The only other film I had seen by Jean Renoir was Rules of the Game. That was, of course, sheer genius so I couldn't wait to watch this one.
For the first few minutes I was completely captivated. The colors. The costumes. The music. It was a feast for the eyes and the ears.
But then, horrors, it actually became -- oh no -- a bit tedious. To say I'm not a fan of Commedia dell'Arte would be an understatement, so some of the theatrical scenes at the beginning of the film began to seem interminable.
But yay. I solved that problem by fast-forwarding through them.
And then as I sank back into the film it suddenly caught fire.
I was transfixed. Original plans had been to watch it over two nights but I couldn't let go. The film would not let me go. It had seized me and there would be no release.
I think it is because while watching Renoir's work, you know indisputably that you are in the presence of genius. It radiates through the screen. It surrounds you. It leaves you awestruck.
I want to watch it again. I want to figure out how Renoir does this. How he weaves this magic. How he creates this momentum to move the story forward in such a way as to have the excitement of the most intense action film.
Speaking of action, there is a sword fight in this film that is wonderful.
And tons of humor.
And it's loaded with so much heart.
Anna Magnani was great.
As great as Magnani was, even greater, IMO, was Duncan Lamont who played the Viceroy. I immediately looked him up to search out his other work.
One interesting side note for me was in the accents. This was the version of the film that had been filmed in English and there were all kinds of different accents of it floating around among the cast of characters. Alas, it was kind of sad to realize how poorly, in contrast to all of the others, the American accent(from beloved U.S.ofA) fared in comparison. Ah, life.
For the first few minutes I was completely captivated. The colors. The costumes. The music. It was a feast for the eyes and the ears.
But then, horrors, it actually became -- oh no -- a bit tedious. To say I'm not a fan of Commedia dell'Arte would be an understatement, so some of the theatrical scenes at the beginning of the film began to seem interminable.
But yay. I solved that problem by fast-forwarding through them.
And then as I sank back into the film it suddenly caught fire.
I was transfixed. Original plans had been to watch it over two nights but I couldn't let go. The film would not let me go. It had seized me and there would be no release.
I think it is because while watching Renoir's work, you know indisputably that you are in the presence of genius. It radiates through the screen. It surrounds you. It leaves you awestruck.
I want to watch it again. I want to figure out how Renoir does this. How he weaves this magic. How he creates this momentum to move the story forward in such a way as to have the excitement of the most intense action film.
Speaking of action, there is a sword fight in this film that is wonderful.
And tons of humor.
And it's loaded with so much heart.
Anna Magnani was great.
As great as Magnani was, even greater, IMO, was Duncan Lamont who played the Viceroy. I immediately looked him up to search out his other work.
One interesting side note for me was in the accents. This was the version of the film that had been filmed in English and there were all kinds of different accents of it floating around among the cast of characters. Alas, it was kind of sad to realize how poorly, in contrast to all of the others, the American accent(from beloved U.S.ofA) fared in comparison. Ah, life.