Sophie Marceau Interview (A Moon in the Gutter YouTube Upload)

I used to have hundreds of interviews and other rare clips that I collected on VHS back in the day. Unfortunately time has a way of making things disappear so my collection has dwindled to say the least. Fortunately I still have a few goodies stashed away, some of which actually haven't appeared online yet to my knowledge. In the hope that they won't get immediately removed by the powers that be, I thought I would upload some of my favorites.
Here is an interview with French icon Sophie Marceau from the mid nineties from a certain popular American talk show. It's an entertaining seven minutes to say the least with some tension between the two (I think due more to a language and perhaps humor barrier than anything else), some laughs and even a mention of Moon in the Gutter favorite Andrzej Zulawski, Marceau's main companion and collaborator at the time.
Sophie's a favorite and this interview is quite rare. I hope it proves enjoyable...more are to come.

M.I.A. on Region 1 DVD Tribute Month: (Film 5) Operation Screenshot (Films of the 2000s): Andrzej Zulawski's Fidelity (2000)

Nearly ten years after its release Fidelity, the final haunting collaboration between Andrzej Zulawski and Sophie Marceau, has still not been given an American DVD release. Avaialble throughout Europe and Asia, this epic and powerful film is long overdue to be more readily available here in the states.

Video Watchdog Issue 135

The newest issue of VIDEO WATCHDOG is out now and it is a splendid one. Issue 135 is the first since the publication of Tim Lucas' MARIO BAVA biography ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK so it is a significant one.
The excellent Charlie Largent cover is probably one of the most terrifying in VW's history with its shot of the already legendary pale man from PAN'S LABYRINTH, and the back features a sweet photo of the beguiling Judi Bowker.
The issue is real winner with Tim's editorial, and the first few pages, focusing on the Bava book. A shot of Lamberto Bava and family holding the massive book is particularly touching.

Review wise there are several highlights. John Charles has a nice look at VACANCY and I am glad to see I'm not the only one who admired this little undervalued film. Sheldon Inkol has a long and excellent piece of the original BEDAZZLED which is very informative and entertaining. This was one of my favorite discs of the year so it is nice to see it treated so seriously. Kim Newman provides his usual number of well written reviews including a look at THE MONSTER SQUAD and and import of 1984. Tim himself is on hand to review several films including Jess Franco's WOMEN BEHIND BARS and a DARK SHADOWS DVD COLLECTION. Frankly all of the reviews this month were fascinating.
Douglas E. Winter's always great Audio Watchdog has a terrific portrait of the new Simon Boswell collection, along with some Morricone discs, and in Biblio Watchdog Kim Newman reminds me why I need to buy Stephen Thrower's NIGHTMARE USA as soon as possible.
Three items though make this issue particularly memorable. The long interview with Judi Bowker by Mark F Berry is very well done and beautifully written. I knew very little about this actress so this was an extremely interesting read.
I was also thrilled to see one of my favorite films of the decade finally getting some English language attention. While Tim Lucas doesn't value the final collaboration between Andrzej Zulawski and Sophie Marceau as much as I do, his thoughts on FIDELITY were extremely nice to read. I am really pleased that VW chose to cover it in their import section.
The real jewel of the issue though is Tim's take on PAN'S LABRINTH. Tim's six page look at the film is one of the best things I have read on Del Toro's masterful film, and it will definitely be an article I return to the next time I revisit this special work. I am also glad Tim took the time to salute actress Maribel Verdu for her work as not many critics bothered to. Verdu has now managed to give two of my favorite performances of the decade, in this film and Alfonso Cuaron's incredible Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN.
Video Watchdog 135 is currently available and is highly recommended.

Zulawski's The Third Part Of The Night On Dvd

Andrzej Zulawski's 1971 feature TRZECIA CZESC NOCY (THE THIRD PART OF THE NIGHT) has been released in Britain on dvd. I have always wanted to see this film and am excited to hear that it has resurfaced.
Zulawski has been one of my favorite filmmakers for the last ten years or so but many of his films have been particularly hard to track down so this is very welcome news.
Here is a link for a review of the disc:
http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=64915
They give the disc and film a good rating and they have several intriguing screen caps.

