I haven't enjoyed all of Alain Resnais' films, but he's always been interesting in his ambitious experimental approach to cinema.
But Stavisky is just a dull period piece about a charming fraud. It has none of Resnais typical oddness, but at the same time, it shows off his weakness as a conventional director. It fails to create context, there's a lack of dramatic tension, and it just feels like it's going on and on. I made it maybe a third of the way through before giving up out of sheer boredom.
The acting is pretty good but the script is poor. It's filmed decently and the soundtrack is at least sort of interesting, but I can't figure out why this was something Resnais wanted to do. He neither goes for something new nor just tries to make something conventionally great.
To be fair, there are a lot of dull French films in this world. The French have probably made more boring films than anyone. So arguably this is simply Resnais' most French movie.
Not worth watching.
But Stavisky is just a dull period piece about a charming fraud. It has none of Resnais typical oddness, but at the same time, it shows off his weakness as a conventional director. It fails to create context, there's a lack of dramatic tension, and it just feels like it's going on and on. I made it maybe a third of the way through before giving up out of sheer boredom.
The acting is pretty good but the script is poor. It's filmed decently and the soundtrack is at least sort of interesting, but I can't figure out why this was something Resnais wanted to do. He neither goes for something new nor just tries to make something conventionally great.
To be fair, there are a lot of dull French films in this world. The French have probably made more boring films than anyone. So arguably this is simply Resnais' most French movie.
Not worth watching.