Under the Sun of Satan

 

Based on the novel by Georges Bernanos, Sous le soleil de Satan (Under the Sun of Satan) is the story of a priest who is tormented by the world in general despite his gift to do good amidst a tumultuous time in 1920s France. Directed by Maurice Pialat and screenplay by Pialat and Sylvie Danton, the film is an exploration of faith and a priest’s attempt to save a young woman and others from sin and the evils of the world. Starring Gerard Depardieu, Sandrine Bonnaire, and Maurice Pialat. Sous le soleil de Satan is an eerie and evocative film from Maurice Pialat.

The film follows a priest working at parish in a small town in 1920s France as he is consumed with doubt and uncertainty as he also deals with the chaos created by a young woman who seeks help only to be tempted by her own vices. It is a film that is an exploration of faith in a tumultuous world where this priest has just been ordained by the Catholic Church though he is convinced that he isn’t ready to be a priest. Especially as he asks God about his worth after learning about what this young woman had done as she is the daughter of the local brewer. The film’s screenplay by Maurice Pialat and Sylvie Danton explores the many doubts that Donissan (Gerard Depardieu) is going through as he would punish himself at times as the first act is about Donissan’s insecurities but also this story about Mouchette (Sandrine Bonnaire) who has been having affairs with a local marquis and a doctor as she learns she is pregnant with the former’s baby but things have gotten complicated as she’s also the local brewer’s daughter.

Donissan and Mouchette wouldn’t meet until the halfway point in the film in its second act as the former would have this encounter with a horse dealer (Jean-Christophe Bouvet) who isn’t exactly who he seems as he is a much darker figure that would play into Donissan’s faith. Especially as he would add more doubt to Donissan upon his meeting with Mouchette where he realizes what she had done as he wants her to confess in order to save herself yet she isn’t interested as she is filled with her own turmoil in her life. It would add to these things that Donissan would see as he turns to his mentor Menou-Segrais (Maurice Pialat) who is trying assure Donissan in that he can be a good priest though he also becomes aware of Donissan’s mental issues. The film’s third act plays into the things that Donissan had seen as well as his own struggles with faith as people see him as someone they can go to for a miracle but he sees it more as a burden.

Pialat’s direction is entrancing for the way it plays into a man’s struggle with faith in this small French town set in the 1920s as it is shot on different locations in the small towns of Montreuil-sur-Mer and Fressin. Pialat’s usage of wide and medium shots don’t just play into the locations that the characters are in but also into Donissan’s disconnect with the world around him as he feels like he is unworthy to serve God. Pialat also uses a lot of long shots for some of the conversations including the ones that Mouchette would have with her lovers where Pialat’s close-ups add to the striking look of the film. Even in the conversation between Donissan and Mouchette is added with intrigue as they talk with a destroyed house in the background as it play into the chaos that both characters are dealing with in their respective lives. There are also these intense acts of violence that is committed by Mouchette as it plays into her troubled state as well as the fact that she’s a young woman that feels like she has no control of her emotions and desires.

Pialat also plays into these elements of surrealism as it relates to Donissan’s encounter with the horse dealer as the look of the film changes into something far colder as the film would progress into something much bleaker. Yet, there are these elements of hope that the small town would see in Donissan but it only adds to his own anxieties. Even as he tends to a family with a boy that is dying as it plays into his desires to be worthy of God’s love though he is tempted by hate and doubt. Pialat also has these moments that play into people eager to be saved through Donissan as it plays into him figuring out his role but also the fact that evil still looms as its finale is about him giving in to God or Satan. Overall, Pialat crafts a riveting and haunting film about a priest’s struggle with his faith and his attempt to save a young woman from madness.

Cinematographer Willy Kurant does incredible work with the film’s cinematography with its naturalistic look for some of the film’s daytime exterior scenes along with unique lighting for some of the film’s interior shots along with some stylish blue filters for the scenes where Donissan meets the horse dealer. Editor Yann Dedet does brilliant work with the editing with its stylish usage of jump-cuts that allows the long shots to be cut abruptly yet it works to enhance the dramatic effect including Donissan’s meeting with Mouchette. Production designer Katia Wyszkop and set decorator Gerard Marcireau do excellent work with the look of the rooms that Donissan would live in during his time in different parishes but also the posh home of one of Mouchette’s lover in the marquis.

