Les créatures

A hermetic work, where fantasy and reality mix, in a surreal universe of a writer, locked in a strange beach house, almost a fortress, with his pregnant wife, while writing a literary work.

Both suffer injuries from a road accident. He has a deep feeling of guilt, marked by a scar on his forehead, which symbolizes a healthy madness, which he channels into literary creation. She, a loving muteness, the reverse of her husband's guilt, which she only overcomes at the end, with the birth of her son.

Meanwhile, like a demiurge of the small world that surrounds him, he plays the luck and destiny of his characters and of his own life and family.

Of course, with all the hermetic surrealism that dominates the film, everything could mean something completely different to other viewers.

It is certainly not Varda's most representative cinematographic language, nor is it her most inspired or influential film.

It's Pierre Barbaud's score that first catches one's attention, flush with high and somewhat discordant strings that would be well suited for an arthouse horror flick. That semblance may not be so far off base, actually, as Janine Verneau's tight editing produces a unique flurry of imagery. Conjured by Agnès Varda's unique vision, that imagery includes scene writing, dialogue, and characters that ride a fine line between "a few centimeters removed from 'natural' and 'normal'" and "completely weird and outrageous," not to mention select visuals that may or may not be discretely tied to the narrative. Even more to the point, Varda's tale is most definitely crafted with an oblique, off-kilter flow and sensibility befitting the more far-flung and artful side of cinema. I don't think there's much arguing that this is a title for a more niche audience, but by the same token, it's expertly crafted across the board, and is solidly engaging even in its strangeness. 'Les créatures' certainly won't appeal to all, nor would I expect it to, but I had a great time watching and think this is well worth exploring.

The indistinct lines between fiction and reality in the picture are part and parcel of the visuals presented to us, nevermind the tenor that influences all else on hand. With the fantastical bent firmly established after a time, the delightfully vivid choices of filming locations, production design, art direction, costume design, hair, and makeup are made quite clear, and the supremely mindful, tasteful cinematography is all the more lovely for the fact of it. As if she hadn't done so elsewhere, Varda illustrates without question her expertise as a director; shots and scenes here may be on the more curious and offbeat side of things, but she orchestrates the tableau with a shrewd eye and dexterous hand to build the whimsy and the mystery. Even at that, maybe more than anything else what the unusual slant of 'Les créatures' provides is an opportunity for the cast to just have a total blast. Esteemed actors that Michel Piccoli was and Catherine Deneuve is, it feels a bit like this gives them a chance to show another side of themselves, and try something a little different. So it is too with co-stars like Eva Dahlbeck, Bernard La Jarrige, Jeanne Allard, and all others on hand.

By all means, it's a decidedly odd feature that Varda conjured, one that pointedly confuses the levels of "reality" here. I won't say that I understand everything she was doing with her screenplay, but as she had accordingly spoke of "inspiration" as the underlying impetus and motif, I can only reflect in turn that the movie is itself rather inspired. It's wonderfully imaginative in every capacity, the the story she put together is a minor joy. It sure seems like everyone involved was having fun, a feeling that's easily communicated and shared with viewers. I can understand how this won't necessarily appeal to wide general audiences, but I'm very pleased with how inventive 'Les créatures' is, how well it's made, and how enjoyable and satisfying. Unless one is a diehard fan of someone who participated it may not be an outright must-see, but for those who are receptive to all the wild possibilities of what the medium has to offer, as far as I'm concerned this is well worth checking out if one comes across it.

Plays with fiction and non-fiction and places all of us at the whim of an embittered game of fate in the hands of the author. An intriguing entry into the sci-fi genre with surreal elements that seemed to be about the relationship between a man and woman but told through the other film's characters rather than directly.

The woman is initially ignored by her husband and this leads to a serious accident early in the film. The abstract tale shows her regaining her voice and role in the relationship through a game of people chess through which her author husband learns about relationships and love.

In this totally senseless pseudo-sci-fi film, Catherine Deveuve is mute for 95% of the time; as if to compensate, her husband Michel Piccoli (playing a character named Piccoli - how profound) can talk to animals! Shot in black-and-white, the film uses a red monochrome every time someone does something weird - which happens a lot. It also has an incessantly piercing violin score. One of those art films which drive people away from art films. 0.5 out of 4 stars.

..the others will think it merely arty.Like so many nouvelle vague artists,Agnès Varda tries hard here to say something "deep" "meaningful" and "of consequence".

All Varda's qualities seem to have vanished into thin air:spontaneity,simplicity and sensitiveness,which made her beautiful "Cleo de 5 à 7" so worthwhile and so new at the beginning of the sixties.These qualities seemed to remain in the follow-up "le bonheur",but this latter work is rather unpleasant in several respects.(Mrs Alice Liddell wrote a very good IMDb comment for "le bonheur",read it and you'll know what I mean)

In "les creatures" Varda casts Piccoli as a writer and Deneuve his mute (because of an accident)wife .The other characters are all pawns in a giant chess game.Sometimes the screen turns red ,maybe to indicate that it's not the same "player",who knows?Actually this is the kind of movie which defies analysis.

It was the eighties before Agnès Varda was again in clover with "sans toit ni loi" and "Jacquot de Nantes".