Dolor y Gloria

Le personnage incarné par Antonio Banderas dans « Dolor y Gloria », celui d’un cinéaste pétri de douleurs, épuisé et déprimé, et surtout profondément nostalgique, a dû rencontrer dans mon inconscient la grande inquiétude qui s’empare des hommes à leur cinquantième anniversaire. Peut-être n’y a-t-il rien à reprocher au personnage ou à l’interprétation d’Antonio Banderas, car j’avoue avoir ressenti une profonde compassion pour cet homme abîmé. Quelque chose avait été réussi, mais d’une manière qui me dérangeait et m’attristait. J’étais allé voir ce film en espérant trouver davantage de légèreté, mais Pedro Almodovar n’était pas d’une humeur badine quand il a écrit cette histoire. Le système des renvois aux souvenirs d’enfance du personnage est organisé de manière explicative pour éclairer sa personnalité, de façon plutôt flatteuse en dessinant le portrait d’un enfant timide et brillant, et aussi fortement chargée sur le plan fantasmatique, en lui offrant un rôle dominant sur l’objet de son désir, un jeune ouvrier benêt, beau et gentil. Sa maman, sublimée sous les traits de Pénélope Cruz, est évidemment l’être le plus aimé, à la fois idéale et bienveillante. Tout en retrouvant l’univers sensible et coloré d’Almodovar, on se retrouve plongé dans un univers légèrement plus masculin que dans ses films précédents, les femmes n’occupant plus que des fonctions catalysantes. Les hommes ont enfin le beau rôle, de manière anachronique à l’époque de la féminisation du cinéma, et surprenante de la part du meilleur portraitiste des femmes depuis 1980...

Le nouveau riz du Chef Ma

Le bœuf du Chef Ma

Temblores

I admire the subtlety of Jayro Bustamante’s storytelling. It was of a fascinating beauty in “Ixcanul”, his first feature, fairly celebrated in Berlin (and all over the world). I feel a kind of magic in the little distance he manages to maintain between our eyes and his characters, whom he tends to protect emotionally. Some might consider that distance a cold hearted treatment of trauma/pain. But I happen to like the elegance of his choices, avoiding pathos, and yet sharing part of the intimate drama his characters experience. JB is not so much into tears although a little shouting/screaming might please him from time to time. And he seems particularly careful with the phrasing of love. Maybe those families are not particularly open to such demonstrations? “Temblores” has some features of a manifesto against alienation. And yet, showing freedom as little appealing, the viewer might wonder about his intentions. An extremely good looking middle aged man leaving wealth and a beautiful wife for slums and an average looking drunkard lover would make anyone wonder/hesitate. Love - but is it genuine love Pablo feels - easily transforms into a vain infatuation with the help, thank you wealth, of needles, cold showers and closeted lesbians... Gorgeous aesthetics, very convincing actors, and a quite disturbing story... Not to miss!

Couleurs parisiennes

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile

Who knew Zac Efron was such a good actor? I had only seen pictures of him and considered him a good looking playboy with gorgeous body and face. In fact I had never seen him in a show or a movie. And I was extremely impressed by his performance as Ted Bundy in Joe Berlinger’s “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile” (the words Judge Edward D. Cowart pronounced to qualify Ted Bundy’s crimes). I saw a young actor seizing an opportunity to show his talent and offer a new turn to his career. Not one second does he forget his character and how convincing he should be interpreting one of the deadliest serial killers in US history. I was extremely impressed by his involvement and frankly even disturbed by his uncanny faces. There are scenes where his features seem to express evil and almost do you harm. The expression “the devil’s beauty” suits Ted Bundy perfectly. He could easily seduce women, but only to destroy them. The producers chose not to make their movie a thriller but mostly a portrait of the killer, showing him as a balanced, charismatic and brilliant family man seemingly in love with his girlfriend. The producers do not mean to make a flattering or sympathetic portrait of a monster, but his personality is a cinematographic object storytellers had to seize. Also, maybe consider watching that movie to see an actor suddenly becoming a great actor?

The Long Night

Here are a few words from a 49 year old teenager. Those who have not yet seen The episode, please do not read those lines. I purposefully do not use the word “s.....” because this social network would immediately block my publication. Only to say... A few days after my first viewing - I watched it twice - I still feel overwhelmed by the intensity of what I saw and heard. It almost never happens to me in front of a television set. For sure, there were a few minutes of “The Walking Dead” that were genuinely heartbreaking. But what GOT’s producers managed to tell in that episode offered me the greatest television experience I have ever lived. I think I feel grateful for the emotions I felt. And I also feel sad as I wonder what might follow. I was extremely impressed by the dramatic journey the producers took me through. The first assault towards Death led by Jorah Mormont is impossible to forget, as lit swords rapidly fade away in the dark, and the traumatic sound of gallops rushing back from a failed battle, bruised bloody faces, and already a sense of doom... The strongest and most heroic knights now confronting an enemy with unlimited resources seem to experience genuine despair for the first time... Miguel Sapochnik, the director of that episode, did a fantastic job taking the cast to new emotional places, breaking features otherwise dignified, and now seemingly confronted by archaic terror as the end of the world is near. “The Long Night” is by far GOT’s best episode.