Robert Breson - The Ladies of the Bois de Boulogne - 1945 [FRENC

imdb chosen comment

imdb 7.4/10



Bare-Faced In The Park, 5 November 2006

5/10

Author: xx from London, England



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Movies that are pre-sold as 'classic', 'masterpiece', etc nearly always have a tough row to hoe to live up to the hype. I've seen only a handful of Bresson movies and the only one I am happy to concede is a masterpiece is Au Hasard, Balthazar, the others are just a heavy mixture of the static and the obscure. This is no exception. Throughout I had the feeling I was watching cyphers rather than real people. There seemed to be no real reason for 1) a popular prostitute to quit the profession and 2) accept the largesse of another woman. The fact that the prostitute is the least-likely looking hooker that ever came down the Pike is another factor as is her mother's acquiescence/acceptance. The air of unreality doesn't help much either if anybody asks you. Strange to think that when a far superior film, the Carne-Prevert Les Portes de la nuit, tried to mix fantasy with realism within months of this entry it was laughed off the screen and took several years to be acknowledged as the gem it is. This is one to see if you're a Bresson completist otherwise give it plenty of room.