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kentmiller
Reviews
Picnic (1955)
An exploration of the stages of women's lives.
The more I see this film the more I am impressed with its depth of understanding of the stages of women's lives, from the high schooler with newly awakening sexuality (Millie, played by Susan Strassbourg); to the newly mature but sexually unfulfilled beautiful young woman (Madge, played by Kim Novak); the over-protective mother (Flo); the elderly woman (Mrs. Potts) and even her mother, omnipresent but never seen invalid, and the loveless old maid school teacher (Rosemary, played by Rosalind Russell). Their small-town lives are serene but without vitality until a virile young William Holden (Hal) shows up and - in the course of a day - unwittingly rocks the foundations of their lives with his unabashed sexuality. Millie swoons, Flo is terrified that Hal will lure Madge from the insipid but wealthy Alan, played by Cliff Robertson, which he innocently does. Rosemary finally acknowledges the emptiness of her life and her need for love. Only Mrs. Potts welcomes his vitality and masculinity, saying it was good to have a man about the place. Indeed, Hal unleashes all of the women's repressed emotions, in the process liberating the beautiful but insecure Madge to explore her sexuality and find a life of her own, instead of one in which she is the projection of what her mother and boyfriend want her to be. The "Moonglow" dance sequence crystalizes how men and women fall in love when sexual desire transcends social convention.
Elena et les hommes (1956)
Yet another lovely farce from the hand of the master.
Ingrid Bergman is a temporarily impoverished Polish countess in 1900s Paris who finds herself pursued by France's most popular general and a glamorous count -- and that's on top of being engaged to a shoe magnate. Such is the failproof premise that entrains one of the most delirious plots in movie history. There are backroom political machinations by the general's handlers, a downed balloonist and ecstatic Bastille Day throngs, but the heart of this gorgeously photographed film is the frantic upstairs/downstairs intrigues involving randy servants and only slightly more restrained aristocrats. Yes, it's Rules of the Game redux. Before it's all over even Gaston Modot, the jealous gamekeeper in Rules, puts in an appearance -- as a gypsy capo, no less! Things happen a little too thick and fast toward the end, resulting in some confusion for this non-French speaker, but what the heck -- Elena and Her Men is another deeply humane Renoir masterpiece.