Tom and the fellas

What did you think of Tom? I alternated between liking him somewhat (as in "oh brother, what will he say next?") and dismissing him as a selfish egoist. The fact that he didn't have much feeling for Audrey until he discovered that she wanted to preserve his letters for posterity said a lot about him. Clearly, the way to his heart was through his vanity.

Which of the male characters most intrigued you? Tom the intellectual of limited resources; Nick the cynical man about town; Charlie the self-important man of sincerity; or Fred the sleepy alcoholic (I loved the scene where he was dozing in the chair but got excited when he heard the cha-cha music).

Jane Austen takes Manhattan

What do you think is the significance of all the Jane Austen references in "Metropolitan," particularly the ones to her novel "Mansfield Park," where much is made of young wealthy people putting on a play. And don't forget the Austenesque "virtuous heroine." Does our movie have a "virtuous heroine"? Is it an Austenesque satire of the upper crust or something else?

Mabel

Given the title of the movie, Mabel is nominally the central character, but we spend at least as much time with Nick and we see nothing of Mabel during her confinement in hospital. Two things I was thinking about when considering Mabel was first, would she have faired better in a different cultural setting? At times she seems, if not completely happy, at least in pursuit of joy. She wants people to dance and sing, and she plays enthusiastically with children, appreciating their unfettered glee in the moment. If Mabel lived in a more expressive culture, say Spain, would she have faired better? Perhaps escaping the label of abnormal, ill? Second, would she have done better with a more supportive and capable spouse? Likewise, would Nick have avoided his violent disintegration if he had been married to the sort of normal woman he no doubt expected?

Urban Haute Bourgeoisie (Metropolitan)

“UHB” is a delightful coinage. One thing I liked about this movie is how in the frequent discussions of the failure of the UHB, it was always assumed by everyone that the UHB were going to fail as if it was so obvious that you wouldn’t bother to question. Now the old WASP ascendancy had been losing its position for decades, but does that translate into almost certain failure for each and every young UHB? Does this peculiar conceit play an important role in the movie? Does one of the reasons that the movie has such a charmingly light tone come from the acceptance without gloom of these youth that they are doomed?

Irreducible Characters

One of the things that struck me while watching “A Woman Under the Influence” (and was even stronger as I reflected back on the film) was the arc of the character development. These characters are slowly unwrapped for us as we see deeper and deeper into their relationship. We first see Nick in a sympathetic light and only slowly realize that he doesn’t know how to deal with Mabel and her condition and only after that do we see how abusive he is. Likewise, our first view of Mabel reveals her to be full of anxiety and probably fragile. With time we see how poorly she can cope with her life and how debilitating her problems are be they the excessive fixation on her kids or her inappropriate intimacy with strangers. I like this gradual development since it keeps you focused on the characters as individual instead of just pigeonholing them as “abusive husband” and “hysterical wife”.

Are You a Public Transportation Snob?

Well, “Metropolitan” does live up to my memory of it and it is better than “Barcelona”. One thing that impressed me was not just the high quality of the dialog, but that they could pull off such improbable conversations. I had forgotten that Tom was a Fourierist and that there was another kid in the group who also knew about Fourier. That is a completely improbable event, but in this movie, that didn’t matter.

Let this first thread be the what-stood-out-for-you thread.

Metropolitan

For an interim movie, I wanted something a bit lighter than Cassavetes. When my parents were out here last summer we watched a couple of movies one of which was Whit Stillman’s “Barcelona”. I liked it but remember thinking at the time that his other film, “Metropolitan” was better. Time to find out.

This one is on Netflix and might even be in your local rental. I’ll start a thread or two over the weekend and everyone can jump in when they get the chance.

Under the Influence of Cassavetes

Did everybody get a chance to see the film? I watched it on a Criterion disk, but looking at Criterion’s site, I see that they only have released a box set of Cassavetes and not his individual movies. That might be why Netflix didn’t have it. If all of you didn’t see it, we can move on to a different movie.

This can be a first reactions thread. I have been reading about Cassavetes for years in the writings of serious film bluffs and the occasional academic. In such circles he is highly regarded and oft mentioned. But as we found with Netflix, his movies are not much in circulation as general audiences don’t seem interested in watching them. Based on the single one I just saw, I think I have an explanation for that. I found “A Woman Under the Influence” to be an excellent film and I have a high appreciation for it, but I didn’t enjoy watching it. Most movies that I consider excellent I’d be happy to watch over and over even if they are difficult. “Woman” was just too draining though. I plan on watching other Cassavetes work, but it will be a while before I come back to this one.

Mad in the 70s

For several years now I’ve been intending to watch some of John Cassavetes films. But somehow I’ve never gotten around to doing so. Cassavetes might not have produced movies popular with the movie going public, but from what I’ve been reading, he seems to have had a lasting impact on people who make movies and people who write about them.

For our next club film, we can watch “A Woman under the Influence” from 1974. It promises to be an intense movie.

Since we are coming to the end of the year, shall we start discussion of this one on January 1st?

New pick?

