Dark as a memory/and Chabrolesque!
Generally I do not go much for Jean-Pierre Mocky stuff.Most of the time,he botches the job,steals screenplays ("le miraculé" was a George Langelaan rip-off)and why he can make as much movies as he wants still remains a mystery to me,most of them do not get even commercial success.
There are exceptions though:" l'albatros"(1971) was perhaps the first French road movie and remains watchable today."Noir comme le souvenir" is closer to Chabrol psychological detective story.There are unusual scenes:in the school,the stage invaded by girls disguised as cats ,a bad taste climax !A gallery of sinister-looking characters,and the recurrent image of a clown give the movie substance.The subject,if one takes a good look at it,is not that much original:can someone raise from the dead?Boileau-Narcejac did that forty years before,with "les diaboliques" "vertigo" and the forgotten "à coeur perdu" (which Etienne Périer filmed under the title "meurtre en 45 tours").But the suspense is sustained and Jane Birkin's presence is an asset for this work.
There are exceptions though:" l'albatros"(1971) was perhaps the first French road movie and remains watchable today."Noir comme le souvenir" is closer to Chabrol psychological detective story.There are unusual scenes:in the school,the stage invaded by girls disguised as cats ,a bad taste climax !A gallery of sinister-looking characters,and the recurrent image of a clown give the movie substance.The subject,if one takes a good look at it,is not that much original:can someone raise from the dead?Boileau-Narcejac did that forty years before,with "les diaboliques" "vertigo" and the forgotten "à coeur perdu" (which Etienne Périer filmed under the title "meurtre en 45 tours").But the suspense is sustained and Jane Birkin's presence is an asset for this work.
- dbdumonteil
- Sep 7, 2002