Four years after his last feature film in La Verite starring Brigitte Bardot, Henri-Georges Clouzot has finished a script he wrote with Jean Ferry and Jose-Andre Lacour as it would revolve around a hotelier’s suspicion about his wife having an affair with another man as he becomes paranoid and jealous. Set in the Cantal region in France, the film is to be this surrealistic-drama that was the antithesis of what was happening in French cinema in the 1960s that was dominated by the French New Wave. The film would also have references to Dante’s Inferno and Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time with the latter being the name of its protagonists in Odette and Marcel. The film was to star Romy Schneider as Odette and Serge Reggiani as Marcel with an ensemble that was to include Dany Carell, Jean-Claude Bercq, Maurice Garrel, and Mario David. With Columbia Pictures offering to fund the film giving him an unlimited budget, which was unusual for a non-American director making a film in his native language, Clouzot would take advantage of this offer to experiment with visuals.
The documentary on the making and unmaking of Clouzot’s film features interviews with several people who participated in the production including actress/comedienne Catherine Allegret who had a small role in the film as her mother Simone Signoret who had worked with Clouzot in Les Diaboliques. Another notable figure involved in the production is filmmaker Costa-Gavras who was then an assistant director helping Clouzot with the production. The footage from the unreleased film is provided by Clouzot’s widow Ines who met co-director Serge Bromberg in an elevator when it was stuck as she had 150 cans of film reels featuring outtakes and scenes that were shot in the production. Most notably colorful outtakes are included that play into Clouzot’s experiment with colorful photography, lenses, and practical lighting effects. It would play into Marcel’s own paranoia in what he sees as it adds a surrealistic tone to the film.
Since much of the film’s original audio was lost, Bromberg and Ruxandra Medrea Annonier would have Berenice Bejo and Jacques Gamblin perform scenes in a soundstage to dialogue that were either lost or not recorded. Shot by Irina Lubtchansky and Jerome Krumacker, the scenes showcase the drama that Clouzot was aiming for while the interviews are presented in a unique fashion with production designer Nicolas Faure putting up screens in a room while the interviewees are sitting that include Irina’s father William who was an assistant cinematographer on the film. Several people who worked on the film reveal what went wrong during the production as it was shot near Garabit viaduct including an artificial lake that was to be drained as it was one of many problems. Editor Janice Jones gathers much of the outtakes and available footage from the film that includes an actor standing in for Reggiani in running sequences. Bromberg and Annonier also reveal that since the film was shot in the Cantal region, it was also during one of its hottest years that added to the troubled production including tension between Clouzot and Reggiani as the latter was becoming frustrated with Clouzot’s demands.
The sound work of Jean Gargonne and Jean-Guy Veran is superb in not just creating sound textures in what Clouzot might have wanted but also in the sparse nature of the performances from Bejo and Gamblin. One key scene involving the rare audio that was found from the film is presented as it is in decent condition though it is a shame that a lot of the film’s original audio is lost. The film’s music by Bruno Alexiu is a mixture of somber piano pieces that play into the footage of the film as it adds a lot of dramatic weight as well as some eerie electronic pieces for the lighting experiments in the film. Even as the piano pieces also play into how the production was abandoned due to Clouzot having a heart attack as the film was shelved as Clouzot would eventually make one more feature film in 1968’s La Prisonniere before his death in 1977.
Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Inferno is a phenomenal film by Serge Bromberg and Ruxandra Medrea Annonier. It is a riveting documentary film that explores one of the best films that never got made as well as exploring what happened to a film that had so much intrigue only to fall apart three weeks into production. It is also a look into the creative process with those involved in the film explaining what happened and why it was never finished. In the end, Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Inferno is a sensational film by Serge Bromberg and Ruxandra Medrea Annonier.
