A Frenchman took the world's first photograph. It was in 1826 and it was taken out of a window. After that, as pioneer shutterbugs got the hang of things, no doubt other subjects came into focus. Who knows, but it could have been the sight of the maid passing by that gave one of them the idea that beneath her crinolines was something far more interesting to photograph than a bowl of fruit. "Cecile, would you step into the studio s'il vous plaît?"
Maybe it's a straight line from there to the posting of stolen selfies.
I watched a subtitled "Curiosa" on Australia's SBS; that poster was hard to ignore. It's an unusual, beautiful looking film with an odd story; not so much a ménage à trois as a ménage à quatre: two men, a woman and what looks like a Box Brownie camera.
Set in France around the turn of the 19th Century, it smacks of "Madam Bovary" with Marie de Régnier (Noémie Merlant) married to Henri de Regnier (Benjamin Lavernhe), but having a flagrant affair with their best friend Pierre Louÿs (Niels Schneider). Marie is a writer and Pierre is rarely sans camera; the more clothes that come off, the faster come the clicks.
The difference between Emma Bovary and Marie is that she relishes the naughtiness of the affair, which is carried out in Pierre's studio flat. Unfortunately Marie isn't the only female visitor to the apartment, which Pierre has designated a clothes-free zone.
Despite surprising snaps in Pierre's derrière collection, and the arrival of his spare muse from Algeria, the film has a measured pace, finishing with gentle sadness. Arnaud Rebotini's score with its modern beat is hardly Debussy, but it works beautifully.
Noémie Merlant as Marie is arresting. In those period dresses with her hair piled up she could have stepped out of a Manet Painting.
It's brazen, but the emotional depth and passion for art in "Curiosa" lifts it above mere titillation. However it could be a tricky choice for a first date movie.
Maybe it's a straight line from there to the posting of stolen selfies.
I watched a subtitled "Curiosa" on Australia's SBS; that poster was hard to ignore. It's an unusual, beautiful looking film with an odd story; not so much a ménage à trois as a ménage à quatre: two men, a woman and what looks like a Box Brownie camera.
Set in France around the turn of the 19th Century, it smacks of "Madam Bovary" with Marie de Régnier (Noémie Merlant) married to Henri de Regnier (Benjamin Lavernhe), but having a flagrant affair with their best friend Pierre Louÿs (Niels Schneider). Marie is a writer and Pierre is rarely sans camera; the more clothes that come off, the faster come the clicks.
The difference between Emma Bovary and Marie is that she relishes the naughtiness of the affair, which is carried out in Pierre's studio flat. Unfortunately Marie isn't the only female visitor to the apartment, which Pierre has designated a clothes-free zone.
Despite surprising snaps in Pierre's derrière collection, and the arrival of his spare muse from Algeria, the film has a measured pace, finishing with gentle sadness. Arnaud Rebotini's score with its modern beat is hardly Debussy, but it works beautifully.
Noémie Merlant as Marie is arresting. In those period dresses with her hair piled up she could have stepped out of a Manet Painting.
It's brazen, but the emotional depth and passion for art in "Curiosa" lifts it above mere titillation. However it could be a tricky choice for a first date movie.