Hullo again, and welcome to an amazing film. Tonight: The French Lieutenant's Woman.
I had read the book, long ago, during those amazing holidays in my beloved Ireland, in which I just read books and drink tea. And, I'll tell you something, it is not only a helluva great book, it is also extremely difficult to put into images. Its plot is simple enough. There is this Victorian silly man that falls in love with the "whore" of the town. Supposedly, she had sex once before. With a Frenchman. A French sailor. And he left! I know, hardcore stuff. Well, that's not all. The book is, really, a reflection on the art of writing, the work of the author, an insight into the Victorian age, the role of the writer, of the reader. This novel is really a delusion. And the question is, how do you make a delusion into a movie and do it successfully?
Well, Karel Reisz has the answer. The film is believable from the beginning. One of the first scenes, when the viewer doesn't really know what's going on yet, and everything is kind of blurry, is, I think, key to set the mood for the whole film. The main character in the film-within-the-film, Charles, is proposing in the Greenhouse to Ernestina. Everything is perfectly staged, as it is costumary in this period and situation. In the background, walking in the garden, you can see members of the film crew. WOW.
That is exactly what the book is about, and that is exactly what the film is about. The communication between worlds (characters/narrator/reader or film/real life/viewer) that shouldn't communicate. The reflection on the work, the recursivity of the narrative and cinematic language. In one word, Post-modernism. The film even adds an extra element by playing with the actors and with the characters, having two sets of plots happening at the same time and interacting, at the same time, with the book.
That was intense. And very very good. And full of mirrors reflecting their images in the Callejón del Gato.
I had read the book, long ago, during those amazing holidays in my beloved Ireland, in which I just read books and drink tea. And, I'll tell you something, it is not only a helluva great book, it is also extremely difficult to put into images. Its plot is simple enough. There is this Victorian silly man that falls in love with the "whore" of the town. Supposedly, she had sex once before. With a Frenchman. A French sailor. And he left! I know, hardcore stuff. Well, that's not all. The book is, really, a reflection on the art of writing, the work of the author, an insight into the Victorian age, the role of the writer, of the reader. This novel is really a delusion. And the question is, how do you make a delusion into a movie and do it successfully?
Well, Karel Reisz has the answer. The film is believable from the beginning. One of the first scenes, when the viewer doesn't really know what's going on yet, and everything is kind of blurry, is, I think, key to set the mood for the whole film. The main character in the film-within-the-film, Charles, is proposing in the Greenhouse to Ernestina. Everything is perfectly staged, as it is costumary in this period and situation. In the background, walking in the garden, you can see members of the film crew. WOW.
That is exactly what the book is about, and that is exactly what the film is about. The communication between worlds (characters/narrator/reader or film/real life/viewer) that shouldn't communicate. The reflection on the work, the recursivity of the narrative and cinematic language. In one word, Post-modernism. The film even adds an extra element by playing with the actors and with the characters, having two sets of plots happening at the same time and interacting, at the same time, with the book.
That was intense. And very very good. And full of mirrors reflecting their images in the Callejón del Gato.
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