Daily Archives: February 17, 2017

Les Bonnes Femmes (1960)

Les bonnes femmes
Directed by Claude Chabrol
Written by Paul Gegauff and Claude Chabrol
1960/France/Italy
Paris Film/Panitalia
First viewing/Netflix rental

 

“If you’re spending your entire early 20s chasing the next party, what are you running away from?” ― Demi Lovato

I love the way Chabrol makes movies.  I just wish all his characters weren’t so unpleasant.

This is the slice-of-life story of a group of twenty-something single women who work as sales clerks.  They pick up random obnoxious men and party hard.  Some of them dream of love.  One thinks she has found it.

This being Chabrol, there is no such thing as true love.

LES BONNES FEMMES, Albert Dinon, Jean-Louis Maury, Bernadette Lafont, Clotilde Joano, 1960.

Some of this reminded me of my own early 20’s and not in a good way.  You would feel sorry for all these women if they weren’t so aimless and frivolous.  The saving grace of the movie is the outstanding way it is shot.  Every frame contains something beautiful or interesting.  The acting is quite good as well.

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