Pote tin Kyriaki (Never on Sunday)
Jules Dassin, 1960
Homer (Dassin), a snobbish American philosopher, decides that it is his mission in life to improve the life of Illia (Melina Mercouri), a famous local prostitute in Greece. Never on Sunday is an overly simplistic parable about the clash between intellectual elitism from the developed world and the simple, earthy pleasures of the native-folk. To be honest, it’s kind of condescending – and it fails dramatically because the central conflict isn’t really resolved, it’s sidestepped – Illia returns to her earlier, carefree ways not because she realizes that she prefers it that way, but because she finds out Homer made a deal with a local mob boss.
That said, it’s still a very beautiful movie with a strong central performance from Melina Mercouri and a memorable title song. Dassin, as Homer, can’t hope to match her performance – but I do have to give him credit for casting himself in such a thankless, unlikeable role.
4.5/10
Je T’Aime, Je T’Aime
Alain Resnais, 1968
Claude (Claude Rich), who has just recovered from an attempted suicide, is recruited by a team of scientists to serve as a guinea pig in a time-travel experiment. The experiment quickly spins out of control, and he finds himself jumping around to various points in his life, particularly those involving his relationship with Catrine (Olga Georges-Picot).As I did several weeks ago with Anna, I’m going to have to throw in a disclaimer here – Je T’Aime, Je T’Aime is not officially available. . .well, anywhere, actually. As such, I was not able to enjoy such features as an official translation – and the subtitles I did have were somewhat. . . sparse. That said, enough of it was translated that I do feel justified in giving a rating this time.
Like Resnais’ earlier Last Year at Marienbad, most of the running time of Je T’Aime, Je T’Aime is devoted to the non-chronological presentation of moments that cover an extended period of time. This time, however, the narrative is much easier to follow, with the clearly presented sci-fi context and the single-minded focus on a single character. It’s also more effective and more emotionally resonant, and the central conflict (guilt and regret vs. Marienbad’s persuasion) feels weightier.
At the same time, though, it lacks the aesthetic pleasures of Marienbad. Resnais generally eschews the bright primary colors and gleeful artifice that one typically associates with the French New Wave in favor of a bland, dingy, even ugly palate of browns and tans and greys. It’s a logical choice – the earthy look keeps things grounded, and makes the occasional splash of color more prominent, but compared to the gorgeous deep focus and crisp shadows of Marienbad, it comes up short. The design of the time machine, though, is great. All in all, it’s a solid, interesting piece, even if it lacks that crucial bit of pizzaz, and I suspect that I might like it better on a repeat viewing, especially with a more complete translation.
7.5/10
Progress:77 (Par +9)
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