Friday, October 05, 2007

Esther Kahn














New Yorkers: one of the greatest narrative films of the decade so far (what compares?--No Quarto da Vanda, The House of Mirth, Before Sunset, maybe some Hong Sang-soo and Le fils) is coming to a local screen tomorrow. Esther Kahn at the Museum of the Moving Image (142-minute cut which is what's on the R1 DVD), followed in the series by Bergman's Summer Interlude. Myself, I may or may not make it out to the film, which I've seen more than once, on screens big & small, but if you don't have tickets for the Guerin film at NYFF, then perhaps you owe it to yourself to see Arnaud Desplechin's greatest work to date.

(I think I will never cease to find it strange that Desplechin found his biggest hit to date with the US cinephilic audience in Kings & Queen, a good film but his weakest one too, as I see it. What's strange is that Kings & Queen is not really a departure, stylistically or thematically, from his previous work. It's jumbled, narratively loose, full of odd mixtures of tropes & acting styles, i.e., all the things that ostensibly made his earlier films coterie favorites at best. Yet when Kings & Queen was released here it made something of a splash. I just don't understand why, why it was that film that did it. Shoulda been an earlier one, frankly.)

AD's top tier: Esther Kahn
Next: La Sentinelle, Playing in the Company of Men, Comment je me suis disputé ... (ma vie sexuelle)
Third: La Vie des morts, Kings & Queen

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

And Guerin's IN THE CITY OF SYLVIA, which will probably end up being his most widely seen film in North America, is the least impressive of his five features.
I will be curious to hear your thoughts Zach -- this one was a crushing disappointment for me.

ZC said...

Gabe, you're the first person I've come across who hasn't liked the film! I haven't seen it yet--only one NYFF screening, and not a good time for me--and look forward to seeing what all the talk is about at least.

I will try to see Tren des sombras in the very near future.