Henri-Georges Clouzot Films: (Caprice de Princesse) – (Tout pour l’amour) – (The Murderer Lives at Number 21) – (Le Corbeau) – (Quai des Orfevres) – (Manon) – (Miquette et sa mere) – The Wages of Fear - Les Diaboliques - (The Mystery of Picasso) - (Les Espions) – (La Verite) – (Grand chef d’orchestre) – (La Prisonniere)
© thevoid99 2025
Based on the story The Knight’s Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer, A Knight’s Tale is the story of a squire who decides to become a knight as he becomes a hero to the people while gaining the ire of a tournament champion. Written for the screen and directed by Brian Helgeland, the film plays into a young who comes from nothing and becomes a champion with the help of other peasants as well as those who are from the world of nobility. Starring Heath Ledger, Rufus Sewell, Mark Addy, Shannyn Sossaman, Alan Tudyk, Laura Fraser, Berenice Bejo, James Purefoy, and Paul Bettany as Geoffrey Chaucer. A Knight’s Tale is a gloriously entertaining and engaging film from Brian Helgeland.
The film revolves a young squire who decides to become a knight following the death of his master as he’s aided by a couple of friends in his quest to become a champion despite not being connected to any kind of nobility. With the aid of a broke and naked Geoffrey Chaucer and female blacksmith in Kate (Laura Fraser), William Thatcher (Heath Ledger) would find his way to climb up the ranks as tournament champion while hoping to defeat the great champion Count Adhemar (Rufus Sewell) and win the heart of a noblewoman in Jocelyn (Shannyn Sossaman). While it’s a story that is quite simple, Brian Helgeland creates something that manages to be universal in this young man who was born a peasant squire who does these joust tournaments and becomes a champion of the people.
Helgeland’s script plays into William’s determination to become a knight in the hopes that he can get out of his hardened upbringing and go for something more. Yet, he would share it with his friends as well as intrigue Jocelyn who sees him as someone that is very different from the knights that often court her. To the film’s antagonist in Count Adhemar, he sees William as someone that doesn’t play by the rules nor is someone that behaves a certain way as his jousting style is one that Ademar replies as no style at all. It adds to this conflict of sorts of old world ideals vs. new world ideals as William represents the latter in his pseudonym Sir Ulrich von Lichtenstein of Gelderland.
Helgeland’s direction is filled with not just an air of simplicity in the compositions but also something that is very offbeat in the way he fuses 20th/21st Century ideas into the film such as music and product placement logos. Notably as Helgeland discards the idea of anachronisms in scenes where songs by Queen or David Bowie are played in parties or jousting events as it makes sense in the scenes he creates. Many of the compositions in wide and medium shots play into the many locations set in the film as much of it is shot in the Czech Republic near Prague. Helgeland’s usage of close-ups add to some of the drama as well as the humor including some scenes where William looks back into his life as a child and the dreams that are instilled in him wanting to make his own destiny. Even as it plays into that determination of a man from a poor background giving people from his world hope in becoming champion as well as defying the odds. Overall, Helgeland creates a riveting and exciting film about a poor squire who becomes a champion for the people.
Cinematographer Richard Greatrex does excellent work with the film‘s cinematography with some naturalistic lighting for some of the daytime exterior scenes while creating some unique lighting schemes and moods for scenes set at night. Editor Kevin Stitt does brilliant work with the editing with its stylish usage of jump-cuts, montages, and dissolves to play into some of the action and humor in the film. Production designer Tony Burrough, with set decorators Dominic Smithers and Jiri Zureck and art directors John Hill and Grant Armstrong, does amazing work with the set pieces from the jousting arenas and castle halls as well as the tents in that period of medieval times. Costume designer Caroline Harris does fantastic work with the costumes from the gowns that the noblewomen wear including the dazzling clothes of Jocelyn to the armors and robes the knights wore.
Hair/makeup artist Pebbles does nice work with some of the designs for Jocelyn‘s hairstyle and some of the makeup she would wear. Visual effects supervisor Tim Burke does terrific work with the minimal visual effects that include a few set dressing scenery including one shot of the old London Bridge. Sound editor Jon Johnson does superb work with the sound from the way the spears sound against the armor to the sounds of swords clanging. The film’s music by Carter Burwell is wonderful for its mixture of orchestral flourishes and folk pieces to play into the periods of the time as it is mixed in with late 20th Century music from Queen, David Bowie, War, Thin Lizzy, Rare Earth, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Sly and the Family Stone, AC/DC, and Eric Clapton.
