Reviews

If one were to make a list of the All-time Most Annoying Movie Characters, it would properly include only those whom we can enjoy as they annoy. They're the ones who cause you to smile as you squirm, not those who make you reach for the remote. Right alongside DeNiro's Rupert Pupkin, and Honey, as played by Sandy Dennis (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf), ranks Richard Benjamin as Jonathan Balser. His unctuous whine is the best reason to watch this period piece. Carrie Snodgress, as the brunt of his annoying personality, also does a fine job. Frank Langella, playing her lover, is a bit too unlikeable, but it only serves to heighten our empathy for the unfortunate heroine.

As I watched this film, I wondered to myself, and then to my wife, why it seemed to be coming from such a refreshing and unusual point of view. It was a similar feeling to that of watching some of my favorite foreign movies. And then I realized: this movie is "foreign," in a way. It's made by women and actually feels like it's coming from women's perspective. I hope to see more films that hit me this way.

I love this film probably because it seems to be the kind of movie that would never get made in the US. It not only seems to be foreign, it seems otherworldly. The musical interludes featuring the bizarre movements of Jean Rochefort are worth many repeat viewings. (I own a copy of this video.) The movie looks at obsession and the transitory nature of relationships in a bittersweet and magical way.

L'Atalante is one of my favorite movies of all time because it is one of the very few films which sustains a dreamlike effect from beginning to end. It is full of magical images and curious non sequiturs. Michel Simon's old seaman is a wonderful invention.