Hubert Deschamps’ widowed patriarch trying to hold it together near the end of La Gueule Ouverte, a searing 1974 film from Maurice Pialat that’s the subject of this week’s Foreign Region DVD Report over at The Auteurs’. If you don’t know Pialat, he’s worth making into a Subject For Further Research; his pictures present great challenges (and rewards) on both aesthetic and emotional levels. Because of his commitment to emotional truth, he’s sometimes cited as a precursor to the dreaded (by me at least) Joe Swanberg, but I believe Pialat is a far greater artist. Which we can discuss some other time.
Pialat begat Joe Swanberg? I’ve never encountered that before. Do whatever you can to stop this bullshit.
As a person with an avid interest in art history Van Gogh was one of those movies that I had heard about forever but didn’t make the time to see until very recently. To atone for so many years in the dark, I’ve gone on a Pialat bender. It’s slow going but A nos Amours is next up, if only my children didn’t need raising…
…but I believe Pialat is a far greater artist. Which we can discuss some other time.
Looking forward to that. =)