Whose turn is it? Driftwood?

Parables

Let me preface this by saying I don't think the director intentionally sought to turn Cleo into the heroine of a parable, but I thought her story had parallels to Buddha. She leaves a pampered and satiating environment and chooses to face her crisis out in the world. She sheds her wig, much like the Buddha shaved off his hair. She's facing the loss of beauty and youth and accepting her own mortality.

It was a neat perspective to the movie.

Oh my God

If this film were any more French, it would be Italian.

Discuss.

a feminist in the mix?

What is Dorothee's purpose here -- does her existence trigger a change in values for Cleo?

I loved this exchange:

"You don't mind posing?"

"No, why?"

"I'd feel so exposed, afraid people would find a fault."

"Nonsense. My body makes me happy, not proud."

the short

As dw noted in an earlier comment, director Jean Luc-Godard had a cameo in the film short Raoul plays for Cleo and Dorothee. This appears to be a self-referential nod to the rise of the French New Wave filmmakers -- most of whom began as their careers as critics and moved into filmmaking by directing short films while they wrote and worked on larger projects that gave them cinematic prominence. I assume Raoul was supposed to be like a young Godard and Anna Karina a send-up of the muse she became in films like Alphaville and Band of Outsiders.

The short itself seemed rather silly and portrayed the women like helpless dolls. Anything to that?

Cleo and Antoine

Did they fall in love?

very superstitious

Cleo seems subject (even victim) to sort of a mixed bag of beliefs in the short period of time conveyed in the film. The superstitions served a dual purpose -- sort of tormenting Cleo for not having any consistent convictions or a philosophy to guide her through a crisis, and offering viewers a series of visual and audial cues to her troubled frame of mind. She didn't have to say she was superstitious; she could preen in the cab while her song played on the radio, then lose her spirit as she watches a series of macabre masks flash by. No dialogue necessary.

Where do these beliefs fit in? To an extent, Cleo emancipates herself from them, undergoes a sort of existential healing period in the park, then either stays in that state of frame of mind or reaches next for rationalism when the doctor gives her an optimistic (?) outlook. I know existentialism is supposed to be a theme of these films. What was Varda trying to say here?

From 5 to 7

What did you think of the periodic time markers that were the framework of Cléo's story? Did it heighten the suspense? Build a feeling of finality or doom? Was Varda, a documentarian, giving it a "real time"?

At one point I thought the film was running in "real time" -- that it would conclude at exactly 120 minutes when instead it finished at 90. Since innovative narrative techniques are a part of New Wave cinema, I was a little disappointed to find that was not the case.

But of interest -- the break in the film when Raoul shows Cléo and Dorothée his short film is at the 6 p.m. mark -- supposedly halfway through the story -- and he refers afterward to an "intermission."

"How are my kittens?"

Cléo's scampering pets are a charming distraction from the story in the same way Cléo is treated (and portrays herself) -- an amusing plaything, graceful, soft to touch. Her potential illness is what worries her on the surface, but as she turns for support for the black period ahead, she discovers the meaninglessness of her present relationships. She has a maid who doubles as a resentful mother and lectures her that men don't want to know of troubles or illness. Her songwriting team doesn't respect her. (Did you catch her song titles? "Wayward Girl." "Inconstant Girl." "The Girl Who Lied.") Her inattentive lover visits to handle her for a moment just like she petted her little cat. She's a creature whose material gains are based on fleeting qualities -- youth, beauty -- and whose happiness is marred by fear of not pleasing others, of not keeping their attention. As soon as she tears off that ridiculous wig, she's a changed person.

I read a little about New Wave Cinema for a background to this film, and in "A World History of Film," Robert Skylar writes: "New Wave films in general are open to criticism for disdainful treatment of women characters." He goes on to cite a couple of examples from films of the time, but needless to say, Varda's films aren't among them.

a pearl

In "Cléo from 5 to 7," director Agnès Vardas spins what first appears to be a straightforward story about a vain young singer awaiting results of cancer biopsy into the most magnificent character study I've ever viewed. The film reflects such a profound transformation of a human being, and in doing so it surpasses the challenge of not only making the audience believe in Cléo/Florence's springboard to maturity, but it makes it seem plausible that a person can blossom from life-changing events in the mere two hours in which the story is allegedly set. The writing, directing and acting collectively contributed to a reverse Cinderella story that, despite the verdict she's been waiting for, leaves Cléo and the audience with what feels like a substantive ending and a new beginning.

New pick for Dec. 9

Here's my pick to replace "Accident." Because of the delay, I hope no one will mind if we break an extra week and start again Dec. 9.

I've been meaning to see this for a few years. Sounds intriguing.




"A woman delves into the inner depths of her soul and resurfaces transformed in this 1962 film by French director Agnes Varda. Young singer Cleo (Corrine Marchand) strolls along the bustling Paris streets, pondering the meaning of life and her own existence as she awaits the results of her cancer biopsy. Cleo's observations offer a close look at Paris's rich street life, and desperation turns into hope when Cleo encounters a young soldier."