Une vie / One Life

Alexandre Astruc: Une vie / One Life (IT/FR 1958) starring Maria Schell as Jeanne Dandieu.

Eräs elämäntarina / Mannen i mitt liv.
    IT/FR © 1958 Agnès Delahaie Productions. P: Annie Dorfmann [= Agnès Delahaie], Louis Wipf.
    D: Alexandre Astruc. SC: Alexandre Astruc, Roland Laudenbach – based on the novel (1883) by Guy de Maupassant – title in English: A Woman's Life – in Finnish: Elämän tarina. DP: Claude Renoir – Eastmancolor – 1,66:1. PD: Paul Bertrand. COST: Mayo, Lucilla Mussini. M: Roman Vlad. ED: Claudine Bouché.
    LOC: Normandie. Le film a été tourné en grande partie près de Cherbourg, dans les paysages de la Hague.
    CAST: Maria Schell (Jeanne Dandieu épouse de Lamare), Christian Marquand (Julien de Lamare), Pascale Petit (Rosalie, the maid), Louis Arbessier (M. Dandieu, the father), Marie-Hélène Dasté (Mme. Dandieu, the mother), Antonella Lualdi (Gilberte de Fourcheville), Ivan Desny (De Fourcheville).
    85 min.
    Finnish premiere: 20 Oct 1961 Elysée, released by Pons-Filmi.
    A vintage KAVI 35 mm print with Finnish / Swedish intertitles viewed at Cinema Orion, 17 June 2009.

A good vintage print with the colour pretty ok, intact.

A visually dynamic adaptation of Maupassant's first novel. There is a surge of consistent movement in this story filmed on location in Normandy.

In marriage, the woman finds herself. In marriage, the man loses himself, being an eternal seeker, a wanderer. The man's wild, untamed sexuality brings forth tragedy. The sex scenes are strong and original. His three women: Jeanne, his wife. Rosalie, the maid, who gets pregnant. Gilberte, the wife of his best friend.

The Normandy location is vivid. The sea, the beach, the wind are important. Expressive cinematography by Claude Renoir. A dynamic score by Roman Vlad. The actors are fine. Antonella Lualdi is capable of implying a lot in just one look.

Ystävykset

Guy de Maupassantin Ystävykset [title on film] / [Deux amis]. FI 1969. PC: FJ Filmi. P+D+SC: Anssi Mänttäri - based on the short story "Deux amis" by Guy de Maupassant (1883). DP: Heikki Katajisto - colour. M: Asko Mänttäri. S: Erkki Seiro. ED: Taina Kanth. CAST: Jukka Sipilä and Olavi Ahonen (the two friends), Jaakko Pakkasvirta, Matti Oravisto. 16 min. A KAVA print viewed at Cinema Orion, 15 May 2009. - The colour was somewhat red-brownish, but AM told me that it was already a bit like that when the print arrived from the Gevaert lab in the Netherlands in 1969. - In the presence of Anssi Mänttäri and Heikki Katajisto, interviewed by Markku Varjola. - AM: "As a young man I thought I was a gifted actor. Then I participated in Sissit [Guerrilla Patrol, 1963] as an actor, and started to think that I would want to become a director, instead. Aito Mäkinen and Juho Gartz urged me to apply for a grant for young artists. As I was leafing through books at the Academic Bookstore, I stumbled upon Guy de Maupassant short story 'Deux amis', read it then and there and decided to film it. There was never a script. On location we had the short story itself in hand. The DP was Heikki Katajisto, we shot in Kirkkonummi and Sipoo. As our crew asked for permission, the land-owner complained that there was still a hole in his boat since the last film crew was there. He never learned that I was to blame since I had been the propman in Hopeaa rajan takaa [Silver Beyond the Border, 1963]. " - Heikki Katajisto has photographed all Anssi Mänttäri's films during 40 years. "Like a ram by the rope", no. They have basically agreed on things, and sometimes quarrelled. - It is war. Two friends want to go fishing. "How stupid men are".