The casting by Francine Maisler is phenomenal as it features some notable small roles from Steven O’Donnell and Jonathan Slinger as men Chaucer owes money to, Nick Brimble as William’s old master Sir Ector, Leagh Conwell as the young William, Christopher Cazenove as William’s father who encouraged him to go after his dreams, Scott Handy as Adhemar’s assistant, and James Purefoy as the knight Sir Colville whom William befriends. Berenice Bejo is wonderful as Jocelyn’s lady-in-waiting Christiana who would be Jocelyn’s conscience and liaison. Laura Fraser is terrific as William’s blacksmith who would create a new armor for him while showing him how to dance with a woman for a ball. Alan Tudyk is fantastic as William’s friend Wat as this very tempered squire that always throw a fit while hoping to eat again. Mark Addy is excellent as Roland as another of William’s friend who is also a squire as he is also a conscience of sorts for William.
Paul Bettany is brilliant as Geoffrey Chaucer as a writer who becomes William’s herald as well as speak for him before the matches where Bettany also provides humor from the way he’s introduced as he’s walking on the road completely naked. Shannyn Sossaman is amazing as Jocelyn as a noblewoman who copes with her status and being seen as a prize until she meets William and realizes that he just cares about her as an equal as it’s a very delightful performance to watch. Rufus Sewell is incredible as Count Adhemar as jousting champion and nobleman who tries to woo Jocelyn while dealing with William’s presence which he sees as a threat as he’s a fun antagonist to watch. Finally, there’s Heath Ledger in a spectacular performance as William Thatcher as a young peasant squire who dreams of becoming a knight as he seizes the chance to become one while trying to do what is right as well as be humble as it’s one of Ledger’s definitive performances.
A Knight’s Tale is a remarkable film from Brian Helgeland that features a phenomenal performance from the late Heath Ledger. Along with a strong ensemble, a compelling story, and a fun soundtrack. It’s a film that manages to be a story that is entertaining with characters audiences can care for. In the end, A Knight’s Tale is a sensational film from Brian Helgeland.
Brian Helgeland Films: (Payback) - (The Order (2003 film) - (42) - Legend (2015 film)
© thevoid99 2016
Written and directed by James Toback, Seduced and Abandoned is a documentary film in which Toback and Alec Baldwin explore the world of film financing as the two attend the 2012 Cannes Film Festival in their attempts to fund a remake of Last Tango in Paris that Toback will direct and Baldwin will star in. The film not only explores the difficulty of funding but also the way industry works as it features interviews from actors like Ryan Gosling, Jessica Chastain, Diane Kruger, and James Caan as well as filmmakers Martin Scorsese, Roman Polanski, and Bernardo Bertolucci. The result is a fascinating yet sobering film about the difficulty of getting finance for a film.
The world of film financing in the early 21st Century is far more different than the period in the 1960s through the 1980s as filmmaker James Toback and Alec Baldwin decide to document their journey to secure funding for a modern-day remake of Last Tango in Paris that Baldwin will star in with Neve Campbell. Baldwin and Toback travel to the Cannes Film Festival where they talk to producers and such about getting $25 million for this project as it would turn out to be very difficult. Filmmakers such as Roman Polanski, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, and Bernardo Bertolucci reveal not just the difficulty of getting their films made but also the bullshit in what they have to do to get the money being made.
With the Cannes Film Festival as a backdrop where it is considered a place that celebrates cinema. There’s this other side of the festival where it’s an industry where Toback and Baldwin try to figure out what these financers want as some of their requests and suggestions have some valid ideas but some of it proves to be very difficult. It’s all about selling the film as Neve Campbell’s name doesn’t draw money as Jessica Chastain and Ryan Gosling are also interviewed for the film as they were names suggested to Toback. Though Chastain and Gosling are names that can draw some attention, they’re still actors who understand the process as they were also interested in Toback’s project along with Diane Kruger. Berenice Bejo reveals how different the industry in France is where it’s more about the film than the name as Bejo’s name was even mentioned to a producer who has no clue who she is despite being in The Artist.
