French director Eric
Rohmer has been making movies since the '50s. His feature films,
each bearing his unmistakable stamp, have enthralled some and
aggravated others for all that time. He specializes in careful
examinations of human nature. The films are quiet, dialogue-heavy
and as smart as they can be. Even so, there are those who've
compared his work to watching paint dry.
I think Rohmer has made some of the best movies I've ever seen:
"A Summer's Tale," "Pauline at the Beach," "Claire's Knee," to name
a few. "The Lady and the Duke" isn't one of my favorites, but it's
still an absorbing exploration of history and the human psyche.
It's the 1790s and the French Revolution is going great guns,
which isn't exactly good news for aristocrats.
Based on actual journals of an expatriate Englishwoman named
Grace Elliott (Lucy Russell), who lived in Paris during the Terror,
the movie follows her and the Duc d'Orl巃ns (Jean-Claude Dreyfus),
former lovers who are now close friends.
Though King Louis XVI is his cousin, the duke is on the side of
those trying to create a more egalitarian France for the benefit of
future generations. Grace is a Royalist and staunchly against the
bloodthirsty mob and their methods. She's more convinced than ever
when the head of an old friend is waved in front of her carriage
window.
Events force both to make difficult decisions. She risks her life
to save a fellow aristocrat who turns out to be someone she doesn't
even like. Meanwhile, the duke must choose whether or not to vote
for his cousin's execution.
There are some wonderful scenes -- Lady Grace hiding her despised
fugitive behind her bed while the not-so-bright revolutionaries
search her room; or the duke delicately negotiating a path between
the extremists and the more moderate citoyens. Both actors
give sharply nuanced performances.
However, what people will remember most about this movie is how
it looks. At 82, Rohmer is still, on his own terms, a radical.
Instead of using the wonders of digital imaging to transport us to
the future or to other galaxies, he takes us into late 18th-century
France in an iconoclastic way.
First, he commissioned an artist to paint period backgrounds
using old oils that give the film a kind of weathered patina. Then
he superimposed his actors on the painted backdrops. The effect is
fascinating -- like watching an old-fashioned Punch and Judy show,
perhaps, or playing with one of those antique children's books in
which paper stick figures are moved across detailed backgrounds. His
method even suggests the camera tricks Georges M巐i弒 used in 1902's
"A Trip to the Moon."
"The Lady and the Duke" is about how one keeps one's humanity
intact in the midst of chaos. It also demonstrates the director's
classic strength -- his acute understanding of people and their
feelings and thoughts. It may make not you a Rohmer addict, but it
could get you interested in checking out some of his other masterful
films.
From Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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