Vigo

This excellent feature film by Julien Temple was made, according to a tribute made by him in the end credits, because 'Jean Vigo first opened my eyes to the possibilities of cinema'. Jean Vigo, who died at the age of only 29 of tuberculosis, made four films in his short life, the first two being minor ones but the other two are considered major classics of the screen. They are ZÉRO DE CONDUITE (1933, a film of 44 minutes) and L'ATALANTE (1934, the year Vigo died just before finishing the film). The latter film is 89 minutes long but was originally released in France with 20 minutes cut out of it; the version existing today was pieced together some years ago from fragments, as Vigo did not live to complete the editing himself. The name l'Atalante is that of a river and canal barge, on which the action takes place. Both of these films have had a seminal influence of the majority of serious Western filmmakers and are revered by historians of the cinema. Julien Temple's film tells the story of the tempestuous life of Vigo, his struggles with health and lack of money, and his romance and marriage with Elizabeth Lezinska, a Polish girl whom he met in a tuberculosis sanatorium in Switzerland. She survived him by only four years, as she too had the fatal disease. They had a daughter, Luce Vigo, who died on February 12 of this year in Paris, who acted in two films, appeared in three others as herself, and was a film critic. This film has very good casting. Lezinska is played by the brilliant French actress Romane Bohringer, forever dear to the hearts of all true cinéastes for her magnificent performance in L'APPARTEMENT (THE APARTMENT, 1996, see my review). It was Bohringer, with her mysterious manner and eyes that could be saying anything, one never knows quite what because dark thoughts are always rushing across them, who largely made that film work so well. Here she does the same. Vigo is played by James Frain, and the chemistry between the two is excellent. His performance is also superb. He vacillates wildly between calm reason and manic fits of despair, anger, and creative fever, as he falls in and out of illness, wheelchairs, sickbeds, interspersed with bouts of frenetic and impassioned exertions. The film is a roller-coaster ride of emotions and desperate anxieties as the two hopelessly doomed lovers fight to make films, fight with each other, fight the demons of his parents, fight the disapproval of her parents, and struggle to survive with no money. The fact that Vigo was able to make any films at all was a miracle of fanatical determination and a triumph against impossible odds. Julien Temple chose to make this film about his hero so that the world would know what it takes sometimes to achieve greatness. Now we know out of just what sort of nightmare environment those two classic films arose. From the pits of misery heavenly angels can sometimes arise, though it must be admitted that such occasions are rare, as few of us are strong enough for that. This film (copyrighted 1997 according to the print) was shown on Channel Four in Britain in 1999 and had a modest release on both video tape and DVD, but I do not know whether it was ever cinematically distributed. I believe that few people have seen it. And that is, as the Americans say, 'a cryin' shame'.

The cinema of Julien Temple brims with highs and lows of life, absurdist moments, eschews various emotions and personal struggle of the characters. Most of his titles are documentaries based on the life of musicians, like a self-analysis presented with respect. Just 2 days back, i was checking out glimpses of "Oil City Confidential," it would have been Lee Brilleaux's 70th birthday. I remember during the pandemic Temple's music videos was something i loved coming back to. Later, i was going through all of Temple's filmography and I looked out some of his earlier stuff. I had watched Vigo (1998), went into the film knowing very little. I have seen L'Atalante (1934), but I didn't know what this film was gonna be. It was a good viewing experience and i had a little note about the film which i kept forgetting to post. Thanks to the late great Lee Brilleaux, on the occasion of his birthday, i had made up my mind to revisit Temple's works. I feel 'Vigo' is a very unusual piece of art in his vast filmography.

