21 February, 2008

THE WORLD OF ALAIN ROBBE-GRILLET: IMAGES


The Angel of Death and her minions confront the protagonist of LA BELLE CAPTIVE, the first Alain Robbe-Grillet directed film to make it onto US DVD. Hopefully, the rest will follow sooner than later.


GRADIVA is an erotic/archaeological thriller featuring an elusive woman in white. Alain Robbe-Grillet's 2006 film was not well received by French critics and audiences.


The heroine (Catherine Jourdan) of EDEN AND AFTER (1970) is guided on a journey into the land of the Unconscious by a mysterious stranger. Filmed in a Mondrian labyrinth and Tunisia this was ARG's first color film. I was lucky enough to see this via a pristine 35mm print in a New York City cinema with Alain Robbe-Grillet in attendance.


The New Wave meets the Nouveau Roman. Alan Resnais' LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD was a glossy, funereal evocation of Alain Robbe-Grillet's film script, which was nominated for an Academy Award. If you're lucky you may be able to see the new 35mm scope print. Perhaps the quintessential 1960's Art Film.



2 comments:

jhalal drut said...

I watched yesterday night 'Eden Et Apres', I just loved it and wish a DVD clean cut 'coz the divx is a poor tape rip...
Catherine Jourdan is sexy as hell!

Robert Monell said...

Yes, I agree. I saw EDEN... in a 35mm projection in New York City with Alain Robbe-Grillet in attendance over 30 years ago. I only have a poor quality video of it. A fascinating film in terms of image and editing. Welcome to the blog, Jhalal.