hypsipetes
Lifetime Total
1+
IMDb Member
17 years
Reviews
Le Diable et les Dix Commandements (1962)
God, and Dostoevsky, Fernandel and Duvivier
In the fourth segment, Duvivier deals with one of the most esoteric subjects in the Christianity, and his challenge is realized in a miraculously simple script and the beautiful images. The abuses, the complains and the criticism of the dying old woman against God, they remind me of the first question by Satan on the mountain and The Legend of The Grand Inquisitor in The Brothers Karamazov. A lot of whys thrown by her ghastly senility would be ours, too : why does the mightiness of God easily change this world happier in a blink? Why does God refuse to change the stones in the wilds into millions of bread? God doesn't answer to her agonizing question directly, but he only says he loves all humankind, even though they are no more than a dust in front of the infinity of this universe. Love is the answer, and it's similar to the meaning of a silent kiss of Jesus in The Legend ...
In this movie, God offers a miracle to the worn old woman nevertheless, but she doesn't desire it! This refusal is the most painful and heartbreaking one I have ever known in my life. As in a novel of Paul Gallico, 'Snowflake', we all would like to hear a tender voice, "Well done", at the last moment in this world after many trials and tribulations.
The ending of this segment is tremendously shocking. But I don't want to consider it as a cynical derision against our (modest) goodness which can't help us comparing with the old woman at her death. I believe it mustn't be a cruel sarcasm at least for the woman who dies, given a benediction at the end of her life. Or rather, it should be a ridicule on those who martyr the true divinity among us and consider it as a kind of insanity. Anyway, Jesus after the Resurrection is a prisoner in that Legend, so is he in this movie (in an institution in this case). Willingly, he even gets into the car of those who will never understand him and are going to lock him up as a psychiatric patient.
According to the iconography, the swallow is a symbol of the Incarnation of God, so the director describes it in the script, I guess.
God by Fernandel is as impressive as Bruno 'Angel' Ganz (do most of celestial creatures wear a coat on the earth?). Especially, his figure carrying an African wooden totem on his shoulder could be an association with Jesus who walks alone, carrying a heavy cross also on his shoulder : Fernandel's steps seem so resolute and majestic in the scene, however.
Today we know another masterpiece according to the Ten Commandments : Dekalog by Krzysztof. Kieslowski (1989-1990). It's wonderful, compelling and I do regret I should give only ten to this great work!
Other interesting references : 1. Les Sept péchés capitaux by various directors (1952) 2. Children of Nature by Fridrik Thor Fridriksson (1991) (Fantastic! We can meet Bruno-Angel there again)
In this movie, God offers a miracle to the worn old woman nevertheless, but she doesn't desire it! This refusal is the most painful and heartbreaking one I have ever known in my life. As in a novel of Paul Gallico, 'Snowflake', we all would like to hear a tender voice, "Well done", at the last moment in this world after many trials and tribulations.
The ending of this segment is tremendously shocking. But I don't want to consider it as a cynical derision against our (modest) goodness which can't help us comparing with the old woman at her death. I believe it mustn't be a cruel sarcasm at least for the woman who dies, given a benediction at the end of her life. Or rather, it should be a ridicule on those who martyr the true divinity among us and consider it as a kind of insanity. Anyway, Jesus after the Resurrection is a prisoner in that Legend, so is he in this movie (in an institution in this case). Willingly, he even gets into the car of those who will never understand him and are going to lock him up as a psychiatric patient.
According to the iconography, the swallow is a symbol of the Incarnation of God, so the director describes it in the script, I guess.
God by Fernandel is as impressive as Bruno 'Angel' Ganz (do most of celestial creatures wear a coat on the earth?). Especially, his figure carrying an African wooden totem on his shoulder could be an association with Jesus who walks alone, carrying a heavy cross also on his shoulder : Fernandel's steps seem so resolute and majestic in the scene, however.
