Daughters of Darkness isn't the best vampire movie you'll ever see, in fact, it might not even be a vampire movie at all, not in the strict sense of the term. But it is an interesting movie, well shot, well composed and well paced and the fact that it plays away from normal vampire tropes keeps it mysterious and dreamlike. The ambiance is enticing and inviting and it's Delphine that really makes the whole thing work. I won't lie to you, when she's not on the screen, it's not nearly as interesting but when she is, her charms take over.
A friend of mine, Dennis Cozzalio, recently had the pleasure of seeing Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles on the big screen and wrote it up here. I thought it was a stunning film when I saw it first but found it didn't stick with me and a second viewing felt pointless. Why is that? I defer to Dennis or anyone else who has seen it for the answer. However, none of that changes the fact that to see it is to celebrate the discreet charm of Delphine Seyrig. She left us too soon.
P.S. Won't someone please release her 1976 documentary on sexism with actresses in the movies, featuring Maria Schneider, Shirley MacLaine and Jane Fonda,Sois belle et tais-toi (Be Pretty and Shut Up). I'd love to see it!
7 comments:
She was definitely one of the greats, she had such elegance and a very strong screen presence. Jeanne Dielman is a powerful film but one that probably only needs to be seen once. I've never been crazy about its ending, but the way the rest of the film establishes the hypnotic, numbing routines of domesticity is very effective.
One you didn't mention is Muriel, another fantastic Resnais movie with a typically compelling Seyrig performance at its core.
I'm reasonably certain Welles' "You only need one" remark came up in a conversation about Greta Garbo, not Carole Lombard. Bogdanovich even identified the two Garbo films he considered as 'Camille' and 'Ninotchka' (thus blithely ignoring 'Flesh and the Devil' and 'Queen Christina' among others).
Or could it be the two of them recycled conversations? (It wouldn't make too much sense for Lombard either, though, considering she has 'Twentieth Century', 'My Man Godfrey', 'Nothing Sacred' and 'To Be or Not to Be' under her belt...)
Ed,
I have not yet seen Muriel but gazing upon Delphine is the only reason I need. She had a true loveliness about her, gentle and fragile, even when in command as in Daughters of Darkness.
I think Jeanne Dielman is a one-shot movie. I never watched it again in full because I started in and thought, "But I've seen this and know where all of this leads." Plenty of other films have climactic reveals (no pun intended) but for some reason this one works only as a one-shot deal.
MrW - I have the book, have read it a dozen times and I still got it wrong. Just pulled it off the book shelves and rechecked and, yes, you're right. Thanks for catching that. It's been corrected.
Yes, Seyrig died way too young. I really need to watch Discreet Charm of the Bourgoisie again because I seem to be forgetting her role at the moment. My favorite role of hers has to be in The Day of the Jackal. You feel so sorry for her in that one... she entrusts Edward Fox with her life story, her hospitality and her bed, and then he returns the favor by suffocating her. That bastard!
Adam, I love Day of the Jackal and should've mentioned that one, too. She has such a sweetness to her there, it's hard to take what he does to her.
In Discreet Charm... she looks exactly as she looks in the picture I put up. Don't know if that helps you recall or not.
I want to bugger Delphine Seyrig (as the bird was in 1950 when the bird was 18, not as the bird is now obviously, which is long since dead, unfortunately).
Post a Comment