Summer Hours

Written and directed by Olivier Assayas, L’Heure d’ete (Summer Hours) is the story of a group of adult siblings pondering what to do with their childhood home following the death of their mother. The film is an exploration into family and nostalgia as well as taking the next step in the aftermath of death. Starring Juliette Binoche, Charles Berling, Jeremie Renier, and Edith Scob. L’Heure d’ete is a ravishing yet captivating film from Olivier Assayas.

The film is about the life of a family that involves this woman who has been taking care of the artwork of her uncle as she tells her eldest son about what to do with her estate and the artwork once she passes away. When she does pass, three siblings have to figure out what to do with their mother’s home as well as all of the artwork she’s been taking care of. Yet, two of the younger siblings have news that would force their eldest brother to make drastic decisions about what to do with the home as it would involve a lot of uneasy decisions. Some of which would see that some of the artwork and objects would be available for the world to see but would also leave some sad reminders of the world they once lived in.

Olivier Assayas’ screenplay does have play to a traditional structure where the first act is about the family’s time with their mother Helene (Edith Scob) as they visit her in this beautiful summer home with their children who definitely love the place. Yet, Helene knows she will pass on soon as she leaves a lot of the responsibility to her eldest son Frederic (Charles Berling) who is definitely more attached to the home as he is also the one sibling who still lives in France. While his younger siblings in Adrienne (Juliette Binoche) and Jeremie (Jeremie Renier) also have feelings for the house. They have no use for it as both of them live outside of France as they also have jobs that will prevent them from being involved fully with what to do with some of the objects in their mother’s home.

Helene definitely anticipated this as Frederic would make decisions about what to do with his great-uncle’s artwork as some of it would be uneasy as he also wants to do something for his mother’s longtime caretaker Eloise (Isabelle Sadoyan). It’s not just that the siblings are having issues with what to do with all of these objects as some of them have very sentimental value that they want to keep. Yet, they do need the money as both Adrienne and Jeremie have jobs that will require them to live a certain way as neither of them stay in France very much while Jeremie also has children to take care of. For Frederic, losing this home hits him the hardest as he hopes to pass it on to his teenage children who adore the place.

Assayas’ direction is very entrancing for the way he presents the life of a family dealing with death and the end of something. While a lot of the direction doesn’t go for any kind of style. It is still entrancing for the intimacy that is portrayed in family life as Assayas moves the camera around a bit with wide shots or in medium shots. Yet, Assayas does find ways to create something that does look like a painting in some of the framing while a lot of the scenes at Helene’s summer home are exquisite and naturalistic in comparison to the scenes set in Paris. The direction in the scenes in Paris are much more controlled but also have that air of intimacy. Even as features moments that are quite melancholic as it would also involve moments with Eloise who is really a part of the house. The film does feature a somber ending as it relates to the home as well as the freedom that it has for those who are there. Overall, Assayas creates a touching yet heartfelt drama about a family dealing with loss.

Cinematographer Eric Gautier does brilliant work with the film‘s very colorful cinematography from the very naturalistic yet gorgeous look of the film‘s summertime exteriors in the estate to the more intimate yet lush settings of some of the film‘s interior scenes. Editor Luc Barnier does excellent work with the editing by using some rhythmic jump-cuts for some scenes as well as fade-outs to help flesh out the film‘s structure. Art director Fanny Stauff and set decorator Sandrine Mauvezin do amazing work with the look of Helene‘s home as well as the more modern look in Frederic‘s home. Sound editors Nicolas Cantin and Olivier Goinard do fantastic work with the sound to capture the intimate atmosphere in the scenes at Helene’s home in contrast to the loudness of city life.

The casting by Antoinette Boulat is superb for the ensemble that is created as it features some notable small performances from Kyle Eastwood as Adrienne’s American boyfriend James, Emile Berling and Alice de Lencquesaing as Frederic’s teenage kids in Pierre and Sylvie, Valerie Bonneton as Jeremie’s wife, Dominique Reymond as Frederic’s wife, and Isabelle Sadoyan as Helene’s longtime caretaker Eloise who Frederic sees as part of the family. Edith Scob is wonderful as Helene as this old woman who seems to have lived a full life while knowing what will happen to her as she tries to ensure Frederic about what to do.