With the help of cinematographer Ruben Sluitjer and sound mixers Philippe Goubert and Kevin Pate, Toback creates something that is loose and free-flowing while using a lot of humor into the film. Even as he opens a quote from Orson Welles where he says that 95% of making the film is getting financing and the other 5% is actually making the film in shooting and editing. Editor Aaron Yanes brings in a unique approach to the editing with not just elements of style but also incorporating clips of some classic films but also pictures to play into the festival’s history but also how much things have changed from the 1960s to now. The music in the film is mostly classical as well as pieces from other films as Toback would also use it for humor where he would meet other financers and producers including Taki Theodoracopulos who talks about the hesitation about funding a film.
Seduced and Abandoned is a superb film from James Toback about the world of film financing. The film is a must-see for film buffs and aspiring filmmakers about that world as well as the difficulty of getting people to be part of that film. Even as it’s set in a world that celebrates cinema like the Cannes Film Festival as it showcases a world where the industry and the films themselves converge. In the end, Seduced and Abandoned is an extraordinary film from James Toback.
James Toback Films: (Fingers) - (Love and Money) - (Exposed) - (The Pick-Up Artist) - (Two Girls and a Guy) - (Black and White) - (Harvard Man) - (When Will I Be Loved) - (Tyson)
© thevoid99 2014
Written and directed by Asghar Farhadi, Le Passe (The Past) is the story of an Iranian man who travels to Paris to finish divorce proceedings with his soon-to-be ex-wife as he notices his new life with a new man as well as the strained relationship between his wife and her daughter. It’s a film that explores the end of a relationship as well as a man dealing with the new life his wife is making with another man as he becomes concerned about the new family dynamic. Starring Berenice Bejo, Tahar Rahim, and Ali Mosaffa. Le Passe is a chilling yet mesmerizing film from Asghar Farhadi.
The film is an exploration into the emergence of a new family as a man who was once part of that family starts to watch this new change while realizing that not everything is going well. Especially at it concerns the relationship between his ex-wife and her teenage daughter who doesn’t approve of her mother’s relationship with her fiancee who is still married to a woman who has been in a coma. For Ahmad (Ali Mosaffa) who only came to Paris from Iran for just a few days, he finds himself in the middle of a family drama that is just boiling. Though he is not the father of these two girls as he is just the third man that Marie Brisson (Berenice Bejo) had married. The 16-year old Lucie (Pauline Burlet) and the adolescent Lea (Jeanne Jestin) do consider him the closest thing to a father. Even as he is also there for the boy Fouad (Elyes Aguis) whenever Fouad’s father Samir (Tahar Rahim) is working.
The film’s screenplay doesn’t just explore a troubled family dynamic seen from an outsider but also the source of this strained relationship between Marie and Lucie. For Ahmad, he would be the one to talk to Lucie as he tries to figure out why she is so angry at her mother as it relates to Marie’s relationship with Samir. What Lucie reveals wouldn’t just play into the Marie and Samir’s relationship but also what might’ve caused Samir’s wife into a comatose state. Ahmad is the film’s conscience in some respects as he just tries to figure out how to defuse things while he also figures out what is going on. Even as he knows that putting him and Samir in the same room wouldn’t be so good yet both men try not to make things worse. Samir is a very complex individual who tries to not make things more troubling as it is yet he has to deal with his son and his work. Even as it concerns his comatose wife as he has no clue if she will ever get better.
Then there’s Marie as she is this woman who had been through three marriages as she is about to embark into another one while her relationship with Ahmad is quite cordial though there’s still some issues the two have. Yet, she deals with the chaos her daughter has created but also has to face facts about what role she might’ve played into the trouble she caused in Samir’s marriage. Even as the third act is about Marie and Samir finally confronting the past over the events that caused Samir’s wife to commit suicide as it left her in a coma. The result would not only have the two face realities about the past but also the fact that it will be impossible to let go.
