Tu dors Nicole?

This black and white film is set in the French speaking part of Canada. While I have no problem understanding other Canadian French spoken films, such as the delightful 'Les invasions barbares', I could not follow the dialogues in this one at all. Luckily, there were English subtitles.

The story describes how a young girl spends her summer, dividing her time between a boring job, her brother and his friends and her own best friend. Nothing much happens. That should not be a problem as many excellent French films, such as the ones by Éric Rohmer, rely on atmosphere alone to provide a memorable viewing experience. However, in this case, it did not work. At least not for me, the film seems to have had mostly very good reviews, see some of them at Rotten Tomatoes. I think most of the characters were boring and unsympathetic while the language they spoke sounded very unpleasant as well. Too bad.

☆☆

Summer Lovers

A featherweight 1982 US film. The story can be summarized as 'two pretty young things (m/f), one of which played by Daryl Hannah, meet an even prettier young thing (f), Valérie Quennessen

Valérie Quennessen

who sadly died at 31, and start a 'ménage à trois'

2/3 of the ménage à trois

on a beautiful Greek island (apparently Santorini) which is also full of beautiful young things having a good time.

The dialogues are toe-curling with an occasional French sentence thrown in for added intellectual weight. On the other hand, the film is so over the top in its silliness that it becomes charming. And Santorini is beautiful as well.

Santorini

Amusing.

☆☆

Left Luggage

A very mediocre Dutch film. The story is set in Antwerp during the 1970's. A modern areligious Jewish girl becomes a nanny with a Hassidic family. The obvious clash of cultures ensues but she ends up making peace with the family through her love for one of the little boys, who subsequently dies. In addition, her own family of Holocaust survivors has its own problems. The story is brought very superficially and most of the characters seem almost caricatures. Not recommended.

☆☆

Mauvaise Passe

Although a French film, it is spoken almost completely in English. With a French accent, naturally, since the main character is a French guy who leaves his family "to find himself" in London. There he ends up becoming a gigolo and we see several transactions during which he sometimes mumbles French sentences, presumably to excite his English customers.

I normally like the work of the lead actor Daniel Auteuil, e.g. in Le huitième jour. However, in this film, he is not convincing. Also, the story is rather thin and predictable and I was never interested in what would come next or how it would end. Easily forgotten and not worth watching.

☆☆

Itty Bitty Titty Committee

This 2007 US film is described  as "feminist" and "lesbian-related". It tells the story of a young lesbian falling in love with another lesbian who is involved with a militant feminist "Clits in Action'" -- hilariously abbreviated as 'C(i)A' -- group.

After a while, the relationship is in trouble and it is only saved trough the execution of a cunning plan that involves manipulating the output of a regional television station to show the Washington Monument dressed up like a penis.

The film sometimes gives an amateurish impression and I found it rather boring.

☆☆

Saving Grace

A British comedy (2000) set in pittoresque Cornwal, mostly in the village of Port Isaac. Coincidentally, this is the same village where, later, also Doc Martin would be filmed. The main character of the series, Martin Clunes, plays the village doctor in 'Saving Grace' as well.

As in the Doc Martin series, Cornish people all seem to be eccentrics, so one wonders whether this is actually true. The story is simple: a recent widow discovers that her late husband left her with lots of debts and tries to save her house by growing marijuana. This leads to a number of predicatable jokes, e.g. most of the village's inhabitants unknowingly getting stoned.

I was not impressed.

☆☆

Il est plus facile pour un Chameau...

The title of this film refers to a statement by Jesus, according to Matthew 19:24 for the experts, that

"... it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. "

And that is the subject of the film: the rich heiress Frederica, played by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi feels uncomfortable about being rich. Her boyfriend, a committed leftist, is no help since he thinks property is theft. Besides moaning about her condition, e.g. she repeatedly bothers a priest with her "problem", there is precious little she actually does about it. The story did not convince me at all and a number of the characters seem superfluous.

The only parts I actually enjoyed were the flashbacks to Frederica's childhood which were delightful. Especially the one where she is kidnapped and manages to convince (a) her kidnappers that she is a communist too, and (b) her father that the kidnappers are nice people and that he should invite them for dinner.

All in all, a very mediocre film: ☆☆