Le Diable probablement / The Devil, Probably

Robert Bresson: Le Diable probablement / The Devil, Probably (FR 1977) avec Nicolas Deguy (Valentin) et Antoine Monnier (Charles).

Paholainen luultavasti / Djävulen förmodligen.
    FR © 1977 Sunchild Productions.
    D+SC: Robert Bresson. DP: Pasqualino De Santis – Eastmancolor – 1:1,66. M: Philippe Sarde; Claudio Monteverdi (”Madrigal Ego Dormio”).
    C: Antoine Monnier (Charles), Tina Irissari (Alberte), Henri de Maublanc (Michel), Laetitia Carcano (Edwige), Régis Hanrion (the psychoanalyst, Dr. Mime), Nicolas Deguy (Valentin), Geoffroy Gaussen (the bookseller), Rogert Honorat (the inspector).
    96 min
    A vintage Diana-Filmi release print with Finnish / Swedish subtitles by Satu Laaksonen / Lisbet Eriksson viewed at Cinema Orion, Helsinki, 24 Oct 2008.

The Eastmancolor of this print is fading.

Robert Bresson: "Ce qui m'a poussé à faire ce film, c'est le gâchis qu'on a fait de tout. C'est cette civilisation de masse où bientôt l'individu n'existera plus. Cette agitation folle. Cette immense entreprise de démolition où nous périrons par où nous avons cru vivre. C'est aussi la stupéfiante indifférence des gens, sauf de certains jeunes actuels, plus lucides." Robert Bresson

The story of a suicide. The young people of Paris facing Weltschmerz: ecocatastrophe, nuclear danger. The questions of crime, sabotage, terrorism. The nihilism of clochard life, soulless sex, drug addiction.

The question of the church and the religion, quoting Victor Hugo: "when a priest enters the church, God exits".

An exchange in the bus: "Who is guiding us now?" "Le Diable probablement".

The encounter with the psychoanalyst, the death wish, the exaggerated libido. "I'm just clear-sighted".

Charles has failed in his suicide attempts, he loves the sensual side of life too much, but the psychoanalyst gives him the clue that ancient Romans asked slaves and friends to help.

Charles hires his drug addict friend to be his contract killer to execute him.

Kautokeino-opprøret / The Kautokeino Rebellion

Nils Gaup: Kautokeino-opprøret / The Kautokeino Rebellion (DK/NO/SE 2007). Mikkel Gaup as Aslak Hetta.

Kautokeinon kapina / Kautokeino-uppröret. 

    DK/NO/SE © 2007 Rubicon Films. Premiere: 2008. 

    D: Nils Gaup. SC: Nils Isak Eira, Nils Gaup, Reidar Jönsson, Pelone Wahl. DP: Philip Øgaard – shot in Super 35 (35 mm) – digital intermediate – print 35 mm – 1:2,35. 

    Starring Anni-Kristiina Juuso (Elen Hetta), Mikael Persbrandt (Ruth), Mikkel Gaup (Aslak Hetta), Asle Mathis Gaup (Mathis Hetta), Michael Nyqvist (Lars Levi Laestadius), Bjørn Sundquist (parson Stockfleth), Peter Andersson (Bucht), Jørgen Langhelle. 

    In Saami, Swedish, and Norwegian. 

    100 min

    Released in Finland by Sandrew, with Finnish / Swedish subtitles by Anitra Paukkula / Joanna Erkkilä.

    Viewed at Kinopalatsi 7, 9 August 2008.

A flat digital intermediate look in the print.

An interesting and original historical epic on the Kautokeino rebellion in ca 1850 (also the subject of the opera Aslak Hetta by Armas Launis).

Merchants oppress Laplanders exploiting their alcohol addiction that has become epidemic, and bereave them of their reindeer as payment.

The great revivalist parson of the Northern Lutheran church, Laestadius, inspires a spiritual awakening in the village, to the dismay of the merchants. The conflict leads into violent protest and capital punishment to rebels.

The true story contains new, good and strong material for an epic film. Unfortunately the direction (also of actors), cinematography, and music are wooden.

The basic content of the story feels true, but there is the question of coarse simplification of the processes of justice and law enforcement. The atavistic, primitive aspects of the Laplanders are ignored. 

Michael Nyqvist gives a strong performance as Laestadius.

This film is fascinating but not perfectly realized.

Léon Morin, prêtre

060477 / G / FR / 1961 / Melville, Jean-Pierre / drama
Léon Morin, prêtre / Kiusaus. © Rome-Paris-Films. P: Carlo Ponti, Georges de Beauregard. D+SC: Jean-Pierre Melville - based on the novel by Beatrix Beck (1952). DP: Henri Decaë. CAST: Emmanuelle Riva (Barny), Jean-Paul Belmondo (Léon Morin), Nicole Mirel (Sabine Lévy). 128’. B&w 1,66. Visa de contrôle 24334. Finnish / Swedish subtitles by Aito Mäkinen / Jerker A. Eriksson. Print: SEA / Eurooppalainen filmi - short 115’ version. Viewed in Helsinki, SEA, Cinema Orion, Tuesday 24 February 1998. **** This film is unique in Melville’s oeuvre in many ways and deeply personal in a way apparently different from his thrillers. It is an Occupation drama with a rich texture of authentic detail. It tells the story of a strong Platonic Lesbian relationship. Children, missing from almost all other Melville films, play an important part here. The figure of the priest is one of the most memorable in the history of the cinema. He can be compared with Father O’Malley in Going My Way or preacher Gruffdydd in How Green Was My Valley. What he says is always original and profound. The French Catholic church accepted the film by the devout Atheist Melville. There is more to the film than Melville admitted. Léon Morin is a profound film about the presence of Judaism in Christianity.

How Green Was My Valley

John Ford: How Green Was My Valley (US 1941). Walter Pidgeon and Roddy McDowall.

024943 / G / US / 1941 / Ford, John / / drama
How Green Was My Valley / Vihreä oli laaksoni. PC: 20th Century-Fox. P: Darryl F. Zanuck. D: John Ford. Based on the novel by Richard Llewellyn. DP: Arthur Miller. CAST: Walter Pidgeon, Maureen O’Hara, Donald Crisp, Roddy McDowall. 119’. B&w. MPAA Production Code Seal of Approval 7480. A beautiful NFTVA print. Viewed in Helsinki, SEA, Cinema Orion, Thursday 30 October 1997. **** I knew the film previously only from TV. I had had trouble with the idealization and sentimentalism, and was now able to look through them for the first time. The idyll now seems like a sugar coating to the bitter story. The conditions in the mine are harsh, causing death and suffering. The central romance remains unrequited as the bride marries money. Because of his humble origins the boy-protagonist is brutally harassed at school both by the teacher and by his classmates. All this is acknowledged, and still the film is a praise to the triumph of the spirit, about never giving up. The climax is the final sermon of the preacher portrayed by Walter Pidgeon. It is a highlight in the whole Ford oeuvre. Among the joys of the film: the faces are wonderful down to the smallest parts. They all live the drama.