09-02-2009, 11:24 PM
The Lovers on the Bridge directed by Leos Carax (French -- 1999)
A young homeless guy and young homeless gal cross paths on a gritty Parisian street. The guy collapses unconscious in the middle of the street, and as the gal watches, a car proceeds to run the fuck over his foot. Thinking he's dead, she does a quick sketch of his face. But a bus picks him up afterwards and takes him to an infirmary where they set his foot and put it in a cast.
For the rest of the movie the guy limps around -- at first on crutches, but then he throws them away. Then he limps with a kerthunk until he eventually gets tired of that, so he kicks a brick wall until the cast comes off. Then he limps while wearing two shoes until he decides to throw one shoe in the Seine. It's the Seine, right? The one that runs through Paris that I can't pronounce? Then he limps around wearing just one shoe. Eventually the movie ends.
Actually, a whole lot else happens, but I was a bit fixated on the foot. I don't know why. For some reason, whenever I hear mention of a foot these days, I just get all tensed up.
Let's see. The gal is an artist who's going blind, so of course she's going to sing and dance through the streets. Not Bjork, for certain, but you gotta credit a very young Juliet Binoche with a spectacular performance -- one of her best films, on a par with Children of the Century (about George Sand's tempestuous relationship with poet/playright Alfred de Musset). Her later work (The Cache, Horseman on the Roof, Chocolat) has disappointed and even irked me, being equal parts precious, pretentious and pathetic.
But the Lovers on the Bridge is close to being a great movie, and I can understand how it's achieved cult status in certain circles. Though extremely gritty and in danger of being a complete downer, it is salvaged by an oddball upbeat aspect. There's a couple of surreal sequences, one lasting 5 minutes, that work very well.
But the best reason to watch this movie is to watch some other poor sop get his foot all fucked up. That's worth the price of admission.
A young homeless guy and young homeless gal cross paths on a gritty Parisian street. The guy collapses unconscious in the middle of the street, and as the gal watches, a car proceeds to run the fuck over his foot. Thinking he's dead, she does a quick sketch of his face. But a bus picks him up afterwards and takes him to an infirmary where they set his foot and put it in a cast.
For the rest of the movie the guy limps around -- at first on crutches, but then he throws them away. Then he limps with a kerthunk until he eventually gets tired of that, so he kicks a brick wall until the cast comes off. Then he limps while wearing two shoes until he decides to throw one shoe in the Seine. It's the Seine, right? The one that runs through Paris that I can't pronounce? Then he limps around wearing just one shoe. Eventually the movie ends.
Actually, a whole lot else happens, but I was a bit fixated on the foot. I don't know why. For some reason, whenever I hear mention of a foot these days, I just get all tensed up.
Let's see. The gal is an artist who's going blind, so of course she's going to sing and dance through the streets. Not Bjork, for certain, but you gotta credit a very young Juliet Binoche with a spectacular performance -- one of her best films, on a par with Children of the Century (about George Sand's tempestuous relationship with poet/playright Alfred de Musset). Her later work (The Cache, Horseman on the Roof, Chocolat) has disappointed and even irked me, being equal parts precious, pretentious and pathetic.
But the Lovers on the Bridge is close to being a great movie, and I can understand how it's achieved cult status in certain circles. Though extremely gritty and in danger of being a complete downer, it is salvaged by an oddball upbeat aspect. There's a couple of surreal sequences, one lasting 5 minutes, that work very well.
But the best reason to watch this movie is to watch some other poor sop get his foot all fucked up. That's worth the price of admission.
