L'important c'est d'aimer

The Love in the Gutter

Andrzej Zulawski has never made the so-called “normal films”. The Director has turned an over-the-top family drama into the mix of horror, parable and philoshopic film essay (Possession); stirred an erotic film with europop soundtrack by a loose adaptation of Possessed, political thriller and drama (La femme publique).

Servais Mont, a photographer, is forced to make pornographic photos in order to pay for his father's debts. One day, he sneaks into the shooting of a third-rate erotic film to make a few photos of a third-rate actress Nadine Chevalier. Servais falls in love with Nadine and he borrows $20,000 from gangsters in order to buy Nadine a part in the avant-garde version of “Richard III”.

First of all, Andrzej Zulawski has made film about love, which is sincere and selfless. The love story begins in a disgusting environment – shooting of a second-rate erotic films, animalistic pornographic copulations, dirty rooms. The Director makes a great use of comparison between real and fake love. Every pornographic photoset is lifeless and doesn't have any beauty. On the other hand, every eye contact between Servais and Nadine is full of despair, suffering and love.

Along with Jules et Jim author, Andrzej Zulawski uses the love triangle scheme. Nadine is married to Jacques – an infantile cinefile, who lost all passion for life and incapable of physical love, but he dragged her out of the misery. The side of the triange is Jacques, who tries to win love of Nadine. Nothing lasts forever and one of the sides has to make a painful choice.

Romy Schneider sleeps, eats and breathes Nadine Chevalier. A woman with a cheap prostitute's make-up, who is forced to play in erotic films. She's torn apart between Servais, for whom she is falling in love, and her husband Jacques, to whom she has moral obligations. Jacques Dutronc as inert Jacques, who perfectly understands his position as a clown and who suffers from incapability to give Nadine love and tenderness, Klaus Kinski in a stunning supporting role as half-mad Karl-Heinz.

“L'important c'est d'aimer” is one of the most sincere love stories, The French debut of Andrzej Zulawski doesn't “blow brains out”, as Possession does, but it touches the most hidden parts of your soul.

10/10

Mes nuits sont plus belles que vos jours

Consider thyself to be dead, and to have completed thy life up to the present time; and live according to nature the remainder which is allowed thee

He – a brilliant computer programmer Lucas – finds out that « No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun» (quoting the passage from Pink Floyd song called Time). Now, like the main protagonist of Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt’s book «Oscar and the Lady in Pink», every day of his life counts for ten years.

She – a model and telepath Blanche – is the mentally abused girl, who is living in a loveless marriage. Blanche is fed up with her empty life, but she can’t break the circle. Those two opposite men have met in a café; their waltz starts out immediately.

Andrzej Zulawski, after over-the-top «L’amour braque», have made the stunning film. «Mes nuits sont plus belles que vos jours» is a story of love, which is all consuming, mad, doomed and fast.

The film is the most lyric and romantic creation of this director. Nevertheless, in the Universe of Andrzej Zulawski all traditional categories, events and meanings are losing their common meaning, Spectators, who are expecting the traditional love story («love at the first sight-date-romance-…»), would be greatly disappointed.

In the cinematic world of Andrzej Zulawski love is full of pain, suffering and despair. The affair of Blance and Lucas is a mad waltz of two hurt people. They know that they days are limited and desperately trying to squeeze everything out of their love. Their acquaintance starts out with a verbal abuse and violent argument; behind the aggressive façade, you can feel their chemistry.

Jacques Dutronc, besides being a good singer, is a very good actor. He had the experience of working with Andrzej Zulawski in his French debut – «L'important c'est d'aimer». In «Mes nuits sont plus belles que vos jours», The Actor created a convincing portrait of mentally degrading Lucas, who is desperately trying to live fully. Jacques Dutronc portrays the tragedy of a man, whose day of life counts for ten years, by portraying his constant repetition of simple words and phrases, in order not to forget their meaning, self-talking, and examination of his past.

If in «L’amour braque» Sophie Marceau was not very convincing as a modern Nastasia Philippovna because of her acting inexperience and inability to «fly on the most high-octane fuel», which is required for this role (Nevertheless, Sophie Marceau deserves credit for playing Nastasia Philippovna better, than two actresses in the Soviet and Russian conventional adaptations of The Idiot). In this film, she had played, on the edge of her possibilities, the mentally traumatized Blanche. The scenes of her telepathy sessions are full or hatred and real pain; the scenes of her love encounters with Lucas are the cocktail of tenderness and suffering.

«Mes nuits sont plus belles que vos jours» is the stunning story of a doomed and sincere love. After over-the-top «L’amour braque», Andrzej Zulawski found the balance between eroticism, sensibility and his trademark over-emotionality. The film is recommended for the first encounter with Andrzej Zulawski.

8/10

Violette et François

Life must go on

Violette and Francois don’t care about the future. Violette was fired from the bank; Francois was booted from the real estate agency, when his superiors found out that his best «customer» was Violette. Unfortunately, the young couple has a little son Paul and they have to find a way to make ends meet. Francois loses yet another job; he can’t secure funding for his newspaper, so he decides to become a professional shoplifter. After first failed theft, they decide to get married and on the day of the wedding, Violette agrees to help Francois in the shoplifting business.

The film start as a comedy about two head in the clouds young people with deep conviction that the world is revolving around them. They don’t care about the absence of instant income, the inability to provide decent future to their son. Their affair is the perfect example for the old story of the Lady and the Hooligan. Violette charmed by Francois rebelliousness and by his brilliant and unreal ideas. The first shop theft thrills Violette even more and after some time she decides to assist Francois.

Nothing lasts forever, especially illusions. Violette is the mother and she has to think about the well-being of Paul. She «awakens» after the first failed theft and tries to persuade Francois, for the sake of little Paul, to abandon the life of petty crime. Francois agrees, but then reneges on his promise. Violette has to make a tough choice.

The film shows that Isabelle Adjani is capable of playing not only tragic heroes. The actress has naturally portrayed the evolution of Violette from the infantile and naïve teenager, who got a crush on the Hooligan and ready to condone all of his activities, to the grown woman capable of tough and painful decisions. Jacques Dutronc is also convincing as a careless man, who understood the consequences of his behavior too late.   

Enclosing, Violette and Francois is a sad and tragic comedy. The film is relatively unknown, outside of France, but watching of it was a pleasant surprise.

8/10