Daily Archives: August 20, 2018

Io la conoscevo bene (I Knew Her Well)
Directed by Antonio Petrangeli
Written by Antonio Petrangeli, Ruggero Maccari, and Ettore Scola
1965/Italy/France/West Germany
Ultra Film/Les films du siecle/Roxy Film
First viewing/FilmStruck

[box] The Writer: Yesterday and tomorrow don’t exist for her. Even living for today would mean too much planning, so she lives for the moment. Sunbathing, listening to records, and dancing are her sole activities. The rest of the time she’s mercurial and capricious, always needing brief new encounters with anyone at all… just never with herself.

Adriana Astarelli: I’m Milena, right? Is that what I’m like? Some sort of dimwit?

The Writer: On the contrary. You may be the wisest of all.[/box]

This time a woman gets stuck in a dolce vita turned sour.

Adriana Astarelli (Stefania Sandrellii – Divorce Italian Style) is a beautiful good-hearted but naive young country woman who moves to Rome in search of stardom.  What awaits her is a bunch of wolves and the casting couch.  Meanwhile she enjoys the high life of swinging 60’s Rome.

After having been let down by numerous men and humiliated by those who promise fame, what is a girl to do?

This is a savage send-up of the Italian film industry and machismo.  It started out reminding me strongly of a Fellini film but turns darker and more heart-felt as it progresses. I ended up loving it.  Recommended.

Le bonheur (Happiness)
Directed by Agnes Varda
Written by Agnes Varda
1965/France
Parc Film
First viewing/FilmStruck

[box] François Chevalier: I love you. Look at me. I love you. It’s like if I had ten arms to hug you and you had ten arms for me. We’re all mixed together. But I found myself with extra arms. I’m taking nothing from you, see?[/box]

Varda has a little poison dart hidden behind all the pretty images in this beautiful and thought-provoking film.

Francois Chevalier is a young married man with a wife, Therese, and two adorable toddlers.  (These are played by Jean-Claude Druout and his real life wife and children). The couple are very much in love and enjoy the simple happiness of a well-ordered daily life and idyllic weekends in the gorgeous countryside of what looks like the South of France.

One day, Francois meets gorgeous young post mistress Emelie (Marie-France Boyer).  It is lust at first site for both of them and they soon declare their love for each other.  She is totally accepting of his marriage and his love for his wife.  They begin an affair.  Francois figures that he is not hurting anyone but only increasing his own happiness.  I will not spoil the subversive ending to this film.

The cinematography is completely gorgeous with a Van Gogh-like palette of colors.  Life simply could not look more idyllic that what is portrayed in this movie.  Yet beneath all the beauty and sensual contentment, Varda has quite a lot to say about male entitlement and folly.  I’ll be thinking about this for a while.  I wouldn’t mind watching again.  Highly recommended.