Jeremie Renier is excellent as the youngest sibling Jeremie as he tries to instill his ideas about what to do with the house while admitting that he needed the money as he’s set to move to China to work. Juliette Binoche is great as Adrienne as the middle child who is always moving around as she tries to help Frederic with handling the estate as well as deal with her own changes in life. Finally, there’s Charles Berling in a terrific performance as Frederic as he deals with his mother’s estate while becoming melancholic over what he might be losing as it starts to affect him greatly while he also ponders about what will happen to some of these personal objects that his mother has been holding for years.

L’Heure d’ete is a remarkable film from Olivier Assayas. Featuring superb performances from Charles Berling, Juliette Binoche, Jeremie Renier, and Edith Scob. The film is a truly heartfelt yet mesmerizing drama about loss and the shadows that are left by the previous generation. It’s also a film about family as well as the bonds that siblings try to make as well as preserve something that their children can cherish for years to come. In the end, L’Heure de’ete is an extraordinarily rich film from Olivier Assayas.

Olivier Assayas Film: (Disorder) - (Winter’s Child) - (Paris Awakens) - (A New Life) - (Cold Water) - (Irma Vep) - (Late August, Early September) - (Sentimental Destinies) - (Demonlover) - Clean - (Boarding Gate) - Carlos - (Something in the Air) - Clouds of Sils Maria - Personal Shopper

© thevoid99 2013

Holy Motors

Written and directed by Leos Carax, Holy Motors is the story about a man who travels throughout Paris inhabiting many personalities in the course of a day. The film is an unconventional story that revolves around cinema and a man changing from one personality to another in order to play a role in what is needed in life. Starring Denis Lavant, Eva Mendes, Edith Scob, Michel Piccoli, Elise L’Homeau, and Kylie Minogue. Holy Motors is a strange yet intoxicating film from Leos Carax.

The film is essentially the story about a man named Mr. Oscar (Denis Lavant) who spends his entire day inhabiting many personalities as part of his job. In this day, he spends his time in many different stories in very different genres as if he’s recreating moments or doing something as part of his job. In these different assignments, he meets various people in the course of a day as he’s often accompanied by his driver Celine (Edith Scob). It’s all part of a world that Leos Carax is creating where it blends fiction and reality where nothing is as it seems. Particularly as he transcends many different genres from comedy, romance, musical, film noir, the gangster film, and everything else in between for what is certainly an unconventional story.

Part of Carax’s approach to the screenplay is the fact that it doesn’t have a structure nor does it reveal anything into whether or not this story about a man inhabiting many personalities is real. Especially as the film opens with a different man (Leos Carax) opening a door in his apartment to enter a cinema where the audience is watching King Vidor’s The Crowd. It adds to the ambiguity that is part of this story where it asks many questions into what is happening. Is Mr. Oscar playing these personalities to fill something that is lost in the world? Are these personalities that the people encounter all part of an act or to create something shocking? Are the people part of the act that is happening?

These are the many questions that is happening in the course of the film as its narrative is approach in an episodic manner. Yet, it works as each personality that Mr. Oscar plays does manage to get people up in the air as the moments start to become more overwhelming and much crazier. Notably as there’s brief breaks where Mr. Oscar has to do something where it adds more question to the job that he’s doing. It’s all part of the schematics that Carax is creating where he raises the stakes for each adventure that Mr. Oscar is encountering. What become more intriguing as the story progresses is the people he’s meeting where they could be part of this strange agency.

Carax’s direction is definitely stylish in terms of the presentation that he’s creating for the film. Shot largely on location in Paris and nearby towns, it’s a world where things aren’t very real where it’s all about the world these personalities inhabit such as a gravesite, a film studio, an abandoned hotel, a suburb, and all sorts of places. Part of which takes place inside a big limousine where Oscar does all of his makeup work and prepares for each assignment he takes part on during the day. Carax has a stylish intimacy for these scenes where it feels large but also small at times while Mr. Oscar is always looking at a TV screen where he talks to Celine. Celine’s role is really that of a companion who ensures that he does his job and returns to his limo as she often shows maternal concern for him.