Thanks to Martin Brooks over at the Mobius forum for posting this important news.

The disc is available from Tony's always fabulous Xpolited cinema for a very good price. The link to his site is over to the right.

Overlooked Classics: Breathless

We live in a remake crazed world right now where apparently no classic film is safe. I am fully expecting ROSEMARY BABY and EXORCIST remakes to be announced any time now. However it's easy to forget that the cinema world has always been a little remake and recycling crazy. Often the results are horrendous and insulting to the original, TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, while some play like well meaning tributes, DAWN OF THE DEAD and occasionally some are absolutely inspired, SOLARIS. In the wake of the release of the remake of one of the most legendary horror films, HALLOWEEN, I thought I would pay tribute to an even more audacious remake from almost 25 years ago.
I'm sure critics and film buffs in 1982 were positively flabbergasted when Jim Mcbride announced that he was going to remake Jean-Luc Godard's incredibly influential BREATHLESS. Working with L.M. Kit Carson and Michael Mann, Mcbride began work on his BOUT DE SOUFELL script based on Truffaut and Godard's original probably with the full knowledge of how outraged many of the film community were going to be. For French film fans it was the equivalent of re-making CITIZEN KANE.
Mcbride and Carson made their first collaboration with 1967's fascinating mock documentary, DAVID HOLZMAN'S DIARY. Mcbride would follow that film with the slightly more straightforward MY GIRLFRIEND'S WEDDING in 69. His first narrative feature was the little scene, and rather controversial, GLEN AND RANDA in 1971 which was followed in 1974 by the farcical sexploitation title HOT TIMES.
I don't know a lot about McBride so I can't say how he spent his time between 1974 and 1982. But his early self reflexive documentary work shows him as obviously influenced by Godard and the French New Wave, so there could have been more shocking choices for people to direct a BREATHLESS remake.

The American BREATHLESS stars Richard Gere as the comic book loving, rockabilly obsessed dreamer and small time thief Jesse Lujak. Gere's Lujak is like a dangerous speedball shot of all ego and sex in BREATHLESS. His portrayal is one of the most charismatically narcissistic in American cinema, as the film is filled with shots of him staring into mirrors, dancing by himself, strutting and at times it looks like Gere could literally explode. I love the performance and the remake of BREATHLESS absolutely hinges on it. It's a performance that is probably more difficult to love than hate but there are few that I think to compare it to. Love it or hate it, Richard Gere's Jesse Lujack is undeniably unique.
Gere is of course playing the incredibly iconic Jean Paul Belmondo's role, only McBride had the clever idea of switching him from French to American and then taking the female lead and changing her from American to French. While Godard's stylish film was a French tribute to the low budget American gangster films of the 30's and 40's, Mcbride's remake is a colorful American tribute to the French New Wave.
Filling in for the untouchable Jean Seberg is young French actress Valerie Kaprisky. The lovely Kaprisky took a lot of flack for this role but it's worth mentioning that this was one of her first films and that she barely spoke English. I think she redeems herself quite nicely in the part as the young, naive French student. No less than the great Polish director Andrzej Zulawski was impressed enough to cast her a year later in his sublimely over the top THE PUBLIC WOMAN.

Mcbride's BREATHLESS plays like a compulsive and flashy pop art piece, one that you stare at for awhile trying to figure out whether or not it is actually art or just something hanging on the wall. With it's whirlwind pace, Jack Nitzsche score and stunning splashes of sun stroked Los Angeles color, BREATHLESS is undeniably fun and exciting.
Mcbride's is in powerful command of the medium in this film and his camera rarely sits still, at times it seems like it has had some of the same speed Lujack has been popping but it never feels out of control, or under-prepared. Richard Kline helps give the film it's distinct look and the script is loaded with enough snappy dialogue to make it still feel fresh.

