AGNSW has had a series of French classic films showing for a few months. I’ve seen a few. Two weeks ago I saw the Parapluies de Cherbourg (the Umbrellas of Cherbourg). It’s apparently a famous musical film, sung through (my least favourite type of musical – the film of Les Mis was 4 hours of my life (or was it longer) which I will never get back).
I thought it was not fabulous – the acting was weird, the plot over wrought and the songs mostly unsingable (aside from 2 which were “pop” songs in English from the 60s).
And I can forgive all of that for the opening sequence. Watch out for the drips from the camera!
The film was a visual feast – it is said that Wes Anderson holds it as inspiration (again, his plots are outlandish and convoluted, but the films are stunning to look at). And it probably inspired La La Land (again, a visual feast).
And while I’m here, the opening minutes of the French Dispatch by Wes Anderson. In itself an homage to Jacques Tati, but the colours and the movement just enchants me.