Since this is a film where reality doesn’t really exist, it’s also a film that features a lot of references to films as it is in some ways a tribute to cinema. In the middle of the film, there’s a break where Mr. Oscar plays the accordion with a bunch of musicians as a camera follows them in a tracking shot where they’re playing inside a church. It’s part of that idea of what cinema once was where there is a lot of fantasy and everyone is playing something. There’s also an element of the musical where it is clear that Carax is aiming for something that harkens back to times when cinema was about a whole lot more. Largely as Carax employs a lot of stylistic shots to create something big as Paris itself is a character in the film. Overall, Carax creates a very exhilarating yet strange spectacle that is a real love letter to cinema.

Cinematographers Caroline Champetier and Yves Cape do excellent work with the film‘s very stylish photography from the colorful look of the locations in Paris in day and night to some of the more weirder shots to explore Mr. Oscar‘s troubled mind. Editor Nelly Quetier does brilliant work with the editing by utilizing lots of stylish cuts to play with the film‘s rhythm as well as creating unique transitions for the film to move from one story to another. Production designer Florian Sanson and art director Emmanuelle Cuillery do amazing work with the set pieces in the film such as the limousine that Mr. Oscar lives in to some of the places like the abandoned hotel, the studio set, and the cave that his personalities inhabit.

Costume designer Anais Romand does wonderful work with the different costumes that Mr. Oscar wears along with some of the clothes of the people he encounters in his journey. Hair and makeup designer Bernard Floch does terrific work with the hair and makeup work that Mr. Oscar puts into all of the personalities he creates. Visual effects supervisors Yoann Berger and Alexandre Bon do nice work with some of the film‘s minimal visual effects which is most notable in the motion-capture scene that Mr. Oscar participates in. The sound work of Emmanuel Croset and Erwan Kerzanet is superb for the atmosphere it creates in the different locations that occur as well as the intimacy in the limousine.

The film’s soundtrack features an array of different music ranging from classical pieces by Dmitri Shostakovich, a score piece from the movie Godzilla by Akira Ifukube, and other music pieces by R.L. Burnside, Manset, Sparks, and Kylie Minogue. Minogue also sings an original song written by Leos Carax and Neil Hannon that is for the film’s lone musical number as it serves as a great tribute to cinema.

The casting by Elsa Pharaon is phenomenal for the small ensemble that is created as it features noteworthy performances from Jeanne Disson as a troubled teenager, Elisse L’Homeau as a nurse caring for her uncle, Geoffrey Carey as an obsessed photographer, Annabelle Dexter-Jones as the photographer’s assistant, and Leos Carax as the mysterious man in the film’s opening scene. Michel Piccoli is excellent in a small but memorable performance as a man who is probably Mr. Oscar’s boss as he questions about the status of his appointments. Eva Mendes is wonderful as a model that one of Mr. Oscar’s characters is infatuated by where Mendes is mesmerizing. Kylie Minogue is terrific as the mysterious Jean who joins Mr. Oscar in a very memorable scene where she sings a song.

Edith Scob is amazing as Mr. Oscar’s limo driver Celine as she makes sure he comes back from his appointments while worrying about his well-being after each assignment. Finally, there’s Denis Lavant in an incredible performance as Mr. Oscar and the many personalities he inhabits. It’s a truly riveting performance that has Lavant take on so many things including the Mr. Merde character that he played in the Merde segment in the anthology film Tokyo! It’s also a performance that allows Lavant to showcase his range from comedy, drama, and all sorts of things as it’s definitely one for the ages.

Holy Motors is an outstanding film from Leos Carax that features triumphant performances from Denis Lavant and Edith Scob. Along with top-notch supporting work from Kylie Minogue, Eva Mendes, and Michel Piccoli, it’s a film that is truly a true love-letter to the art of cinema as well as a film that dares to be unconventional and uncompromising without giving any kind of answers or meaning. In the end, Holy Motors is an extraordinary yet out-of-this-world film from Leos Carax.