Mcbride's film plays pretty close to Godard's plot wise and ends with the same tragi-comic ending that the original had. Mcbride also crams his film full of references to past films, books and music signalling the remake of BREATHLESS as a clear precursor to 90's cinema and specifically Quentin Tarantino. Tarantino has actually called Mcbride's film a favorite and it is, perhaps much more than most of the films typically mentioned as influencing him, a clear kickoff to Tarantino's reference filled world.
The remake of BREATHLESS polarized most critics upon it's release and was only a minor success at the box office. It signalled the end of part one of Gere's always brave and occasionally inspiring career. He has never been quite this psychotically good again in a role, which isn't discrediting his later work (much of it very fine), but he was became a different actor after Jesse Lujack. Perhaps because Lujack was the obvious end to the particular road he had carved for himself, as an actor, starting with his crazed turn in LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR. Where else could Gere go after playing a character literally singing and dancing in the street to celebrate his final moments before getting gunned down?

1983's BREATHLESS makes a lot more sense now than it did 24 years ago. Not at all dated, it now plays as one of the most progressive and seminal films of the 1980s. Unfortunately Mcbride's career since has been frustrating with only the neo-noir , THE BIG EASY, giving hint to his obvious great talents.

One of my favorite postscripts to the remake of BREATHLESS is Luc Besson's 1985 film SUBWAY. Early on we have Besson matching nearly shot for shot a scene, featuring Christopher Lambert stealing a car, from BREATHLESS. This shouldn't have been a surprise as Besson was one of the clear leaders of France's '2nd New Wave' but the shocking thing was that the shot wasn't copied from Godard and Belmondo, but McBride and Gere. It was Besson's sly wink to a sadly underrated and mostly forgotten American film.

The remake of BREATHLESS is currently available on a disappointing full screen dvd from MGM with no extras. The best way to see the film is courtesy of the out of print laserdisc from the mid 90's that had a sharp widescreen presentation and a beautiful sleeve picturing Gere's manic, lost and completely unforgettable loser.

Here are two interesting links. One is to Roger Eberts original negative but at times insightful review and the other is Vincent Canby's original take on it. I think these reviews are interesting in that they show some of the attitudes at the very idea or remaking Godard's film and also for the fact that they almost like it.

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19830513/REVIEWS/305130301/1023

http://movies2.nytimes.com/mem/movies/review.html?res=9E03EED81138F930A25756C0A965948260

also a link highlighting Tarantino on his favorite films, which include Mcbride's BREATHLESS.

http://www.tarantino.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=380&Itemid=41

