Kirpianuscus
a novel. a splendid cast. French Riviera. and the steps from present and past. at first sigh, it is the film of Jean Seberg. her look, her voice, her childish revenge with tragic result. in fact, the great virtue of film is the wise measure. and the motif who transforms the novel of Sagan in a fascinating story about egocentric and selfish game of survive of two lonely people. David Niven seems be the perfect choice for become Raymond. the easy manner to define life, the never end holiday, the sarcasm and kind, mixed in a seductive manner are pillars for a great performance. the essential ingredient of the force of film remains the work of Deborah Kerr. in her desire to become a kind of Pygmalion, the fall becomes key of film. the desire to transform a chaotic Paradise in normal life is important piece of a great story about a beautiful story about the meanings of life.
rgcustomer
Normally I hate remakes, but I think it would be hard to make this film worse than it already is, so I say "Go for it!" because the story might be worth telling.The story actually isn't much, and deserved a better script and tighter editing to keep the audience interested, not to mention better direction, and acting (including Seberg). I was constantly having to replay scenes, because my mind would drift away from the film, as it was so dull.Even the music was bad. I mean, by the zillionth time they play a variation on that theme ... good grief, we get it already! It must have been a bargain.The characters never really evolve one way or another. They just sort of change (or not) for no particular reason. It's devoid of feeling, even when there should be feeling. We're just supposed to assume it makes sense, without actually taking that journey with the characters.The narration was a big negative as well. Sure, the character may be annoying and childish, but that's no reason to subject us to annoying and childish ramblings.I did enjoy the cinematography, and the use of colour.Even in the 6.5 - 7.0 range, this film is overrated. The pity is that it could have been done well, and wasn't.
writers_reign
Seems I didn't miss all that much - if indeed anything at all - by failing to catch up with this oven-ready turkey until now. As a director Preminger was uneven at best and often relied on controversy - The Moon Is Blue, The Man With The Golden Arm - in lieu of genuine talent; whilst it's true he had at least one Laura in him that was outweighed by one too many Hurry Sundowns. Having 'discovered' Jean Seberg and miscast her monumentally in St. Joan the previous year he attempted to prove his judgment right on the money by using her again in this adaptation of a novel by a seventeen year old French girl, proving only how far off the money he was. This is best described as a Soap with Classical pretensions. Living a quasi incestuous Riviera lifestyle with swinger pop David Niven, Seberg is miffed when Deborah Kerr looms up as prospective wife/stepmom material and plots her downfall. That's all, folks. Students or irony may or may not relish the fact that this movie was released just as the new wavelet was approaching the shore of real Cinema and Seberg, unable to register there, went on to star in Godard's Brainless and help give that new wavelet its brief moment in the sun before Real Talents reclaimed the cinema. Nice one, Otto.
sevisan
As Andrew Sarris said, "Preminger changes trash into art". Yes, and this film is the best proof. From a very dated novella from Francoise Sagan, we get a simple, subtle and elegant film. THE SUNNY PAST: pink, blue and yellow colors (the shirts and bathing costumes, the sea "like velvet" as Cecile says), the umbrella falling and hiding Cecile and her boyfriend, the geometric lines of the house with its wonderful environment, the pine trees (you can almost smell them). Everything as the background of a drama that will soon burst. THE BLEAK PRESENT: Grey Paris, the picture gallery, the "existentialist cave", Concordia Square, Les Halles, the luxurious apartment where is hidden a painful souvenir, and, above all, Cecile makeup in front of the mirror. Juliette Greco sings: "My smile is void of loving/my kiss has no caresses/I'm faithful to my love/my bittersweet tristesse". Very god performances from Jean Seberg and David Niven (she is here much better than in "Lilith"). Cinematography: Georges Perinal, music: Auric (remember the Cocteau films), credits: Saul Bass.
AD
