Deciding to watch as many of Isabelle Huppert's 1981 films for an ICM poll as possible,I started checking the pages of each title. Finding almost all of them to have a wide number of reviews,I was surprised to spot one that appeared really overlooked. Searching round for any info,I got very lucky and found a just about watchable TV recording,that appears to be the only print around,which led to me excitingly unwrapping this unknown Huppert.
The plot:
Seeing her daughter Marie get eaten away by an incurable illness,Marie's prostitute mum Catherine Croy decides to use her money to pay for an actor to act like he has fallen in love with Marie. Hiring Sandro,Catherine tells Sandro that she will pay him once Marie has passed on. Initially seeing the job as a paying gig,Sandro finds himself actually falling in love with Marie. While Marie starts to get close to Sandro,Catherine begins secretly falling in love for her acting lover.
View on the film:
Despite the poor print giving the work a difficult challenge,co- writer/(with Florence Delay) director Benoît Jacquot & cinematographer Ennio Guarnieri poetic qualities are still able to soar for a stylish Melodrama. Swept along on an operatic score from Philippe Sarde,Jacquot floats around the streets of Venice heightening the emotional romantic tragedy of Marie. Bringing the curtain down on Marie and Catherine, Jacquot draws in silhouette the black death of darkness closing in on Marie.
Updating Henry James's 1902 novel The Wings of the Dove, (written as a tribute after his beloved cousin Minny Temple died of tuberculosis)the screenplay by Jacquot and Florence Delay superbly retains the classical Victorian tragedy roots,via the romance between Marie and Sandro being clouded in inedible doom. Morally showing how rotten money can be when mixed with raw human emotion,the writers build a brittle love between Marie and Catherine that shatters with the dove of Marie flying away,and Catherine being left with soulless cash.
Fading away from the illness, Isabelle Huppert gives an excellent performance as Marie,whose limited movements in bed are shaken by Huppert to express Marie's love for Sandro,with the anguish of death. Bringing Sandro in for a high-paying job, Michele Placido wonderfully sands down the cold shoulders of Sandro,to expose the raw nerves for Marie. Tangling Marie and Sandro in the romance, Dominique Sanda gives an absolving performance as Catherine,thanks to Sanda balancing a short-sighted idea of using money to cover any human cracks,with Catherine's sincere passion for Marie and Sandro,as the wings of the dove open,and fly away.
The plot:
Seeing her daughter Marie get eaten away by an incurable illness,Marie's prostitute mum Catherine Croy decides to use her money to pay for an actor to act like he has fallen in love with Marie. Hiring Sandro,Catherine tells Sandro that she will pay him once Marie has passed on. Initially seeing the job as a paying gig,Sandro finds himself actually falling in love with Marie. While Marie starts to get close to Sandro,Catherine begins secretly falling in love for her acting lover.
View on the film:
Despite the poor print giving the work a difficult challenge,co- writer/(with Florence Delay) director Benoît Jacquot & cinematographer Ennio Guarnieri poetic qualities are still able to soar for a stylish Melodrama. Swept along on an operatic score from Philippe Sarde,Jacquot floats around the streets of Venice heightening the emotional romantic tragedy of Marie. Bringing the curtain down on Marie and Catherine, Jacquot draws in silhouette the black death of darkness closing in on Marie.
Updating Henry James's 1902 novel The Wings of the Dove, (written as a tribute after his beloved cousin Minny Temple died of tuberculosis)the screenplay by Jacquot and Florence Delay superbly retains the classical Victorian tragedy roots,via the romance between Marie and Sandro being clouded in inedible doom. Morally showing how rotten money can be when mixed with raw human emotion,the writers build a brittle love between Marie and Catherine that shatters with the dove of Marie flying away,and Catherine being left with soulless cash.
Fading away from the illness, Isabelle Huppert gives an excellent performance as Marie,whose limited movements in bed are shaken by Huppert to express Marie's love for Sandro,with the anguish of death. Bringing Sandro in for a high-paying job, Michele Placido wonderfully sands down the cold shoulders of Sandro,to expose the raw nerves for Marie. Tangling Marie and Sandro in the romance, Dominique Sanda gives an absolving performance as Catherine,thanks to Sanda balancing a short-sighted idea of using money to cover any human cracks,with Catherine's sincere passion for Marie and Sandro,as the wings of the dove open,and fly away.