Costume designer Gil Noir does fantastic work with the costumes from the robes many of the priests wear as well as some of the posh-like clothing that Mouchette wears. The sound work of Louis Gimel is superb for its natural approach to sound in capturing everything that is happening on the location while enhancing some of Mouchette’s screams. The film’s music by Henri Dutilleux is wonderful as it is this low-key classical piece that plays into Donissan’s doubt and struggles with its soft yet brooding string arrangements.

The film’s terrific ensemble cast feature notable small roles from Marcel Anselin as the Bishop Gerbier, Philippe Pallut as a young quarryman whom Donissan meets on his walk, Marie-Antoinette Lorge as a housemaid at the home where Donissan and Menou-Segrais live in, Corinne Bourdon as a woman whose child is dying as she turns to Donissan, Brigitte Legendre as Mouchette’s mother, Jean-Claude Bourlat as a priest in Malorthy, and Jean-Christophe Bouvet as a horse dealer that Donissan meets during his walk as he is revealed to be something far more sinister. Yann Dedet and Alain Arthur are fantastic in their respective roles as Mouchette’s lovers in the doctor Gallet and the marquis Cadignan with the former being concerned and troubled by Mouchette’s confessions and desires while the latter is someone who is also married but is unsure about wanting to continue until things suddenly go wrong.

Maurice Pialat is brilliant as Menou-Segrais as a veteran priest who mentors Donissan as he also becomes concerned about Donissan’s struggles and other mysterious events as he also tries to assure his protégé about what to do. Sandrine Bonnaire is incredible as Mouchette as a young woman who is pregnant yet consumed with guilt and anger as well as her own sense of uncertainty in her many affairs and her own place in the world. Finally, there’s Gerard Depardieu in a phenomenal performance as Donissan as a newly-ordained priest who struggles with his role as well as his own faith where he often questions his worth but also the world around him believing he couldn’t do anything as the sense of anguish and humility adds to the restrained and grounded performance that Depardieu brings.

Sous le soleil de Satan is a tremendous film from Maurice Pialat that features great leading performances from Gerard Depardieu and Sandrine Bonnaire. Along with its ensemble cast, eerie visuals, a haunting music soundtrack, stylish editing, and its exploration of doubt and devotion. It is a film that explores a priest’s struggle to maintain his faith in a chaotic world while trying to save a young woman from her own sins. In the end, Sous le soleil de Satan is a sensational film from Maurice Pialat.

Maurice Pialat Films: (L’amour existe) – (Naked Childhood) – (We Won’t Grow Old Together) – (The Mouth Agape) – (Graduate First) – (Loulou) – (A Nos Amour) – (Police (1985 film)) – (Van Gogh (1991 film)) – (Le Garcu)

© thevoid99 2023

Femme Fatale (2002 film)

Written and directed by Brian de Palma, Femme Fatale is the story of a thief who double-crosses her accomplices and takes on a new identity where she marries an American ambassador while being hunted by those she double-crossed. The film is a suspense-thriller that involves the idea of identity and greed with a woman caught in the middle of this theft while going after the photographer that would get her in trouble. Starring Rebecca Romijn, Antonio Banderas, Peter Coyote, Rie Rasmussen, Thierry Fremont, and Gregg Henry. Femme Fatale is a ravishing yet thrilling film from Brian de Palma.

The film revolves around a thief who stole diamonds with a team only to double-cross them and disappear by taking on the identity of a doppelganger until a paparazzo takes her photo leading to all sorts of shit. It’s a film that play into a woman trying to leave her past behind only to return to France seven years after the theft under a different identity until a photograph would undo everything forcing her to take action and hide from the men she double-crossed. Brian de Palma’s screenplay focuses on the character of Laure Ashe who takes part in a diamond heist that is happening at the Cannes Film Festival where she steals the diamonds from a model she seduces and then goes into business for herself. Through a series of events where Laure had been seen by one of the thieves she betrayed, she is mistaken by a few people as another woman who had disappeared due to the deaths of her husband and child where she realizes that she has a woman who looks like her.

