Just three films – two of which I’ve seen recently – this lesson, and they don’t really fit under any particular heading.
Cléo de 5 à 7, Agnès Varda, 1962
Watching closely the scene of Cléo in the milliner’s again, I was struck by the serendipity of the filming: Varda shot in the Paris streets so had little control over what was happening in the background. Sometimes this is obvious as when passers-by look curiously at what is going on, and sometimes it just opens up the film to chance, as when in the shop mirror we see soldiers parading past outside. It gives a documentary feel. I noticed more symbolism – the bridal gown and the African masks – and, after the films in the previous lesson, was struck again by its femininity.
Last Year in Marienbad, Alain Resnais, 1961
This time the characters seemed more like marionettes. Even with the awareness of the background of surrealism and the theatre of the absurd, it’s still a “no” from me. I don’t want to lose another hour and a half of my life.
Persona, Ingmar Bergman, 1966
Intriguing. I rather want to watch it. Two women on an island, one temporarily mute. Questions of identity and comprehension of the other. Strands of Lutheranism and theatricality in Bergman. An astonishing scene where, after a small malicious act, the film itself breaks up to convey a character’s pain and incredulity.
Aides memoires part 3 