With all this drama about Gérard Depardieu becoming a Russian citizen following his tax row with the French government, I'm sure a lot of people just see a fat, old, sad man who seems to have been around forever. Alas, Mr Depardieu was quite something in his day, especially in François Truffaut's film of the late French New Wave Le Dernier Métro, starring alongside none other than the stunning Catherine Deneuve (for those unaware of French culture, basically the French Audrey Hepburn).
I'm currently studying this film in French (and have been since July... Literally going over every s i n g l e citation, personnage and thème) as part of the exam is an evaluative film essay. Surprisingly, I found myself really enjoying the film and, wanting to watch more New Wave films, bought Truffaut's La Nuit Américaine and Jean-Luc Goddard's Masculin Feminin. If you're into classic film and the evolution of film (the French New Wave took place at the same time as the Classic Hollywood Cinema era but couldn't be more different) give them a watch. I'd start out with Le Dernier Métro if I were you, it's probably the most, er, normal.
Set during the German Occupation of Paris during the Second World War, one of Truffaut's aims in this love story/drama/slight comedy was to show life in France and the theatre during this time.
Someone kindly uploaded the whole film to YouTube with English subtitles and surprisingly good quality, so here you go...
Bon soir. I broke up from Sixth Form today until 7th January finally and whilst most people are out on the town, poor little ID-less me is sitting on her laptop with a glass of rosé... What a way to end the term...
Anyway, my spirits shall not be dampened as A NEW GREAT GATSBY TRAILER WAS RELEASED TODAY! I seriously cannot express my excitement for this film enough. Its delay to 2013 is killing me a little more every day.
So firstly, earlier on in May we had this little snippet...
...which was more than enough to engross me. To me, this films ticks every box. Apart from Leonardo DiCaprio starring (which, let's face it, is enough reason in itself) it's set in New York, the best backdrop in the world; it's directed by visual genius Baz Luhrmann; we see Gatsby's excessively glamorous, debaucherous parties that we can only dream of attending and of course the time it's set in - the decadent 20s. In true Luhrmann style, the songs featured completely contrast with the film's setting and also couldn't be more different from one another- the beat of Jay-Z's Church In The Wild and Jack White's Love Is Blindness cover work perfectly together. Without wanting to sound like a self-righteous film critic, the part where we see someone diving into the circular pool then cutting to the miners and then a man riding a horse up the lawn is, accompanied by Jack White's signature raw emotion, it has to be said - visually orgasmic.
Then today we were treated to these...
Once again a great music selection, now featuring Florence + The Machine and Filter.
The official posters were also released today, showing Leo looking suave:
Now just to wait until May 2013...
The 20s decadence has inspired me to throw a 20s Speakeasy themed 18th party... It sounds like a strange theme for an 18th but I think it's perfect; a secret back entrance, 20s cocktails in Mason jars and teacups, 'bathtub gin', gambling, fedoras, moustaches, flapper dresses, suspenders and art deco decorations... Watch this space.
