LES CHOSES DE LA VIE (1969)
Directed by Claude Saulet
80 minutes
In French with English subtitles
More than any other work by the great director Claude Saulet, Les choses de la vie has a terse emotional impact, and at the same time a wonderfully inventive film style. The editing alone is simply stunning - never has a car accident been filmed with such surrealistic mastery. I'm not giving anything away by saying that a lot of the movie takes place during a single car accident, displayed in ultra-slow motion, with the storyline composed of memory-flashbacks contained within that small amount of time.
These flashbacks are crafted beautifully, and the whole structure of the film is at once so complicated and so gracefully easy that anything from Hollywood these days pales in comparison. Right off the bat, the film has a dynamite opening sequence, and it just continues to engage you for the rest of the story. It also sports a great cast, including Romy Schneider and Michel Piccoli, and it was this film that shot off their international careers.
Les choses de la vie also has a classic 60's music score that is wonderfully melancholic. It won the prestigious Louis Delluc prize back in 1969. It is one of the masterpieces of modern cinema, made at the end of the 60s when cinema was so free and open and easy. The music soundtrack is a classic and the main theme song La chanson D'Hélène was being whistled by people all around Europe back when this movie came out. And once again, even though it was such a huge film when it came out, today it is not screened very much at all and is on the edge of extinction.
DATUM EN TIJD | Donderdag 3 april | Zaal open om 20.00 | Aanvang film om 20.30 | Entree 3,- | Vrienden gratis | Wees aanwezig voor 20.15 om verzekerd te zijn van een zitplaats!