Leos Carax Films: Boy Meets Girl - Mauvais Sang - Les Amants du Pont-Neuf - Pola X - Tokyo!: Merde - Annette - The Auteurs #36: Leos Carax

© thevoid99 2012

Eyes Without a Face

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 6/8/08.

Georges Franju is considered to be one of France's finest film directors before the era of the French New Wave in the 1950s. One of the co-founders of the Cinematheque Francaise, Franju would help France re-emerge from its post-war fallout as for 10 years, he created documentary films from 1949-1958. In 1958, Franju made his first feature film entitled La Tete Contre Les Murs (Head Against the Walls or in its known American title The Keepers) about an institutionalized man who becomes insane after he defies his wealthy father. The film would help establish Franju as one of France's finest directors but in 1959, he would create what some consider to be one of the best horror films ever made entitled Les Yeux Sans Visage (Eyes Without a Face).

Directed Georges Franju, Les Yeux Sans Visage tells the story of a doctor who tries to restore his daughter's face after a horrific car accident. With the help of his devoted assistant, the doctor and his assistant lure young women only to kill them hoping to restore the beauty of his daughter. Based on Jean Redon's novel with an adaptation by Franju, Pierre Bolieau, Thomas Narcejac, and Claude Sautet. The film explores the examination of a man’s obsession and how his assistant's devotion leads to horror. Starring Pierre Brasseur, Alida Valli, Edith Scob, Francois Guerin, and Juliette Mayniel. Les Yeux Sans Visage is a haunting yet enchanting masterpiece from Georges Franju.

A woman named Louise (Alida Valli) is driving in the woods outside Paris. In the back of her car is a dead body that she’s covered with a coat and hat as she watches for onlookers. Dumping the body into the Seine river, she leaves as days later, the body is found. Called into the morgue to identify is Dr. Genessier (Pierre Brasseur), whose daughter Christiane (Edith Scob) had vanished. Genessier reveals that the body is none other than Christiane. After running into another father, whose daughter had also disappeared, he reveals that his daughter hasn’t been found. After a funeral that included the appearance of Christiane's fiance` Jacques Vernon (Francois Guerin), Genessier returns home with Louise as he enters Christiane's room. Christiane is revealed to be alive as the surgery to restore her beauty, following a horrific car accident. Forced to wear a mask and be isolated, Christiane feels lonely as she tries to call Jacques but couldn't.

Back in Paris, Louise befriends a young woman named Edna Gruber (Juliette Mayniel) whom she lures into Genessier's home. When Edna is suddenly hit with chloroform by Genessier, she now becomes part of his attempt to reconstruct Christiane's face. By taking Edna's face off and put it in Christiane's face, the surgery becomes a success yet Edna escapes only to fall. With Christiane seemingly enjoying her new face, Genessier notices its flaws as he realizes that the surgery was a failure. Forced to wear her mask, Christiane calls Jacques, who learns what is happening, but is caught by Louise.

Turning to Inspector Parot (Alexandre Rignault), Parot asks a young woman named Paulette (Beatrice Altariba) to check in at Genessier's clinic with Jacques keeping an eye on her. Yet, everything seems routine and fine until Jacques and Parot learned she never came home. With Paulette now becoming the new face that Genessier is needed, the already disenchanted and distraught Christiane decides to take matters into her own hands.

While horror films are meant to play for a sense of shock and terror, what's different about this film is that director Georges Franju creates a film that bends genres. It's part-horror, part-psycho-drama, part-suspense, and part-art house film. What Franju creates is a sense of suspense that builds up in the first act where the audience knows what Genessier wants for Christiane and how Louise is willing to help her. The second act introduces Edna as she becomes a pawn for what happens. The third act is about the aftermath of the surgery and the suspicion raised on what's going on.

