Une chambre en ville

I always love Demy, except the one discussing the pregnancy of a male-so called a comedy.. Bias, of course. He always give you classical fairy tales which takes you away from your real world. Then you are carried into another space, and you can fully focus on what you are watching. Please don't pause his movies or you'll definitely find them dull and boring! For me, his music strengthens the story. Females are all beautiful princesses or queens. immersed in love, in a way.. Catherine Denver is, of course, his perfect princess. In fact, no one is bad. Many hate his Donkey Skin but that's it's close to Plato's idea/ideal. Most important of all, his protest of war is so subtle that it goes deep down without any noticing...

"Une Chambre de Ville" is a tragic opera set during the strike of a shipyard workers union in 1955. Against the backdrop of clashes between police and strikers, the story is about two star-crossed lovers.

Francois is one of the striking workers and Edith is the dissatisfied wife of a television salesman. Fate brings them together and the result feels Shakespearian. They sing of never-ending love, but this is a story about unhappiness--for them and the other main characters.

Though the lyrics/dialogue are rather unpoetic in a classical sense, the music is powerful and lyrical. Indeed, the musical score is one of the best parts of the film.

Noticeable attention has been paid the scenery, with an emphasis on bright colors, providing striking images.

The actors have adequate singing voices, but the central theme--the great love of Francois (Richard Berry) and Edith (Dominique Sanda)-- is unconvincing. Their love feels rather conventional, certainly not a love for the ages. The viewer wants to feel that each is an island oasis of love for the other, driving them to heights of passion and personal transformation. But instead they feel like two losers who converge for a desperate evening and remain unchanged. The musical score, which is so strong, promises a classic story of love, like "Phantom of the Opera", but the characters fall far short.

The film's ending is abrupt, and it serves to undermine the theme of everlasting love.

UNE CHAMBRE EN VILLE is much darker and harsher than Demy's more famous films from the 1960s, but it is no less stunning a piece of work. An operatic look at classicism and desire, its peopled by fascinating, layered characters who are sometimes openly unlikable. The music is not at all like Michel Legrand' jazzy, hummable tunes, but this is meant to work within the confines of this grand and melodramatic narrative.

I checked out this movie because of Demy's earlier works, Lola (1961), The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964), and The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967), all of which I found charming and interesting. Demy has an unmistakable visual sense and makes expressive use of vivid color imagery. All of those films also had playful plot lines that did not always follow logic, order, or even reason. Instead a whimsical, airy feeling often permeated the films.

So, I do not expect, nor demand, that movies have precise plots that always follow order, but Une Chambre really tests that to the limit. The actions of the characters are mystifyingly foolish, as if they were undertaken by five-year-olds, with zero understanding of human emotions or consequences of action. Timelines are compressed beyond belief. This movie makes TV soap operas seem logical, rational, and reasonable! I found myself asking: did that character really do that? Did she really believe that would happen? On what planet might that actually take place.

On the plus side, the singing of dialog was interesting (and was used in his earlier films). The visual style was still strong. However, unless you are a film buff who requires to see all of a director's work, I'd suggest passing on this one. A rating of 6 might be generous, and I wrestled with giving it a 5, but I did like his other films.

How I never saw this movie and when the first line was spoken in singing way, I realize be treat a musical, not a classic musical as we get used to, just sung in every line, well it really weird to watch a movie, I love the ultimate musical "Les Miserables", taking in account the level of the budge they differ each other so much, "Une Chamble en Ville" is a small production a slow pace, sometimes still boring, nevertheless the story is great, the tragic tale took place at Nantes, during shipyard's strike (Which the French people loves to do) a humble worker François (Richard Berry) rent a room from a former Countess Margot (Danielle Darrieux) she has an unsatisfied married daughter Edith (Dominique Sanda in bold nudes scenes) due her husband Edmond (Michel Piccoli) actually is sexually impotent, in other hand François has been dating with Violette, who was pregnancy from him without notice by him, in fact François didn't love her, when he meets Edith the chemistry is overpowering and ends up in love night at cheap hotel, then all these facts are interwoven each other, a tragic tale sang on every line, fine movie, although it wasn't allowed to everyone!!!

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First watch: 2020 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7.25