Pussy Galore's review thread

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Well, I've decided to, like many others already did, start a review thread. There are two reasons for that. First, I think I watch to much movies without really thinking/reflecting about them, their themes, their true meanings, etc. By doing a review, maybe I won't understand the movies the way I should, but at least I'll have to try to give an interpretation and to think about it. Thinking is always a good thing! Also, I am going to university next year and I might try to study in English instead of French because McGill university seems to be the best in Montréal so it would be a good practice for my writing skills to write some longer texts (obviously there will be some mistakes, but I hope that as I write the reviews my English will get better, to ultimately become perfectly billangual.)
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I do not speak english perfectly so expect some mistakes here and there in my messages





Breathless

I'll start with Breathless, the movie that made famous Jean-Luc Godard. First the plot, Michel Poiccard (Jean-Paul Belmondo) kills a cop while he's going to Paris. When he arrives he finds Patricia (Jean Seberg), a girl he once slept with and he falls in love with her. He tries to convince her to escape with him to Rome. That's pretty much it, the movie is much more centered on the style than on its content. And I think than that's actually the point Godard was trying to make. The movie is probably the most well-known of the french new wave. In the 60's in France philosophy was popular, it was cool to quote Nietzsche, Kant or Freud and the French New Wave is highly influenced by this trend. Rohmer has made My Night at Maud with the influence of Blaise Pascal, In The 400 Blows Young Antoine reads Balzac (he's not a philosopher, but still an important intellectual figure) and Godard is highly influenced by existentialism (Camus, Sartre, etc.) The idea that there isn't any kind of meaning or moral value to life we are just moving living things that, by their actions, determine their future. There is a quote in the film that I liked very much that showed that very well. When Jean Seberg asked to a famous author what are his ambitions in life? He answered: ‘’to become immortal and to die’’. The conversations the characters have are pretty empty, meaningless compared to Rohmer movies for instance, but it doesn’t make it bad it is a particular voice, it is a particular way to see the world. Godard wants to show how frivolous, unexpected life is. Existentialism puts liberty at first, as opposed to how Freud saw the human mind. The german doctor used to say that 90% of our brain is subconscious and that our free will is very limited, the even older philosopher Baruch Spinoza used to say every action we do is determined by a cause, hence we do not have free will at all. Godard and this philosophical movement go against that and Breathless is a perfect example. Just in the editing, sometime I found it to be distracting because it was unusual, but it completely works with the idea of the film and the desire to create something new, not determined by any kind of cinema that was already there.


Overall I’d say that for my personal liking the movie isn’t that good, that it’s pretty empty and that it’s not the kind of thing that I enjoy, but it is a very important movie and a good movie that with its direction accentuate the message it conveys. I don’t know how to rate it, I think that if you read my review you can have a good idea of my appreciation. For my peronnal appreciation (and not the quality of the film) I'd give a grade like that





It's my third (the other 2 being Le Mépris and Bande à Part) and it's also my least favorite.


As for my second review




The Visitor is the story of widowed a college professor called Walter (Richard Jenkins) whose life is very monotone. He teaches his class, goes home and repeats the process, he doesn’t seem very happy. The director of the school in which he works tells him that he has to make a conference in New-York, he isn’t very happy about it, but he goes. When he arrives in his apartment in New-York he finds a couple living there, he gets to know them and starts to befriend them. While they were to take the subway Tariq is arrested for no reason and the movie takes another direction, we now see the arch reality of detention centers for immigrants. Tariq’s mother learned about it and goes to New-York to see what she can do. Walter invites her to stay with him. So the movies deals with both the difficulty of being a stranger and the life of a worn out college professor.

As for my appreciation I loved that movie, it is the best film I’ve seen in a very long time, it touched me because it is subtle, it does not push its message on our face, we follow the characters journey and simply observe how difficult reality can be sometimes. At the beginning of the film, we see that Tariq even though he lives in insecurity doesn’t have any money and just plays his music is happier, lives a better life than the college professor who have written a numerous amount of book and have a ‘’prestigious’’ job. He gradually learns from Tariq, he gradually gets his emotions, his will to live back. Now, lets talk about my favorite thing in the movie, the relationship with Walter and the mother of Tariq, Mouna. I don’t know why, but I loved that actress, she played her role perfectly, I don’t want to spoil it, but the ending was non only beautiful, but very sad and touching. It was the first Tom Mccarthy movie I’ve seen and it certainly won’t be the last, I was very much impressed with the simplicity of the directing, there wasn’t any kind of overly spectacular camera movement, some particularly remarkable editing, but it’s exactly what the movie needs, it should tell its story simply, it doesn’t need any extravagance. However, I remarked at a particular a very nice directing choice, when Walter confessed himself to Mouna, Mccarthy made a close up that was very effective to set up the mood and give some dramatic power to the scene.

So overall I hope I convinced you to give this movie a shot it is a great movie that is not talked about a lot and really deserves it.