Vigo is a movie within a movie, from the very beginning, we find ourselves in a film that explores the passionate relationship between French film-maker Jean Vigo (James Frain) and his wife Lydu (Romane Bohringer). They are cannot live without each other, but they live on different tastes, sometimes they are the saddest lovers on earth, sometimes the most passionate. With a stormy rhythm, Temple keeps the viewer's interest undiminished, both through the brilliant screenplay, successive flashbacks, and through the amazing visual interoperations. The script tells different timelines, showing Vigo in a tuberculosis sanatorium where he meets his wife, then the career when Vigo gives it all to the medium, then his conflict with censorship, the making of L'Atalante (1934), a phase of breakdown, rebellious days and the end. There is a funny sequence when the couple are having sex and Vigo is gifted a camera and the entire vicinity is lit as he follows the people around, capturing their reactions. There are so many sides to each sequences in the film, each can be a bittersweet moment when the film ends. Few scenes could've been better with good writing as it felt one dimensional. There are few things that Temple did not go into much detail, the character study in was just left it hanging with transitions and brilliant cinematography. Regardless, This is an interesting, honest and tragic insight into the world of Vigo and it does hit all the notes that I had hoped most of the time and does justice to his legacy.

Sighhh.....I continue to be dismayed that "Vigo" never did better box office wise, and that more than a couple of critics seemed lukewarm or worse to it. I suppose I did have a positive "chick-flick" reaction to it as a love story. But I only like well done chick flicks!

I think that part of the problem is the pre-set attitudes mainstream film people may have towards Julian Temple. I've seen the documentary he did on the Sex Pistols, and "Absolute Beginners". They both left me scratching my head a bit. I love people who have range and take risks. He is CERTAINLY not a mainstream filmmaker! And yet, "Vigo" is an almost classically made thing of beauty. The cinematography was excellent and at times breathtaking, while never taking away from the flow of action. I was delightfully surprised by that, besides just being blown away by the performances of James Frain and Romane Bohringer especially. They were very well supported by the rest of the cast.

And this nonsense over English actors playing French characters! I've read more than one comment about that. Have you people NO imagination? If so, then stick to the History Channel or read only encyclopedias! Actors "act", they are not all doing reconstructed scenes for "Americas Most Wanted". These actors did a wonderful job at telling their story.

I really think that critics may have gone into this film with their own preconceived notions as to what needed to be said about Jean Vigo (as one may do with any bio-pic), and believed that Julian Temple couldn't deliver it. On it's own, disregarding a campaign FOR something comprehensive on Jean Vigo's career or AGAINST Julian Temple's, I believe that this film is a beautiful love story and a well told tale of a short life full of passion.

This is a gloriously beautiful film. Jean Vigo was an immense talent born ahead of his time. Seeing this made me want to see the real works of Vigo. I was extremely touched by the love share between Jean an his wife, Lydu. Frain and Bohringer (sp?) have such a natural chemistry as the ill-fated famous couple. It breaks my heart to know how he/they suffered. Yes, he was extremely ill with tuberculosis...and realized he had limited time to realize his dreams as a film-maker, but the true suffering he endured came in the form of the French censors, who banned or butched his work based only on the fact that his father was considered a traitor and an anarchist...so, Jean suffered by association.

Despite his and Lydu's terminal illness, and the prejudices they had to live with, their's is really an uplifting story of undying love, faith, and committment to each other. They lived fuller lives than most of us ever will, experienced truer love than most of us will ever be fortunate enough to have, and realized more of their dreams and goals than most of us could ever hope to. And, Jean did all of this in a life that lasted only 29 years. This movie brings to vivid life the love, losses, tragedies, and triumphs of Jean Vigo and his beautiful wife. It emphasises how important they were to one another.

All in all, this is a true gem of a movie. Beautiful and touching love story, endearing characters through out, excellent and extremely dedicated cast, superbly shot with gorgeous scenery...a film that breaks your heart, but it also lifts you up as well...because of the power of love and the power of believing in one's self. My only complaint is that I would have liked to have seen a bit more of Vigo actually working on his films. They did show this, but more of it would have been very welcome.

Anyway, if you love love stories, or are a fan of Jean Vigo, see this film. You'll adore it.