Today we know another masterpiece according to the Ten Commandments : Dekalog by Krzysztof. Kieslowski (1989-1990). It's wonderful, compelling and I do regret I should give only ten to this great work!
Other interesting references : 1. Les Sept péchés capitaux by various directors (1952) 2. Children of Nature by Fridrik Thor Fridriksson (1991) (Fantastic! We can meet Bruno-Angel there again)
Vaghe stelle dell'Orsa... (1965)
I'm not a Freudian, Electra!
As they say, the characters in this movie are based on the Greek mythology, namely, the killed father (Agamemnon), his wife (Clytemnestra), her new husband (Aegisthus), the daughter, Sandra (Electra), the son, Gianni (Olestes) and ex-boyfriend of the daughter, Pietro (now he is a doctor but he comes form a tenant farmer family like in the original), and the Trojan War is replaced with the Second World War ... the story line is difficultly categorized into a direct adaptation like Mourning Becomes Electra (an O'Neill's play, made into a movie by Dudley Nichols 1947), however, it follows the traditions of the Greek tragedies : the past and the blood dominate and determine every destiny of the characters.
Here, Andrew (the outsider) is an interesting character. Innocently, (without receiving an oracle!), he analyzes 'the curse' of the dead father rationally, objectively and very ordinarily in vain and opens Pandora's box with his 'good' foolhardiness. Besides, he judges Gianni according to 'his' ethics as a total stranger and raises his fist against his brother-in-law. And still he is never involved in the mythology and should walk away forever. Is he an incarnation of our prosaic civilization of today? The establishment that he is an American (who has a camera!) could be an irony in Visconti's own way?
By the way, recently I watched Desperate Housewives, season 2, Episode 9, "That's Good, That's Bad", and suddenly I remembered the scene in which Gianni takes out the pills and threatens Sandra : George who took the pills menaces Bree ... (so I'm writing this comment now, but I know it's an exaggerated analogy, anyway....)
Jean Sorel is heavenly beautiful. The scene in the water tower takes my breath away. César Franck's music suits the aestheticism of the director, too.
If you are an amateur of Visconti's works, you might know this one doesn't end just as in the original script. Do you think Sandra flies across the ocean to join Andrew or she buries herself in her destined blood there eternally?
Including Mourning Becomes Electra, it could be interesting to refer to also : 1. Les Enfants terribles / Jean-Pierre Melville (1950) 2. Höhenfeuer /Fredi M. Murer (1985) 3. Jeux d'artifices / Virginie Thévenet (1987) 4. La Banyera / Jesús Garay (1989 / fantastic!)
Here, Andrew (the outsider) is an interesting character. Innocently, (without receiving an oracle!), he analyzes 'the curse' of the dead father rationally, objectively and very ordinarily in vain and opens Pandora's box with his 'good' foolhardiness. Besides, he judges Gianni according to 'his' ethics as a total stranger and raises his fist against his brother-in-law. And still he is never involved in the mythology and should walk away forever. Is he an incarnation of our prosaic civilization of today? The establishment that he is an American (who has a camera!) could be an irony in Visconti's own way?
By the way, recently I watched Desperate Housewives, season 2, Episode 9, "That's Good, That's Bad", and suddenly I remembered the scene in which Gianni takes out the pills and threatens Sandra : George who took the pills menaces Bree ... (so I'm writing this comment now, but I know it's an exaggerated analogy, anyway....)
Jean Sorel is heavenly beautiful. The scene in the water tower takes my breath away. César Franck's music suits the aestheticism of the director, too.
If you are an amateur of Visconti's works, you might know this one doesn't end just as in the original script. Do you think Sandra flies across the ocean to join Andrew or she buries herself in her destined blood there eternally?
Including Mourning Becomes Electra, it could be interesting to refer to also : 1. Les Enfants terribles / Jean-Pierre Melville (1950) 2. Höhenfeuer /Fredi M. Murer (1985) 3. Jeux d'artifices / Virginie Thévenet (1987) 4. La Banyera / Jesús Garay (1989 / fantastic!)