Sunday, September 13, 2009

Les Herbes folles

Les Herbes folles is an examination of the unlikely coincidences and connections that result after Marguerite (Sabine Azema), has her purse snatched. Georges (Andre Dussollier) finds her pocketbook abandoned in a parking garage and is intrigued by the glimpses into her life that it provides. This soon leads to a relationship of sorts that seesaws back and forth as each moves between interest and disinterest.

The film contains a stellar cast; Sabine Azema and Andre Dussollier have worked together before with director Alain Resnais in Coeurs, and Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Devos, Anne Consigny worked with each recently on Un conte de Noel. While beautifully shot and directed, I have to confess to some difficulty in accepting some of the, at times farcical, reversals the characters have over the course of the film, although those might be attributed more to the source material rather than the film itself. And while I can appreciate one of the overarching themes of how much in our lives is simply the result of random happenstance, I'm still trying to figure out the somewhat surreal and enigmatic ending.

1 comments:

Let us know if you come up with a resolution here. I've been trying to figure out why I enjoyed 'Last Year at Marianbad' so much, and found this one so irritating. I think, perhaps, that it's the more realistic, contemporary tone and setting. This is no dream state here -- so one starts to expect people to act like people, and of course they don't. If Renais could figure out how to poke us with sticks, cinematically, he'd do it!

My experiences at the Toronto International Film Festival. Note this blog is not affiliated with the Toronto International Film Festival Group or the festival itself.
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