Messidor

We do not hear much about Swiss cinema but Alain Tanner (La Salamandre, Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the year 2000) was once the brightest light in the New Swiss Cinema, a movement that owed its allegiance to Brecht, Bresson, and the French New Wave. Considered one of the best of his later works, Messidor is an original, unpredictable, and disturbing film about two alienated young women in search of freedom from society's rules. The film, in its poetic sweep, is reminiscent of Terence Malick's Badlands and could have been the prototype for Thelma and Louise. In Messidor, two girls, Jeanne (Clementine Amouroux), a history student from Geneva, and Marie (Catherine Retor), a store clerk from Moudon in France, go on the road together with very little money and no specific destination. Without context or structure to their lives, they invent a game of trying to see who can survive the longest without money and the result is self-destructive.

The girls come from very different backgrounds but share a feeling of alienation. They meet while hitchhiking. Jeanne says she is trying to escape from the noise of the city while Marie is returning home after visiting her father in Lausanne. We learn nothing about their lives before they meet; parents, friends, or school are barely mentioned. When Marie invites Jeanne to go on a ten-mile walk to her home, they decide to sleep in the woods, and the next morning embark on a hitchhiking odyssey through the Swiss countryside. Through repetition of car rides with their meaningless conversations contrasted with the enchanting Swiss village and alpine scenery, the film conveys the impression that we are all in a dreamlike state of "walking going nowhere" on a landscape that has surface beauty but no real substance.

Their adventure turns grim when Marie smashes a rock into the side of the head of an assailant to thwart an attempted rape. To protect themselves in the future, they steal a gun from the glove compartment of a Swiss Army officer. When Marie asks, "Where are we headed"? Jeanne replies, "The usual: straight-ahead." To no apparent end they go straight ahead, engaging in haphazard, unmotivated acts that defy society. They have sex together, sleep in barns, steal food, panhandle, and threaten people with their gun. Soon, their description is broadcast on a popular TV program. When they realize that the police are pursuing them, their quest takes on an air of quiet desperation.

Messidor is a haunting, personal film that authentically captures a mood of ennui. What was the girls life really about? Their conversation offers few insights and it is not clear whether or not Tanner regards his protagonists with scorn or is simply saying that if you want to live outside of the norms of society, you must understand the limits of freedom. When asked what their game is, Jeanne declares, "It is moving through empty spaces". "All people look alike", she says, "as if they didn't really exist". When the girls arrive in a typical Swiss village they sit in a park and look at people passing. Marie asks, "What do these people do? Where are they going? We'll never know", she says. "That's what's so maddening. We'll never know". What led these two intelligent young women to undertake a self-destructive odyssey? Since they hardly talk about their lives, their thoughts or their feelings, we'll never know. That's what is so maddening. We'll never know.

"Messidor" is the second Alain Tanner film I have watched, after "La Salamandre" (1971); I gave that one zero stars, but I'm giving this one ***. Maybe it's because it's about two girls while "La Salamandre" was about two guys? In any case, "Messidor" is a love poem to aimlessness (its liberations as well as its limitations), to girl-bonding (one girl is working and from the country, the other studying and from the city), and to the magnificent variety of the Swiss landscapes. It is very deliberately paced and decidedly not for all tastes: only put it on when you're in a patient mood. But if you do surrender to it, you may find it quite hypnotic, right up to its bitterly ironic ending. Tanner is a talented director (a conclusion that I came to even in his previous film that I disliked), with a highly distinctive, minimalistic style. The two grls are not exactly likable, but they are real (and beautifully acted).

Messidor is not only the original Thelma and Louise, in my opinion, it is far more realistic and believable in its plotting and action. I thoroughly enjoyed the film from start to finish and would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Thelma and Louise. However, the film also shows more of the realistic but negative side of the life of fugitives... though the cinematography of Messidor is fantastic, with panoramic views of the Swiss countryside, some of the longer visual sequences may seem extraneous to those who might be anticipating non-stop action. Yet the game of adventure that the girls play lacks the aftertaste of Hollywood artifice, seeming truly spontaneous, natural, and creating a more lasting impact with the resulting consequences. Moreover, the film's dialogue and characterization are strong. Having seen Messidor, I can now understand why this film is considered a classic.

The only reason i was able to watch this is the forward button. I don't mind slow movies, in fact, i like them a lot recently and i am watching a lot of slowburn 70's movies. But this was too slow-paced. There were many scenes which viewer watches these two girls just walking a path/road, for heavy minutes. What was the purpose of this? Still, i could roll with this if the characters were more interesting or if they had a background that explained their behavior. None of that here. Cinematography was nice but there was nothing else that could hold my attention. Nothing mysterious/enigmatic/meaningful. Just two boring characters doing irrational things without explanation. Normally, i love 70's movies like this but this was too empty and shallow. There are some positives here, acting was good, there were some dramatic moments and i wanted to see where it goes. But overall, this failed.

A film much nearer to european viewer than Thelma&Louise. The story of the two students is easier to believe and the end of the film is also much real.