Film Review
Although pretty mundane when compared with Resnais' earlier cinematographic achievements,
this is nonetheless an entertaining satire, having the quality of characterisation and
narrative structure we have come to expect of this master of French cinema.
Resnais's motivation for making this film is his own life-long interest in strip cartoons,
a hobby which has far more legitimacy amongst adults in France than probably anywhere
else in the world. The main characters in the film are initially presented as almost
comic-book creations who evolve into fully blooded human beings as the origins for their
extreme behaviour is gradually unveiled. The best instance of this is the central
character, Wellman, who appears at first to be the archetypal loud-mouthed American whose
first day in Paris is his worst nightmare come true.
Wellman, brilliantly played by Adolph Green (the celebrated writer of the Hollywood classic
Singin' in the Rain), appears to undergo a major transformation in the course of
his trip to France. However, what changes most is our interpretation of Wellman,
how we ourselves see the peculiar little man. This is, if anything, a film about
the folly of prejudice and preconceived notions of what is worthy of merit.
Bugs
Bunny and
Madame Bovary are both, in their own way, works of genius.
The film is a little marred by some unnecessary comic ideas which appear rather silly
and weaken the drama considerably - for instance the lame jealous boyfriend sequence culminating
in an awful bedroom brawl. Also, some would lampoon Resnais' curious decision to
use a cartoon figure (the increasingly irritating Sallycat) to act as the conscience of
the film's main protagonists.
However, the film's greatest source of irritation is its constant flipping between French
and English, which results in the film appearing poorly dubbed, whether viewed in its
French or English version.
However, for all its noticeable weaknesses, the film does have some extremely funny moments
which, for some spectators at least, should just about make up for these negative
aspects.
© James Travers 2001
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Next Alain Resnais film:
Smoking / No Smoking (1993)
Film Synopsis
An ageing American cartoonists, Joey Wellman, makes a visit to Paris to attend an exhibition
of his work. He plans to meet up with his daughter, Elsie, who is studying at the
Sorbonne, but she has little respect for her father and fails to keep the rendez-vous.
By chance, Wellman meets and is befriended by a celebrated academic, Christian Gauthier,
an admirer of his work and, ironically, the man whom Welmman's daughter has desperately
been trying to meet for the past few months. Although he is feeling increasingly
uneasy with French culture, Wellman reluctantly agrees to accept an invitation to spend
the weekend with Gauthier and his entourage…
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.