Movie Night 167
Quasi-provocative question: "Fine wine or sour grapes?"
A Feature: Manon des sources (Manon of the Spring)
B Feature: Spaceways
Notes:
A Feature: Manon des sources (Manon of the Spring)
B Feature: Spaceways
Notes:
- Kid Night! Manon... was the sequel to Jean de Florette, the A feature of the last Kid Night (163)
- Dr Sample speaks "167" with a French accent and a Memphis accent
posted by Davin at 1:26 PM
2 Comments:
Manon was good, although they felt the need to tie up too many loose ends. Decent plot, but what I think seperates it from a lot of other films is the interesting approach it takes with many of the characters. I was a little disappointed no one made any "You can't serve God and Manon" jokes, but then, I would say something like that.
Spaceways was hamstrung by the fact that they spent very little time in space. It was more of a spacerace film (and as such is probably pretty unique) only without the race part to give it tension (although that could have been a taken-for-granted subtext). Instead they relied on a fair amount of melodrama. Or so I think, because then I fell asleep. As a picture of a bygone era, not bad. Otherwise, eh?
Jean de Florette and Manon of the Spring are both examples of slow movies that keep me riveted. Why? Did I grow up secretly wanting to read my sisters' "Anne of Green Gables" instead of playing numchuks in the back yard? maybe. But I am not too callous to enjoy simple beauty. The scenery, pacing, and supberb acting are exquisitely blended and I take issue with DSL that it, specifically the ending, might be too neat. The film/story could have easily dwelled too long on Manon's victory over the village or turned to sappy montages of her subsequent married life. But the film, like any good novel, stuck to what was important. I can't think of any loose end which ought to be left untied----but then again, I'm still wondering how those little bird traps work.
There's something about the movie that plain 'ol ROMANCES me---Maybe it's the notion that we've got enough challenge with MAN vs. NATURE to waste energies on MAN vs. MAN---Maybe it's the irrepressible comeliness of Emannuelle Beart or the allure of Jean's harmonica... All I can say is put down the numchuks, grab a book, and make rabbits.
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