NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #31/NN_1992_31.iso/spool/rec/arts/movies/36421

Text File | 1993-01-01 | 5.4 KB | 101 lines

Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies
Path: sparky!uunet!microsoft!hexnut!frankm
From: [e-mail] (Frank R.A.J. Maloney)
Subject: TOUS LES MATINS DU MONDE (French)
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 01 Jan 93 22:31:21 GMT
Organization: Microsoft Windows/DOS Users Ed Group
Lines: 90

TOUS LES MATINS DU MONDE is a French film directed by Alain Corneau,
from a script by Corneau and Pascal Quignard. It stars Jean-Pierre
Marielle,Gerard Depardieu, Guillaume Depardieu, Anne Brochet, and
Carole Richert. Unrated, includes male and female nudity. In French
with English subtitles.

TOUS LES MATINS DU MONDE is as serious, slow-paced, and sadly beautiful
as the viola da gamba music that pervades the film. The story of the
film concentrates on the conflict between the austere, cenobitic master
of the viola da gamba (the ancestor of the modern cello), Monsieur de
Sainte-Colombe -- whose name is otherwise unknown -- and a hack seeking
fame and fortune in the court of Louis XIV, Marin Marais. Their
personal conflict symbolizes the war between art and commercial
success, a subject as relevant today as in the late 17th century.

TOUS LES MATINS has been compared to no great purpose to AMADEUS, a
movie with an entirely different background, tone, style, and focus;
the Mozart of AMADEUS sees no conflict between living like courtier and
being a great artist and the subject of that film is an examination of
the question "What is genius?" The genius in TOUS LES MATINS lives a
life dedicated to 15-hour practice days and rural simplicity; he
refuses to go to Versailles to play for le Roi du Soleil, the Sun King,
just as he refuses to publish his compositions.

A more useful comparison might be made between TOUS LES MATINS and
BARRY LYNDON, Stanley Kubrick's much maligned masterpiece (ok, so Ryan
O'Neil wasn't the greatest casting choice, but everything else about it
was a stunning experience): both films have a deliberate pace that is
guaranteed to put off most Americans accustomed to the rhythms of TV
and Hollywood movies. And both films are virtually a series of tableaux
vivants, still lifes recreated on film, with a painterly style of
design and composition and lighting that delights and fascinates from
beginning to end.

The script, written by the director Alain Corneau and Pascal Quignard,
is based on Quignard's novel. The film runs 114 minutes, and you will
probably feel either caught up in something you would rather never end
or you will feel every one of those minutes in your keister. The plot
is minimal:  relationships develop and change among the small cast.
There are few characters outside the principals, there are only a few
moments of humor or sex. There are long, long head shots, a voice-over
narrative by Depardieu pere, much chiaroscuro, detailed period
accuracy, and wonderful music.  There is also some talk about what the
purpose of music is that helps to clarify to rather mysterious,
unknowable Sainte-Colombe. And finally, there are some individual
moments that have to be considered small epiphanies for the viewer, as
when Marais leads a full baroque court orchestra in a thumping version
of his most beautiful composition -- an utterly astounding scene
probably by itself worth the price of a ticket for some of us. Or the
very end of the film, which made me gasp out loud and cry, so moving,
so beautifully earned, so right was it.

The cast is perfect. The center is Jean-Pierre Marielle
(Sainte-Columbe), a veteran actor who has appeared in films such as
COUP DE TORCHON and URANUS. He walks that fine line between sainthood
and madness; he lives to play and retreats from the world into his
music and his visions. He is not likable, I doubt that any saint would
be, but he is irresistible and powerful. Anne Brochet, who played
Roxanne in the Depardieu CYRANO DE BERGERAC (1990), is every bit as
strong as Madeleine, Sainte-Colombe's older daughter. She is the link
between her father and Marais in life and in death. Carole Richert
plays the younger daughter, the daughter who is not a slave to her
father's obsessions.

The two Depardieus, father and son, play Marin Marais as the
middle-aged "successful" courtier and as the raw youngster who first
presents himself to become Sainte-Colombe's student. Gerard Depardieu
puts on a fearless performance, especially the opening sequence, a long
close-up of the ruined face of a failed, foppish man who finally knows
he's a hack, and at the end as he finds and redeems himself.  Guillaume
Depardieu, the 21-year-old son, has a lighter acting style and a strong
resemblance to his famous father as well as to Julian Sands.

TOUS LES MATINS DU MONDE has proved to be an enormous success in
France, where it sold 2 millions tickets in a year, sparked a revival
of interest in French baroque music, and won seven Cesars (the French
Oscars) -- best picture, director, music, and supporting actress
(Brochet), amongst them. The soundtrack featuring the viola da gamba of
Jordi Savali and the music of Marais, Sainte-Colombe, Couperin, and
Lully has been a success in its own right wherever the film has
played.

In the U.S., the film's success will be limited to the art-house
circuit and not even everyone there will like it for its pace and
plotlessness. For those willing or able, or both, to give TOUS LES
MATINS DU MONDE a chance, the rewards can be enormous. If you are one
of those, I recommend this film to you most highly.

--
Frank Richard Aloysius Jude Maloney
    "Well, I'm a little muddled." -- Glinda