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vayagg
Reviews
Chambre 12, Hôtel de Suède (1993)
The making of Breathless and a fascinating collection
I completely agree with Filmjack3 comment : Chambre 12, Hotel De Suede, from Ventura & Villetard is really a pretty good film about the making of Godard's film Breathless. Moreover Chambre 12 is full of a very peculiar gracefulness, probably due to the fact that Ventura and Villetard chose to consider it with all the respect they both feel toward the so-called seventh art. So they wanted to make a real film of cinema, and not only a report about a shooting (Ventura is well known in France for producing a beautiful TV series called Cinema, cinema). And regarding the Criterion edition of Breathless it's merely superb. No need to add anything else to this accurate and subtle analysis. Except one detail : the one mentioned as really good at the interviews is Xavier Villetard, who wrote the 9 days diary, and that you can see all along the film.
Coûte que coûte (1995)
A pure jewel
Coute que coute, the Claire Simon documentary, is a pure jewel. The sort of film you discover by luck while practicing the so common TV zapping attitude. Once you see the first images, you can't stop until the end. Wishing to know what happens to those human beings so delicately filmed by Claire Simon. No paternalistic attitude in this film, no condescending judgment, just an intelligent, tender, and noticeable regard from the director. Of course and sadly, we're not used to be respected as individuals able to think by ourselves. Yes! A documentary can be something else than a boring and heavy explanation of the filmmaker's intentions. No need to use a voice-off or insistent images when you've got Claire Simon's talent. Thanks to her and all her pairs.