Monday 21 November 2022

MADELEINE COLLINS - WRITER/DIRECTOR Q&A

Here comes what he said: Topics find him. This time the inspiration was a woman on a train. He analyses the picture, the mood and then invents scenes. When he's got about 20, he puts them in order and fills the gaps. His first 2 films had fantastical elements, this is the first realistic one. There were no films about women having double lives. His first scene here was cut out in editing: she goes to a village bar, meets a local playboy to who she first introduces herself as Madeleine Collins - like a seed which falls out when the plant is grown. She tries out various identities like a child. Antoine Barraud is not a type who'd be suspicious of women. Fellini-like, curiosity wakes him every day. Virginie Efira was his first choice because she's beautiful, has inner glow, no other actress would be likeable. Mourning wasn't central to him in the story but now is often discussed with viewers. A brief sexual relation in mourning is something not talked about. "Kramer vs. Kramer" is a masterpiece, not mentioned in lists of great movies of all time - Meryl Streep also has inner glow, we follow her no matter what she does, the film starts with an earthquake and is followed by rising tension. His attitude is that he loved her first only but loves her in all her imperfection. In the 3/4 of the film she is revealed not to be Ninon's mother, next we discover it was Abdel's idea. We also discover her son's attitude. It's his own female perspective - if you suspend your own identity, you can discover others. 

DAISY QUOKKA: WORLD'S SCARIEST ANIMAL

Watchable. A run-of-the-mill story, shallow and naive: you can be whoever you want to be, regardless of how others see you. Instrumental 80s music and sound effects coming from the side make it not too bad though.

D'ARTACAN Y LOS TRES MOSQUEPERROS (DOGTANIAN AND THE THREE MUSKEHOUNDS)

Recommended. The Polish dubbing - the only version available in Polish cinemas -  appears to be better than the English translation. Bartek Fukiet excels again, this time his translation includes rhymes and puns aplenty. The animation is detailed, whether the royal palace interiors or the muskehounds' pin-striped uniforms. It's all colourful, pleasant, the story engaging and the whole idea a great angle on Alexandre Dumas' adaptation. And unlike many other, this one is clear-cut. There's a mid-credit announcing a sequel. I do hope for one.
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TERMESZETES FENY (NATURAL LIGHT)

Walked out. The soldiers humiliate others and each other, play bottom-level pranks. It's all shot dark and heads nowhere.

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