After taking her identity as Lily, Laure meets and marries a rich man who would later become the American ambassador to France where they travel to France seven years after the theft where a paparazzo named Nicolas Bardo (Antonio Banderas) would take her photo. One of her betrayers, who had been in prison for seven years for the theft, is freed and picked up by his partner as they see the photo and go on a search leading to Laure to try and get revenge on Bardo by making him a stalker and a kidnapper who wants a $10 million ransom. The script has de Palma play into this intrigue and battle of wits with Bardo becoming more curious about what Laure is doing unaware of her true identity and where he knew her from before.

The direction of de Palma is all style in terms of not just the compositions he creates but also the usage of intricate crane shots, split-screens, and scenes that last for more than a minute or two. Shot largely on location in Paris and various locations in France including the 2001 Cannes Film Festival where that location is where the jewel heist takes place. It’s a sequence where a lot is happening as a film premiere is happening where Laure would seduce the model while one of the thieves would switch a piece of diamond jewelry with a fake as it would be this mixture of sensuality and suspense. It’s an intricately rich sequence that would be followed by scenes that have a similar style to the shot of Laure being thrown from a hotel balcony and landing somewhere as she is mistaken for Lily. The scene of Laure seeing Lily where the latter is unaware of being watched has de Palma aim for something simple in the compositions with its medium shots and close-ups while he would employ wide shots for many of the scenes during the second act of the film.

The direction would have de Palma also create scenes that add some foreshadowing as well as intrigue as it relates to Bardo who becomes aware that he might be set up in an act of revenge yet he also is aware that he has very little choice. The film’s third act is one of not just intense sexuality and desire but also fantasy as it relates to Bardo being blackmailed by Laure in her scheme as she knows that time is running out. There is a twist to what de Palma does yet it is all about the decisions that Laure has made following her betrayal forcing her to wonder if there was a way to hide from her past. Overall, de Palma crafts a gripping and evocative film about a beautiful thief who double-crosses her team and tries to reinvent herself as another person only for her past to catch up with her.

Cinematographer Thierry Arbogast does brilliant work with the film’s ravishing cinematography in terms of its approach to lighting for the interiors at the Cannes Film Festival building along with its usage of stylish lighting for some of the daytime scenes as well as its dream-like look for some of the scenes set at night. Editor Bill Pankow does amazing work with the editing with its usage of jump-cuts, slow-motion cuts, split-screens, and other rhythmic cuts to help play into the suspense and drama. Production designer Anne Pritchard, with set decorator Francoise Benoit-Fresco and art director Denis Renault, does excellent work with the look of some of the sets including the women’s bathroom at the Cannes building, Bardo’s apartment, and the club that Bardo and Laure go to during its third act. Costume designer Olivier Beriot does fantastic work with the stylish clothes that Laure wears including the skimpy lingerie during the club scene along with the gold/diamond snake top that was designed by Elli Medeiros for the model to wear at Cannes.

Visual effects supervisor Agnes Sebenne does nice work with some of the visual effects that is largely set-dressing as well as some offbeat compositions that de Palma wanted where one person is in the foreground for a close-up with someone else in the background in a medium shot. Sound editor Laurent Quaglio does superb work with the sound as it help play into the atmosphere of some of the locations as well as in the quieter moments of the film. The film’s music by Ryuichi Sakamoto is incredible for its lush string arrangements including its variations of Maurice Ravel’s Bolero in some parts of the film that is a major highlight while music supervisor Edouard Dubois provides a soundtrack that features a wide mix of score pieces from other films as well as a few contemporary pieces by Dead Fly Syndrome, Vicarious Bliss, and Damien Saez.

The casting by Kerry Barden, Billy Hopkins, and Suzanne Smith is wonderful as it feature some notable small roles and appearances from Cannes Film Festival curator Gilles Jacob, filmmaker Regis Wargnier who was presenting his film East/West, and its star Sandrine Bonnaire. Other notable small roles include Eriq Ebouaney and Edouard Montrouge as the two men Laure betrayed, Eva Darlan as a woman who mistakes Laure for Lily, Thierry Fremont as Inspector Serra who interrogates Bardo over a kidnapping claim, Rie Rasmussen as the model wearing the gold-diamond corset in Veronica, Gregg Henry as a security officer in Shiff who watches over Lily and her husband, and Peter Coyote as the man Laure as Lily would meet in Bruce Hewitt Watts who would later become the American ambassador to France.