The script is wonderfully structured and told in a simple manner yet it's Franju's eerie direction that really keeps the film going in its momentum and a sense of style. What's more noting is that in terms of its suspense and horror, there's only a brief second in which Franju reveals the disfigured face of Christiane but it's all in a blur. Yet, the shock and horror happens that is followed by the surgical scenes. For its time in 1959-1960, the sight of a face being peeled off with all of that blood was definitely extreme for its time. Yet, it works for its sense of shock and horror as well as in the suspense department. The idea of suspense truly works in Franju's direction as he lets the scene unfold and drama knowing what might happen. Yet, it also becomes psychological as Christiane becomes aware of what her father is doing as well as her own isolation. The film is truly mesmerizing as the character of Genessier is convinced that what he's doing is God-like. The result is a film that bend genres while bringing something enchanting to the story.

Cinematographer Eugene Schufftan does a fantastic job with the film's black-and-white photography to add a look to the film's sense of horror and style that is eerie yet gorgeous in its look. The cinematography is one of the film's highlights as it features the haunting quality that is needed for the film's tone. Editor Gilbert Natot does a superb job with the film's pacing that starts out slow yet engrossing and then becomes more intense but maintains a pacing and style that is truly mesmerizing and never dull. Particularly in the use of fade-outs that smoothly transitions from one scene to another. Production designer Auguste Capelier does a great job in the look of the Genessier's home and secret lab that includes a shelter for dogs that he keeps for experiments. Costume designer Marie Martin does a spectacular job with the look of the gowns created for Louise and Edna, particularly in the color of shiny black that adds a sense of style.

Makeup artist Georges Klein does a fantastic job in the creation of the scenes of horror involving the surgery and the look of the faces in their disfigured form, though in a blurry look. Sound mixer Antoine Archimbaud does a fantastic job with the sound to add suspense in the scene involving the dogs in their cages as they bark as Christiane looks at them lovingly and calm them down. Music composer Maurice Jarre, famous for his work with David Lean, brings a wonderful score that plays to the film's sense of sadness, drama, and suspense. Particularly the sweeping theme music to Louise and the scenes of Christiane longing for Jacques.

The casting is definitely brilliant with Claude Brasseur as an inspector and Charles Blavette as a doctor from the morgue. Beatrice Altariba is good as Paulette, a shoplifter who is given the task to be part of an investigation in exchange for leniency as she is unaware of what she's actually doing. Alexandre Rignault is also good as Inspector Parot who tries to piece things together while helping Jacques into the investigation. Juliette Mayniel is excellent as Edna, a young woman who is lured into becoming a victim as she tries to escape from Genessier and Louise. Francois Guerin is great as Jacques, Christiane's fiance` who learns that she might be alive and leads an investigation into what's really going on. Edith Scob is amazing in her role as Christiane, a complex character that is both the victim and the monster. Scob's performance is mesmerizing as she’s seen wearing a mask and once, in her own face in one scene, as she is a young woman in despair over what she’s become and how her isolation has driven her to the edge.

Alida Valli is superb as Louise, Genessier's lover/secretary/assistant who is willing to help at all means while being a surrogate mother for Christiane. Valli's performance is truly eerie as she lures young women by acting all friendly while being the one to calm Christiane. Valli is truly a standout as she brings great support to the character of Dr. Genessier as she is the only one who can understand him. Pierre Brasseur is brilliant as Dr. Genessier, a man filled with guilt as he tries to restore his daughter's beauty only leading him to become desperate in his role as a surgeon. Brasseur's performance is mesmerizing as he brings depth and complexity to a character that could've been a one-dimensional villain. Instead, his guilt and sense of love for his daughter matched by his own God-like insanity is the perfect mixture for his character.

Les Yeux Sans Visage is a mesmerizing, haunting masterpiece from Georges Franju with great performances from Pierre Brasseur, Alida Valli, and Edith Scob. Fans of art-house, European cinema will no doubt find this as essential while those looking for smarter, more involving films of horror will enjoy this for its look and tone. With horror films now relying on gore and other hijinks, what makes Les Yeux Sans Visage interesting is its tone and momentum that takes it time to shock and then goes for the shock factor in the second act with a more dramatic third act to follow. In the end, Les Yeux Sans Visage is a beautiful yet eerie film from Georges Franju.

(C) thevoid99 2011