Kelly Lin (Sue) and Asia Argento (Sandra) in Boarding Gate, Olivier Assayas, 2007
Sue: …It's a lot of money. I don't have it. In partnership with you, it was possible.
Sandra: Wait. It was me and Lester. Not you.
Sue: Didn't he tell you? I'm the one with all the contacts in Beijing. My brother-in-law works for the Olympic Committee. Lester's from Hong Kong. He doesn't know a thing.
I thought of this in part because I did enjoy A.O. Scott's whack, in the New York Times Magazine, at articulating an Assayas thematic omniverse of sorts. And you may, too.
Thanks for linking that article. When I saw “Summer Hours” earlier this year I thought of it as a cousin to Louis Malle’s “May Fools”, which DID combine the “what to do with the French country estate” with a background of political unrest… and some Carriere absurdism for good measure. Hey, maybe “May Fools” could be seen as some sort of evolutionary/de-evolutionary link in the chain between “The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoise” and “Summer Hours”.
Thanks for the link.
I especially like the observation he makes about the camera in Assayas’s movies being a “spectral presence”.