Antonio Banderas is marvelous as Nicolas Bardo as a paparazzo who would get a picture of Laure unaware of her true identity as he becomes a figure of blackmail where he deals with Laure and her plans while becoming aroused by her. Finally, there’s Rebecca Romijn in an incredible performance in the dual role of the thief Laure Ash and her doppelganger Lily where she provides an anguish in the latter as a woman who has suffered great loss while is more cool and playful in the former but also cunning as it is Romijn proving that she’s more than just a beautiful woman but also someone that knows how to be cool.

Femme Fatale is a spectacular film from Brian de Palma that features great performances from Rebecca Romijn and Antonio Banderas. Along with its gorgeous visuals, riveting script, Ryuichi Sakamoto’s playful score, and study of identity and fate. The film is definitely one of de Palma’s finest films in terms of its love for cinema as well as its willingness to play with the conventions of suspense. In the end, Femme Fatale is a sensational film from Brian de Palma.

Brian de Palma Films: (Murder a la Mod) – (Greetings) – (The Wedding Party) – (Dionysus in ’69) – (Hi, Mom!) – (Get to Know Your Rabbit) – Sisters - Phantom of the Paradise – Obsession – Carrie - The Fury - (Home Movies) – Dressed to Kill - Blow Out - Scarface (1983 film) - Body Double – (Wise Guys) – The Untouchables - Casualties of War - The Bonfire of the Vanities - Raising Cain - Carlito's Way - Mission: Impossible - Snake Eyes - Mission to Mars - The Black Dahlia - (Redacted) – Passion (2012 film) - (Domino (2018 film))

© thevoid99 2019

Vagabond

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 9/28/09.

One of the premier directors in France, the Belgium-born Agnes Varda is known for her feminist take on films either fictional or documentary. While she was part of the French New Wave often collaborating with husband Jacques Demy, she was part of another French film movement in the Rive Gauche (Left Bank Cinema) with Alain Renais in relations to left-wing cinema. Making films from the 1960s through the 1970s, Varda scored a major hit with one of her fictional features called Sans toit ni loi which is commonly known in English as Vagabond.

Written and directed by Agnes Varda, Sans toit ni loi tells the story of a woman found frozen in a ditch during a cold winter in the South of France. Yet moments before her death, she would encounter various people she would meet during her road trip. A film that is filled with Varda's commentary on women and social issues with elements of a road film. It is considered to be one of her essential films of her prolific career. Starring Sandrine Bonnaire. Sans toit ni loi is a provocative, entrancing film from Agnes Varda.

A cold day in a farm near the South of France when a farmer (Christophe Alcazar) finds a frozen body in a ditch as people wondered who she is. Her name is Mona Bergeron (Sandrine Bonnaire) as she is hitchhiking all over the South of France looking for work, shelter, or whatever she comes across to. She rides briefly with a trucker (Patrick Schmidt), gets a free sandwich from a young man (Patrick Sokol), meets a woman (Katy Champaud), and works briefly for a mechanic (Pierre Imbert). After hiding out at an old castle that belongs to a man that a maid named Yolande (Yolande Moreau) works for along with an old lady. Mona briefly lives in the castle with another man as they steal things from the castle. Yet, when the things she stole weren't worth anything except for some spoons as she continues to go on the road and find work wherever she can.

Finding shelter and work at the home of some goat farmers, she lives their briefly but doesn't work much as she leaves where she meets a rich woman on the road. The woman gives her a ride throughout the place as she is a professor (Macha Meril) who loves trees. The woman recalls meeting Mona, though never learning her name as the encounter had a profound effect on her. After dropping Mona off at the woods at an undisclosed location, Mona continues to move from place to place where she worked with a Tunisian vineyard worker (Yahiaoui Assouna) in pruning vines. Yet, a group of Moroccans refused to work with her as she was on the move again where she briefly lived with Yolande and her boyfriend Paulo (Joel Fosse). The encounter would have an effect with Yolande as Mona would drift more and more to places and troubles that would lead to her outcome.

The film plays as a mixture of narrative styles. Yet, it's all told from the perspective of people who would encounter this young woman who goes from place to place. While there's not much plot in the film. It's told in a style that is unique though lags a bit early on. Agnes Varda's storytelling approach through her script and unconventional direction does make this film a worthwhile experience. It moves back and forth where she lets the audience see what Mona is going through and then get a recollection from the people she encounters as they talk to an unseen interviewer.

