Film Review
After making a number of short films, Jean Herman's filmmaking career
got off to a shaky start with this slightly unhinged, if not to say
downright weird, comedy, based on a novel by Raymond Queneau. An
anarchic anti-bourgeois piece to which Queneau contributed the
dialogue,
Le Dimanche de la vie
has something of the spirit of May '68 about it. Its fragmented
narrative, lightened by some almost surreal flights of fancy, makes it
resemble the kind of dream you would expect to have after taking too many
mind-altering drugs. The psychedelic-feeling narrative jars with
the film's Nouvelle Vague-style presentation - filmed in black and
white in the manner of the early films of Jean-Luc Godard and Jacques Demy, with excessive
use of the iris shot favoured by François Truffaut and a score by Georges
Delerue, it offers an illusion of familiarity that is constantly
undermined by its eccentric humour and wilful lack of form and
coherence.
Le Dimanche de la vie is the
most original and boldly experimental film that Herman directed and,
whilst it is far from being a masterpiece, it is arguably more interesting
than his subsequent cinematic offerings. Its attractions include
some bizarre performances from Danielle Darrieux and Jean
Rochefort (last seen together in Jacques Poitrenaud's
Du grabuge chez les veuves (1964)) -
they come scarily close to looking like exhibits in a freak
show. After this cinematic oddity, Herman had some success with
two bog-standard thrillers starring Alain Delon -
Adieu
l'ami (1968) and
Jeff (1969) - but then came two
further flops that put the kibosh on his film directing career. Under
the adopted name Jean Vautrin, he then found acclaim as an author of
crime fiction and somehow found time to pen several scripts for films
such as Claude Miller's
Garde à vue (1981) and
Yves Boisset's
Canicule (1984).
© James Travers 2015
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Film Synopsis
France, 1936. Julia Ségovie, a mature but not unattractive woman,
is leading a contented life as a haberdasher in Le Bouscat, a quaint suburb
of Bordeaux, when she falls madly in love. The object of her infatuation
is a devilishly handsome young soldier, Valentin Bru, who walks past her
shop every day. Even though Julia is twenty years older than Valentin,
she is determined to marry him. In this she is supported by her sister
Chantal, against the wishes of the latter's husband Paul Brélugat,
who fears he may lose an inheritance if the marriage goes ahead.
It isn't long before Julia and Valentin are husband and wife, and settled
in Paris, the proud owners of a small boutique that Julia has just inherited
from her parents. As her husband takes up his new profession as a picture
framer, Julia discovers she has some talent as a fortune teller. Julia's
second sought provides her with a valuable source of income, but when she
falls ill Valentin has to take her place, to the amusement of them both.
The couple's idyllic life is suddenly threatened on the day that war breaks
out, but for Julia's opportunistic brother-in-law this proves to be a good
omen...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.