standing out against comic-book panels.
Casting the film in a deliciously dreamy atmosphere, Carax dives into the FNW with velvet stylisation,which Carax wraps round the couple in smoothly delivered extreme -close track shots and dashing, splinted whip-pans gazing into Mireille and Alex's love.
Sticking close to Alex as he tries to shoplift,the screenplay by Carax fragments Alex and Mireille's relationships with a collage nature,that brings Alex and Mireille together in a jig-saw manner,where Carax brilliantly takes one step back with each piece placed,in order to display the "full" picture of Alex and Mireille's romance.
While focusing on the romance,Carax shows a keen eye for quirky side avenues,lit up by a very funny scene of a man playing a "unique" Space Invaders,to Alex and Mireille's shadows being reflected in a hauntingly off-beat final. Linked up with the alluringly expressive Mireille Perrier as Mireille, Denis Lavant gives an excellent performance as Alex,thanks to Lavant cutting Alex with a street smart edge and a heart on his sleeve warmth,as the boy meets the girl.
Recently going to a local library sale,I was surprised to find that among "local" items were books and movies from London's Camberwell Library!,which included John Hillaby's very interesting book Journey to the Gods,and the DVD and Blu-Ray editions of Carax's debut,which led to me getting ready to meet the boys and girls.
View on the film:
Shooting his debut in crisp,low-budget black and white,writer/director Leos Carax & cinematographer Jean-Yves Escoffier build a halfway house between the French New Wave (FNW) and the Cinéma du Look movements.
Scorched with a rocking soundtrack brimming with David Bowie and the Dead Kennedys, Carax and Escoffier gloss the movie with the vivid comic-book style framing of Cinéma du Look,which gives the film a boldness,and makes Alex and Mireille look like they are standing out against comic-book panels.
Casting the film in a deliciously dreamy atmosphere, Carax dives into the FNW with velvet stylisation,which Carax wraps round the couple in smoothly delivered extreme -close track shots and dashing, splinted whip-pans gazing into Mireille and Alex's love.
Sticking close to Alex as he tries to shoplift,the screenplay by Carax fragments Alex and Mireille's relationships with a collage nature,that brings Alex and Mireille together in a jig-saw manner,where Carax brilliantly takes one step back with each piece placed,in order to display the "full" picture of Alex and Mireille's romance.
While focusing on the romance,Carax shows a keen eye for quirky side avenues,lit up by a very funny scene of a man playing a "unique" Space Invaders,to Alex and Mireille's shadows being reflected in a hauntingly off-beat final. Linked up with the alluringly expressive Mireille Perrier as Mireille, Denis Lavant gives an excellent performance as Alex,thanks to Lavant cutting Alex with a street smart edge and a heart on his sleeve warmth,as the boy meets the girl.