charlot47-81-373873 Reviews

Charlie and His Two Chicks (1973)

The everyday virtues of good humour, hard work, modest tastes and, above all, loyal friendship

[3 May 2024]

Charlie is a market trader criss-crossing France in an old van to sell oilcloths, in balmy summer and bitter winter, eating in little bistros and sleeping in cheap hotels. Working hard, he makes enough to live his simple life and always stays cheerful. He has the immense advantage of two delightful girls, Guislaine and Josyane, cousins at a loose end after leaving school and happy to share his wanderings. Revelling in the freedom of life on the road, the girls enjoy each other's company and that of Charlie,

The three have many adventures, until Josyane goes off with another trader who has a big mouth and a big caravan, towed by a big Cadillac. Guislane, sweet and more sensible, stays with Charlie as the two travel on around France for months, hoping every day to find and rescue Josyane. Just when they decide to give up their hopeless search, they see her collapsed at a bus stop and the happy team is reunited.

A simple tale about simple people, set in a real world. Not raising any great issues, it praises the everyday virtues of good humour, hard work, modest tastes and, above all, loyal friendship. A huge contrast with Seria's preceding "Mais ne nous délivrez pas du mal", which instead had two very naughty girls, and using a less highly-coloured emotional palette than the next three. I say three, because "Comme la lune" fits in well with his two films before it and should not be omitted.

Sesso e volentieri (1982)

A few chuckles, and a few groans

[27 April 2024]

Nothing to quarrel with in previous reviews. The hero performs manfully, the girls are lovely to look at, there are a few chuckles, a few groans (gays and farting rapidly become unfunny), and a few nice twists at the end of some episodes.

My favourite was probably "L'Avventura", where a beautiful wife is approached in a supermarket car park by a man who follows her home. Second would be the young widow in "La nuova Marisa" who gradually realises that, instead of turning away the men who keep calling for the previous tenant of her apartment, they could be welcomed with advantage.

Not one of Dino Risi's more memorable efforts, however, and no doubt contributed to the demise of the "film collettivo" or "film a sketch".

The Graduate (1967)

Lives of aching emptiness ....

[31 March 2024]

..... In a film with only three characters, the rest being animated props, who are all hopelessly adrift. None of the three subscribe to the values of family, education and work which seem to drive the rest of their world and all three have the time and the means to avoid their responsibilities.

One could cheer them as rebels against cloying conformity, one could scorn them as hollow examples of unearned privilege, one could be sad over their feeble struggles to assert some individuality, or one could just laugh at their vapid antics (a reaction which the excellent dialogue and cinematography strongly suggest). Treated as a screwball rom-com, it just about works today.

Vent de panique (1987)

A picaresque tale set in France of the time

[31 March 2024]

A picaresque tale set in France of the time, recounting the exploits of a couple of endearing confidence tricksters, always on the move without home or jobs, and a young girl they recruit.

Following the conventions of the genre, rogues remain rogues and their life is a hectic series of unconnected episodes in which they survive by their wits, each time just escaping retribution. Though Roland and Martine may bicker, and it is unclear how often they share a bed, in the end they always back each other up and manage to make a last-minute getaway, often in an expensive stolen car.

Their long-lasting relationship comes under strain when they are acquire Isabelle, an uninhibited teenager. While on the one hand she evokes parental feelings in the childless couple, on the other she arouses lust in Roland and jealousy in Martine. Despite the tensions that arise, the three prefer to be together and to enjoy their total freedom.

In ways reminiscent of "L'effrontée", and also of "La petite voleuse" and " Le sourire", the world of the film is not far from that of Claude Miller, who contributed to its scenario and direction. While Stora did not win an audience for his cinema work, surviving only in television, you will enjoy the adventures of his unlikely trio.

The Son Of... (1995)

Who, apart from a little baby, loves a big baby?

[1 July 2022]

Sinking into overweight and boring middle age is a big baby called Gérard. The only person who loves him is his baby son, while his ex-wives and their partners put up with his visits. Dressing like a scruffy teenager, riding a huge motor bike, he eats, drinks and tries to make love whenever he feels like it: the feelings of others pass him by.

The charisma of Gérard Depardieu as the eponymous Gérard, the charm of Géraldine Pailhac as his second wife Sophie, and the vivacity of little Antoine Pialat make this quasi-autobiographical film watchable. Cinematography and music are gripping. The story ends abruptly, leaving little hope over the protagonist's future.

Dial M for Murder (1954)

Is this just a fiction to entertain us, or does it have some relevance?

[17 June 2022]

The London police, true to form, arrest the intended victim for killing her would-be murderer. The English courts, true to form, condemn her to death. Not many people in the 1950s seemed upset about such miscarriages of justice: did they just accept that a percentage of errors does not invalidate the overall deterrent effect?

Throughout his films, Hitchcock pours contempt on cops, lawyers, and judges. He sees them, through personal and systemic inadequacy, misusing the powers society has given them. Is this just mature cynicism about the efficacy of justice? Or is it his innate Catholicism, that earthly courts cannot be expected to discern the truth and that only a divine court can make a final judgment?

The King of Marvin Gardens (1972)

A fiction spun round spinners of fiction

[14 May 2022]

A fiction spun round spinners of fiction.

David makes a living by recounting imaginary tales about himself and his family over late-night radio to an unseen audience. Behind provoking the odd wry chuckle, his effect on their existence is nil.

His brother Bruce, on the other hand, lives by selling his dreams to anybody who will listen, with dire effects on his own life and that of others he enmeshes in his delusions. Rendered homeless, his mistress may face a murder charge, which might then leave her stepdaughter motherless.

But do not take this downward spiral to loneliness and death too seriously, for it is fiction and at times very funny.

The Immortal Bachelor (1975)

Among a quartet of great actors, a fine way to remember Monica Vitti

[3 February 2022]

Now Monica Vitti has departed, this film can serve well as a memory of her talents.

Rather than the distant and enigmatic heroine of Antonioni, we have an earthy woman of fierce passions whose excesses we can not only feel for but also laugh at, for as well as being beautiful and sexy she is also very funny. To praise her is not to ignore the performances of three other giants - Claudia Cardinale, Vittorio Gassman, Giancarlo Giannini - and the enjoyable clashes between the characters they portray. As the male principals are cheerful caricatures of Italian manhood, given to lust, violence and deceit, the story really belongs to the women and to the sympathy they evoke for their predicaments.