Philippe Garrel at his lushest and mercifully at his most accessible. "A
Burning Hot Summer" is a delectably sensuous tale of amour fou in which
two couples spend a summer together in Rome; a case of Godard meets
Minnelli. So as not to stray too far from the fold, Garrel makes one of
the women, (Monica Belluci), an actress married to a so-so painter,
(Garrel's son, Louis), and the other couple, movie extras. It's the same
kind of self-enclosed world Woody Allen might inhabit sans
the humour or indeed any attempt at Gallic charm; at times it reminded
me of how Joan Crawford used to suffer in mink. All four central
performances are excellent, even the usually reticent Louis Garrel makes
his mark here. Unfortunately none of these people are particularly
likeable and outside of the movie I'm sure I wouldn't want to know them.
For once, however, that doesn't prove a barrier when the film is as
smart as this one.
Thursday 19 July 2018
A BURNING HOT SUMMER
Philippe Garrel at his lushest and mercifully at his most accessible. "A
Burning Hot Summer" is a delectably sensuous tale of amour fou in which
two couples spend a summer together in Rome; a case of Godard meets
Minnelli. So as not to stray too far from the fold, Garrel makes one of
the women, (Monica Belluci), an actress married to a so-so painter,
(Garrel's son, Louis), and the other couple, movie extras. It's the same
kind of self-enclosed world Woody Allen might inhabit sans
the humour or indeed any attempt at Gallic charm; at times it reminded
me of how Joan Crawford used to suffer in mink. All four central
performances are excellent, even the usually reticent Louis Garrel makes
his mark here. Unfortunately none of these people are particularly
likeable and outside of the movie I'm sure I wouldn't want to know them.
For once, however, that doesn't prove a barrier when the film is as
smart as this one.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
BEYOND THERAPY
Proof that even Robert Altman can cook a rancid turkey. "Beyond Therapy", which he co-wrote with Christopher Durang from Durang&#...
-
Having made two films on the essence of cinema or at least on the filmmaker's craft, (her own), Joanna Hogg has now turned her attentio... -
Not quite a comedy, a drama or a musical but something of all three, "This Could Be the Night" is one of the Robert Wise movies t...
No comments:
Post a Comment