La Nuit Des Horloges (2007)

The Night of the Clocks

Rarely have I seen an artist struggle so openly with the question of what their work means in the light of their mortality as in Jean Rollin's penultimate film, La Nuit Des Horloges.  Rollin died three years after making this film, after a long illness, and there can be no doubt that he did not expect to have many years of life ahead of him during the production of this unique movie.

The World of Jacques Demy: Juvenilia (1944-1959)

I recently acquired a set of box set containing the complete works of filmmaker Jacques Demy.  As I removed the plastic and began to peruse the set, it positively screamed "blog about me!"  (For the record, if you don't hear your DVD's talking to you, I assure you that they are, you just aren't listening correctly.  Otherwise I'd just be crazy, and that can't be right.)

In all seriousness, this set is really an ideal choice for a complete filmography review here at Spellbound.  First, it's just the right size.  Too small a set of movies and there's not enough material to merit a series, much less get any kind of comprehensive vision from watching them consecutively.  Too many films, and the project would be exhausting for blogger and reader alike.

Second, it's kind of a rare opportunity to be able to pick up a complete filmography in one go.  I don't know about you, but most filmmakers I'm interested in I end up picking up their movies in bits and pieces over weeks or months.  Sometimes it takes years to track down elusive films or wait for decent DVD releases.  This comprehensive set means that the only impediment to my progress will be my own laziness or distractability.

Finally, I am in the nice position of being just familiar enough with the work of Mr. Demy to be certain that I'll enjoy watching all his films and sharing them with you all, but not so familiar that I can't come to them with fresh eyes.

So I hope you'll join me for the next few weeks as we explore together the works of this remarkable filmmaker who has yet to receive his due regard here in the United States.

Comedies and Proverbs: Pauline at the Beach (1983)

Amanda Langlet as Pauline and Arielle Dombasie as Marion

Pauline at the Beach is, by a wide margin, the sexiest film in either of Éric Rohmer's two major series.  Although there is a sexual subtext to all twelve films, as his protagonists struggle in words and thoughts to manage their love lives, the intellectualism of his characters (and Rohmer's own approach to filmmaking) gives an almost asexual appearance to their romantic shenanigans.   Sure, there were momentary blasts of eroticism throughout the moral tales: the fetishistic appeal of Claire's Knee, the tremendous temptation in My Night at Maud's, and the earthy sexuality of Chloe in Love in the Afternoon.  But each of the men in those films saw his lust as the enemy of his happiness.  Here on the beach, however, the five leads all embrace their libido and are simply looking for the best way to keep their hearts safe while satisfying their desires.

Comedies and Proverbs: A Good Marriage (1982)

Béatrice Romand as Sabine

It speaks volumes about the consistency of the Comedies and Proverbs series that I can think of solid arguments for why five of the six films might, in fact, be the best in the series (Full Moon in Paris is far from a bad film, but...well, more on that in a couple of weeks).  It seems that, to some extent, my favorite film in this rich era of Rohmer's career is whichever one I'm thinking about at the moment.

The Night of the Hunted (1980)

Brigitte Lahaie and Dominique Journet

Many of the films of Jean Rollin, especially the early vampire films and gothic masterpiece The Iron Rose, seem to take place in a present haunted by an inescapable past.  His protagonists may begin the films confident professionals, career criminals, or bored intellectuals, but once they set foot outside their comfort zones they're inevitably confronted by the same reality.  Rollin's is a world in which the countryside is dotted with decaying castles and villas, resplendent in their faded glamour.  A seductive world in which death is but a prolonged dusk and curses may haunt for generations.  And most importantly a world in which a beach of rugged beauty that promises the infinite, glimpsed in childhood, becomes a stage for transformation and rebirth.

Comedies and Proverbs: The Aviator's Wife (1981)

Two very amateur detectives

After the international success of his Six Moral Tales series,  French director Éric Rohmer took an unexpected left turn in the 1970's.  Whereas the moral tales had focused on the lives and loves of contemporary youth in France with a naturalistic veracity that bordered on neo-realism, the three features he released between 1973 and 1980 were each lushly appointed period pieces.  He would return to the style on which he made his name, however, in 1981 when he launched his second series, Comedies and Proberbs, with the film The Aviator's Wife.