"Haven't we met somewhere before?" urbane Giorgio Albertazzi asks stunning Delphine Seyrig during a chic gathering at a baroque chateau.
And he keeps asking her, politely but persistently, throughout the mansion's plush interiors, its mirrored walls and marble statuary, across the game tables of its casino, and outdoors in the maze-like garden that warps space like a de Chirico painting.
Their question-and-answer game plays out through increasingly dreamlike sequences and disorienting segues, jumping back and forth in time, Albertazzi pushing for seduction and Seyrig seeming to bend—or is it the other way around?
In her first leading role, Seyrig looks gorgeous styled in Coco Chanel, who later advertised her signature fragrance in a memorable 1980s television commercial inspired by the film.
The movie Village Voice called: "Hopelessly retro, eternally avant-garde, and one of the most influential movies ever made.... [It] eludes tense. The movie is what it is—a sustained mood, an empty allegory, a choreographed moment outside of time, and a shocking intimation of perfection." is arriving on a brand spanking new 35 mm print for one week only to AFI Silver.
April 4th to 10th.
No passes accepted
get your tickets now.
Thank me later.
God loves a cheerful giver.
This movie has been re-cut with rock hands and the actors drink Sparks so the average BYT reader will probably like it.
I hated watching the fantasy of a mad man. There IS a plot. It is visually beautiful. Beyond those merits, it's agonizing. I only recommend it if you want to experience the gorgeous, huge main theatre at AFI with 5 people. That was the best part of the movie.