Went to the Phoenix Arts Cinema, Leicester, last Friday night with Kate Denny and Mark Herdman to watch Vigo’s L'Atalante.
If you haven’t seen this – or Zero de conduite, you should do so immediately.
Vigo directed this partially from a stretcher - he died of TB shortly after the films completion, which makes the sheer joyfulness of the film even more incredible. Michel Simon is amazing as Le père Jules, every scene he’s in is a treat. The shots where he wrestles with himself between dissolving exposures are amazing.
Look out for the 1930s iPod shop in Paris, where père Jules finally tracks down Juliette.
And for a film made a few years ago it seems very fresh and modern - the behaviour of the characters and the way it's filmed don't seem to have dated much.
And I loved the bit where pere Jules 'plays' the record with his finger.
Posted by: palmer_eldritch | August 10, 2004 at 10:52 AM