The script follows the character of Mona in her encounters where the important ones involve a family of goat herders, a professor, a Tunisian vineyard worker, and a maid as she would have an impact on her life. At the same time, Varda's script follows Mona's struggle to survive as the boots she would wear would start to decay while her leather jacket has a hard time getting the zipper up. It's Varda's detail to attention in Mona's struggle that makes the film captivating while her direction is rooted in cinema verite with hand-held cameras capturing the drama. At the same time, she takes a documentary approach in getting smaller characters to talk as if they're being interviewed. It's a style that is truly fascinating while letting the audience knows what will happen but executes it with grace without being too stylish. Overall, Varda creates a film that is harrowing and harsh but also entrancing in its tone and realism.

Cinematographer Patrick Blossier brings excellent work to the photography in matching stark realism with colorful imagery of the cold, Southern French landscape with colors of grey and green. While the exteriors are filled with dark colors, some of the interiors in its rich, posh setting are brighter as Blossier's work is solid throughout. The editing by Agnes Varda and Patricia Mazuy is brilliant for its slow, methodical pacing and moving back and forth from the brief interviews of people Mona meets to her plight. Even in structuring the film's unconventional approach as the editing works overall despite a slow start. The sound work of Jean-Paul Mugel is excellent for its various locations from the small towns and farms along with the conditions of where Mona is. The music of Joanna Bruzdowicz is brilliant for its stark, orchestral arrangement with screeching strings to play to the plight of Mona's struggles.

The cast is excellent with notable small roles from Patrick Schmidt as a trucker, Pierre Imbert as a mechanic, Joel Fosse as Yolande's slacker boyfriend Paulo, Marthe Jarnias as an old lady, and Laurence Cortadellas as Elaine, the wife of Jean-Pierre. Stephane Freiss is very good as Jean-Pierre, a student of the professor who tries to find Mona due to the concerns of his professor. Yolande Moreau is excellent as Yolande, a maid who is looking out for an old lady whose encounter with Mona would have some repercussions about her own life. Yahiaoui Assouna is also excellent as a Tunisian vineyard worker that Mona befriends while Macha Meril is great as a professor trying to save plane trees as her life changes through her meeting with Mona.

The film's best performance easily goes to Sandrine Bonnaire as the vagabond Mona. Bonnaire's performance is truly entrancing as she allows her character to deal with all of these people she encounters while trying to survive. Yet, she makes Mona unlikeable at times while gaining sympathy for her plight while wearing dirty clothes and doing what she can to survive. Bonnaire, at the time, was 18 when the film came out as it served as an international breakthrough for her as she would win several awards for her performance.

Released in the fall of 1985, the film won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival while going on to win a Cesar award for Best Actress for Bonnaire. The film also received prestigious awards from the L.A. Film Critics Association for Best Foreign Film and Actress for Bonnaire. The film would help solidify Agnes Varda's reputation as one of France's premier directors.

Sans toit ni loi is a remarkable film from Agnes Varda featuring a brilliant performance from Sandrine Bonnaire. While it is considered to be one of Varda's finest work, those new to the director might see this as a nice place to start. While it's not an easy film to watch for more mainstream audiences. It's something art house audiences will enjoy for its unconventional approach while following a character as she struggles in her final moments. In the end, Sans toit ni loi is a harrowing yet powerful film from Agnes Varda.

Agnes Varda Films: Diary of a Pregnant Woman - Du cote de la cote - La Pointe Courte - Cleo from 5 to 7 - Le Bonheur - (Les Creatures) – (Far from Vietnam) – (Lions Love) – (Daguerreotypes) – One Sings, the Other Doesn’t – (Murals Murals) – (Documenteur) - (Jane B. by Agnes V.) – ((Le Petit Amour) – (Jacquot de Nantes) – (The Young Girls Turn 25) – (One Hundred and One Nights) – The World of Jacques Demy - The Gleaners & I - (The Gleaners & I: Two Years Later) – (Cinevardaphoto) – (Some Windows of Noirmoutier) - (The Beaches of Agnes) – (Faces Places) – (Varda by Agnes)

© thevoid99 2011