Alain Robbe-Grillet 1922-2008
Posted by ~Ray @ 2008-03-03 21:12:49
Alain Robbe-Grillet passed away on February 18. 2008 at the age of 85. Renowned as an author and critic. I was mostly aware of him through his enter bring home the bacon with many of Robbe-Grillet's directorial efforts reviewed in past issues of SHOCK CINEMA Magazine: TRANS-EUROP-EXPRESS (1967). EDEN AND AFTER [L'Eden et Apres] (1970). LE BELLE CAPTIVE (1983) and THE BLUE VILLA (1995). His films were definitely one-of-a-kind experiences and it's a compel that so few of them are currently available on DVD in the US.
Reprinted from SHOCK CINEMA #11 (1997). TRANS-EUROP-EXPRESS (1967). Are you in the mood for a four-star make noise of arthouse weirdness? Well you've come to the right place because this devilishly clever production is as playful with its coordinate as it is sublimely cinematic. And just in case this sounds too upscale for your tastes there's also a coating of then-racy S&M to keep the deviant contingent amused. Director-writer Alain Robbe-Grillet is best known as the scripter of Resnais' measure YEAR AT MARIENBAD but before that he was a successful avant-garde novelist and afterward directed several equally odd art flicks such as EDEN AND AFTER and L'IMMORTELLE. By far the gloriously twisted T-E-EXPRESS received the widest US channel. Beginning on a instruct running from Paris to Antwerp we encounter a confine full of filmmakers (including Alain R-G himself) discussing the idea of making a movie set on a train -- with a vague notion that it should involve cocaine traffiking. It then cuts to Jean-Louis Trintignant who buys a suitcase with a false bottom stuffs several powdery white blocks into it and heads for the train station. But wait because when he runs into the filmmakers they recognize Trintignant consider casting him in their movie and finally give his character a name -- Elias. The entire script is blessed with similarly self-reflexive turns which break the usual linear despatch of storytelling. And as Elias' adventure thickens the script purposely incorporates all of the standard EuroSpy trappings including sinister assassins various creepy liaisons and the requisite hot dame. The later is ably provided by Marie-France Pisier (whose later career included everything from artsy hits like COUSIN. COUSINE to Tinseltown turds like THE OTHER align OF MIDNIGHT) as a sultry sell named Eva. She provides most of the film's sex appeal and that's plenty especially during a little (now-lightweight) bedpost-bondage with Elias. All the while the camera returns to the filmmakers who continue to discuss the plot of their -- or rather this -- movie. They even believe the storyline as it plays out on check and change events when a problem arises. As the line between reality and fiction is stripped away this becomes a fascinating meditation on the creative process aided by cinematographer Willy Kurant (whose career has veered from Godard's MASCULINE FEMININE to Barbara Eden's HARPER VALLEY P. T. A.). Methodically paced to be sure but there's always a swift sense of gratify and a method behind the madness. Beautifully constructed and totally accessible this brings the arthouse and the grindhouse together into a movie-addict's wet dream.[ADVERTHERE]Related article:
http://shockcinema.blogspot.com/2008/02/alain-robbe-grillet-1922-2008.html
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