what hit me first were the beautiful waves of technicolor magic coming at me from my tv screen. this put me right in the mood for old '50s musicals (both hollywood and french) and vaudeville theater. but don't be put off by the musical aspect of the film because tere are only individual songs that appear in different places in the film when need be. the songs merely act as interludes explaining the various women's inner thoughts to us.
the treatment is extremely kitsch. think glamor and marlene dietrich. from the stunning colors to the fake cardboard sets, everything's very tongue-in-cheek but told by these world class actresses. the script was adapted from a robert thomas play; very much a whodunnit but twisted out to something much more complex and fun by some incredible performances and an amazingly creative direction taken by ozon.
the cast director françois ozon was able to assemble is just stunning. think of a great french actress and she's there. and what's most amazing about this ensemble of very talented actresses are the different styles invovled and how seamlessly ozon was able to mix them all together (and in a style light years away from what they're accustomed to, no less; which is just a pure joy to watch). speaking of joy to watch, isabelle hupert is the sure standout in this film (and emmanuelle béart a very close second in a quieter role); she works her character to the bone and then just goes from there. she's simply delicious.
and what to say of the mindnumbingly rapid-fire dialogue? precison, precision, precision. this is one hell of a good time.
this is what you get when you ram together old hollywood musicals, hitchcock films, agatha christie plots, and a standout cast of the top french actresses.
:: seek it out, and have fun.
Posted by Anonymous | 11:09 PM