Asghar Farhadi’s direction is very simple and understated as far as the compositions are concerned where he doesn’t rely much on any kind of visual style. Instead, it is about the drama and how he creates scenes to play into that sense of tension that is boiling. Farhadi’s use of framing in the way he puts actors into a frame is pretty engaging as well in the way he uses that framing to play into some of the tension that is looming. Though it is shot entirely in Paris, Farhadi avoids famous landmarks as he goes for some very small locations in the city and its suburb to show a world that is diverse but also crumbling as it plays to the world that Marie is in with her ex-husband and her fiancee.
The direction also plays into some intense moments which involves Marie and Lucie as Farhadi also has the camera focusing on the other characters who are observing these arguments and such. Immediately, many questions come into play in the third act as well as the people involved. A lesser filmmaker would use flashbacks to play into these events but Farhadi doesn’t go for that and instead uses dialogue to help piece the puzzle over all of the guilt that will emerge in the characters in the film. Overall, Farhadi crafts a very captivating yet haunting film about a woman dealing with her past and the uncertainty it will have into her future.
Cinematographer Mahmoud Kalari does excellent work with the film‘s cinematography from its use of natural light for some of the film‘s daytime interiors to its use of low-key lighting schemes and such for some of the film‘s nighttime interior scenes and much of the film‘s exterior setting. Editor Juliette Welfing does fantastic work with the film‘s editing with its use of rhythmic and methodical cuts to play into the film‘s drama as well as some of its most intense moments. Production designer Claude Lenoir does nice work with the film’s set pieces from the restaurant run by a friend of Ahmad to Marie’s home.
Costume designer Jean-Daniel Vuillermoz does terrific work with the film‘s costumes as it‘s mostly casual in terms of the clothes the characters wear. Sound editor Thomas Desjonqueres does superb work with the sound to play into the atmosphere of the locations as well as some of the sounds in the background. The film’s music by Youli and Evgueni Galperine is wonderful as it is rarely played in the film as it’s mostly low-key as in an ambient piece in one scene and a plaintive piano piece in the film’s ending.
The film’s remarkable cast includes some notable small performances from Babak Karimi as a friend of Ahmad who runs a restaurant Ahmad used to go to, Valeria Cavalli as that restaurant’s chef who remembered Lucie as a child, and Sabrina Ouazani as an employee of Samir’s launderette who tells Lucie and Ahmad about Samir’s wife as it is clear she might know more than what really happened. Elyes Aguis and Jeanne Jestin are excellent in their respective roles as Fouad and Lea as two kids who watch the chaos that is surrounding as they have no clue how to react as they would get in trouble as they find a sympathetic figure in Ahmad. Pauline Burlet is wonderful as the troubled Lucie as a young teenage girl who disapproves of her mother’s engagement to Samir over what she thinks plays into the suicide of Samir’s wife as it’s a very haunting performance from the young actress.
Tahar Rahim is brilliant as Samir as a man trying to deal with the chaos of moving in and deal with Ahmad’s presence as he also tries to come to terms with his own troubled marriage to his comatose wife and what he might’ve caused. Ali Mosaffa is fantastic as Ahmad as Marie’s soon-to-be ex-husband who observes everything that is happening as he’s sort of the film’s conscience as he tries to get everyone to be calm while he rarely raises his voice as it’s definitely a fascinating performance. Finally, there’s Berenice Bejo in a tremendous performance as Marie Brisson as a woman troubled by her strained relationship with her daughter as well as some of the trouble she might have caused for herself as it’s a performance that has Bejo being very un-likeable at times but also someone who realizes her faults.
Le Passe is a phenomenal film from Asghar Farhadi that features superb performances from Berenice Bejo, Ali Mosaffa, and Tahar Rahim. While it’s not an easy film to watch due to its themes on guilt and secrets about the past. It is still a very engaging film that explores a couple trying to start a new family only to confront the past with the help of a woman’s ex-husband who tries to piece everything that has happened. In the end, Le Passe is a marvelous film from Asghar Farhadi.
Asghar Farhadi Films: (Dancing in the Dust) - (The Beautiful City) - (Fireworks Wednesday) - (About Elly) - A Separation - The Salesman - (Everybody Knows (2018 film))
© thevoid99 2014