Overlooked Classics: Szamanka

It is amazing to me that the films of Andrzej Zulawski are still so hard to obtain in the United States. As of writing this only one of this great director's films is in print and that is his 1989 work My Nights are More Beautiful Than Your Days starring Sophie Marceau. His most famous film, Possession, was available in a splendid dvd from Anchor Bay that included his commentary track but that has slipped out of print.
Zulawski directed only 12 features between 1971 and 2000 but his films, from The Devil up to his final work Fidelity cast a strange haunting spell that is unlike any other filmmaker I am familiar with. His hyper kinetic camera style that alienated many viewers and critics originally is now becoming more and more commonplace among today's directors. Unfortunately very few of these directors contain Zulawski's flair for combining politics, sexuality and the supernatural. Michael Winterbottom is one of the only current filmmakers who possesses Zulawski's ability to bring multi-layered aspects to the doomed obsessive relationships that they have both filmed. Zulawski's films might be more operatic in style than Winterbottoms, but it's easy to imagine 9 Songs as something Zulawski might have filmed early on if he could have gotten away with it.
Zulawski has famously brought out the most extreme aspects of certain actress such as Romy Schneider, Isabelle Adjani and most importantly his partner of many years, Sophie Marceau. Marceau appeared, or survived, more of Zulawski's films than anyone else and I will write in more detail on this later. Specifically their last film they made together, and the final film Zulawski has directed, 2000's Fidelity is one of the major works of this decade.
While Possession will undoubtedly remain the most famous film Zulawski ever lensed, The Most Important Thing Love might be the greatest. It is his penultimate film Szamanka from 1996 that is his most mysterious and perhaps the ultimate example of his his extreme cinema.
I first saw Szamanka on a Polish video that I got from Craig Ledbetter's European Trash Cinema in the late 90s. It was in Polish without English subtitles so an already hard story to follow was made all the more difficult. Its images kept coming back to me and I watched it several times over the next couple of years. I found myself occasionally just putting it in and having it playing in the background while I was doing something else, that's something I never do but the film seemed to issue some sort of strange alchemical affect.
Within the past couple of years a Russian DVD company re-issued the film with English subtitles and it was a pleasure and slightly bewildering experience to revisit it in this manner. I suppose not having just the image to concentrate on should have taken some of its mystery away, but I found just the opposite to be true.
The plot, as it is, basically details a professor who discovers, and becomes obsessed with, an ancient mummy. At the same time he meets a young disturbed student who he begins a turbulent affair with. The film makes obvious references to Last Tango In Paris in spots, but it shares more subversive qualities with Anger's Lucifer Rising.
Zulawski seems incapable of making a film that isn't political by it's very nature and the mummy does seem to represent the not long dormant communist government that he struggled with early in his career. It's important to note that Szamanka represented a return to Poland for Zulawski, and the film was a notorious failure upon release. It's an angry film where Zulkawski is really letting his obsessions fly, the brutal sexuality and tribalistic moments have a choreographed quality that harken back to Zulawski's early stage work.
The film borders on hysteria for its full 110 minute running time. It never lets up and it is a pretty exhausting experience. Zulawski's characters often exhibit traits of almost seizure like episodes, as if their surroundings and lives are literally freezing them up. Szamanka takes this to the extreme by presenting the student as someone who seems completely out of touch with her surroundings. From her contorted grins to either moving just too fast or just too slow she is literally always just out of step. The only time she seems almost in line with her surroundings is during the films powerful loves scenes, it recalls the idea, that under a fascist government, that it was sex that could provide a taste of freedom.
Zulawski's major films, without exception, would fall apart if it wasn't for his lead actresses. His taste and intuition have had to be impeccable when it comes to his choices, and his ability to draw such extreme performances out of distinguished performers like an Adjani or Marceau is laudable. Szamanka is no different in this respect, but Zulawksi would get as far away from casting an established lead as he could with this film.
Iwona Petry is one of those astonishing one hit wonders of modern cinema. Discovered in a Warsaw coffee shop at the age of 20 by Zulawski she delivers an extraordinary off the hook performance as the unnamed student. I would argue that her performance in this is as good as any in Zulawski's canon. Only Sophie Marceau, Isabelle Adjani and Romy Schneider would deliver more fully realized performances for him.
Petry's performance and life is one of the main things that has given this film such a notoriety. Virtually disappearing after making the film amidst rumors stating everything from being physically abused by Zulawski during the shoot to being hypnotized. Some Polish papers even reported that she had killed herself after filming completed, in actuality she did drop out and travelled across the world. She eventually settled back in Poland as a student and even published a well received collection of stories in the past couple of years. Outside of a small television role Szamanka remains her only performance before a camera, but what a performance.
Zulawski's role as one of the great world directors of the past 30 years is hidden from most film buffs. His films are as unique as any directors and are deserving of a major re-appraisal. They might be too artsy for genre fans and too extreme for art house followers but film lovers with an open mind should embrace him as one of the true visionaries of modern cinema. Szamanka, while remaining perhaps his most extreme vision, is among the easiest to find. Import copies regularly turn up on Amazon and ebay or head over to the great Xploited Cinema and order a new copy from Tony. I promise 20 of the most unforgettable dollars you can ever spend.