Category: French cinema
-
Céline Sciamma’s Study of Eurydice’s Gaze in “Portrait of a Lady on Fire”
At the beginning of the film, we see a paintress conversing with her students, and in the background, there is a picture they brought, but they should not. The painting portrays a grayish landscape, and a woman with her dress on fire, slowly walking towards it centre, so it seems. The majority of the painting…
-
Hiroshima Mon Amour (Alain Resnais, 1959) “…Nevers Mon Amour”
Hiroshima Mon Amour, directed by Alain Resnais, opens with a close-up of an arm and body amorously entangled. They are in the dark, their bodies are joined and small particles, resembling ashes or sand (as the sands of time), are falling and covering them. They are caressing and soon begin to glow, as they are…
-
Three Colors: Blue (Krzysztof Kieślowski, 1993) “Blue Is the Coldest Color”
Three Colors: Blue came out half a year after the Maastricht Treaty was signed, transforming the European Community into the European Union. The film was supported by the Council of Europe, but mostly financed by the French. It celebrates the idea of the European unity and integration, but also the three principles of the French…
-
In the Eye of the Beholder – Leos Carax’s “Holy Motors”
In its quaint particularity, Holy Motors approaches themes like sexuality, modern life, libertinism and aesthetics. It opens wih a shot of people in the theater watching a film, suggesting that film-watching experience is a dreamlike state. The film follows a day in the life of Monsieur Oscar who is, as we can tell, a businessman…
Vigour of Film Lines 