Reviews

It's really a peculiar film, very engaging even if there is no real intrigue in it but I can watch it endlessly because it makes you feel happy.Why ? Well the city (New York looks superb in early summer) and the relationships between all the characters are shown with great simplicity and love. Director Peter Bogdanovich being a native born New Yorker, it's no surprise that the town is in fact the main character. Here the "Big apple" is very welcoming , very beautiful with the sun shining everywhere.It's like a nest in which are evolving all these characters. It gives the film a peculiar charm , because as i've said the plot here has no importance.Beside New York the other big attraction are the actors. Ben Gazzara, Dorothy Stratten, Patti Hansen, John Ritter... they are all perfect. I mean you have to see Patti Hansen's face as she drives a cab. That's cinema at his best , it's simple but so beautiful because it gives you an emotion. I won't talk much about Dorothy Stratten( it's so sad) but here she appears to be a very promising actress. Needless to say that her beauty illuminates the film .

Really Peter Bogdanovich knew how to find and reveal such beautiful and talented girls: Cybill Shephed, Dorothy Stratten, Patti Hansen.

What means "Bellflower" ? It's just a street in Ventura (Cal) were was shot this movie. In fact the action is principally around this place. Two guys, two friends, meet in a bar two girls. This film is about their complicated relationship but not the way usually shown. It looks like a home made movie with dirty , saturated images but that's not disturbing as all the characters themselves are completely out of control types.

In others words you take a shaker ,you fill it with love, hate, fun ,sadness, booze, boobs, desire, revenge, a muscle car, the apocalypse, pretty girls , pretty boys, you add a lot of energy, you mix it and what you have is this film : a guilty pleasure that's not for everybody.

Special dedication to Jessie Wiseman (Milly) who is so beautiful and moving in the last sequence added at the very end of the picture. Just for that a film worth seeing.

It's about cars but miles away from films like "Fast & furious". Here it's more like "slow & cool". The heroes (sort of) don't do much as they drive across the USA. Even when they meet a young wandering girl (Laurie Bird), they hardly talk to her. It seems boring but it isn't. First of all Monte Hellman knows how to film cars (a 1955 Chevy and a 1970 Pontiac )and he does it with great respect. After all they are as much important as the two main characters (Denis Wilson & James Taylor). Secondly like for books what makes a work valuable or at least interesting is the style. Although we can say that it's a "road movie" , which is typically American, the general atmosphere given by the director Monte Hellman is more European.I mean action here is not the point. That's the style of this picture.A great film, beautifully shot that didn't have the success it deserved, perhaps due to the huge triumph of "Easy Rider" released just two years earlier.

Je viens juste de voir ce film de Virginie Despentes. C'est plus mainstream que le précédent (Baise moi!) mais néanmoins très provocant. Provocant parce que c'est un film lesbien et voulu ainsi par la réalisatrice (elle même lesbienne déclarée).La démarche est louable et c'est important d'avoir des artistes comme Virginie Despentes qui peuvent s'exprimer totalement dans un monde de plus en plus consensuel. Quant au film lui même ,j'ai quelques restrictions. D'abord je n'ai pas été convaincu par l'histoire d'amour des deux personnages adultes (Béatrice Dalle & Emmanuelle Béart), à l'inverse leur histoire est beaucoup plus crédible et intéressante dans leur jeunesse. La vie, l'énergie apportée par les deux talentueuses actrices que sont Soko et Clara Ponsot y est sans doute pour quelque chose. L'autre chose qui m'a un peu gêné c'est la façon dont sont montrés les punks. Ca fait un peu cliché de les voir toujours une bouteille à la main. Je ne pense pas qu'il faille nécessairement être bourré pour être punk. Virginie Despentes ayant bien connu ce milieu elle aurait pu y apporter plus de crédibilité.Il faut dire quand même à sa décharge que montrer des punks au cinéma c'est très dur, ça fait tout de suite cliché. Par contre à son crédit il faut souligner l'excellente bande son du film. C'est pas tous les jours qu'on peut entendre au cinéma des chansons des Bérurier Noir, de La Souris Déglinguée, de Parabellum, de OTH... Pour conclure un film moyen,avec plein de défauts mais là n 'est pas le plus important.Ce qui compte ici c'est la liberté de ton et l'esprit anar qui l'anime et ça fait du bien.

I've just seen this movie by Virginie Despentes (famous french writer). It's more mainstream than her previous one (Baise moi !)but nevertheless very provocative. Provocative because it's a lesbian comedy, Virginie Despentes being herself a lesbian she was intented on making it that way. I think it's very important to have such artists who can express themselves in a more and more consensual world and indeed her approach is commendable and necessary. As for the film itself i have some restrictions. First of all i don't really believe in the love story of the two main characters ( B. Dalle & E. Béart) , on the contrary their story is much more convincing when they are young. This is due to the life and energy given by Soko and Clara Ponsot. Two promising , attractive young actresses . The other thing that has bothered me is how punks are shown. For me it's a little flaw, too much cliché. I don't think you have to be always drunk to be a punk. It's strange because Despentes was punk and has known very well this movement in France. To her credit i must say that the soundtrack is excellent with songs from Berurier Noir, La Souris Déglinguée, OTH, Metal Urbain... All in all this is not a very good film, a little flawed but that's not very important here. What counts it's is freedom of speech and that's priceless.