Screening Log

This new site feature is a collective effort to summarize our viewing habits. Occasionally, you will find titles here that are coming to a theater near you, in addition to films viewed on television, and even films viewed in piecemeal. The screening log is archived each month; to view past entries select a month in the menu below.

September 2006 activity

Total Log Entries: 51

Total Comments: 37

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Lacombe, Lucien / France / 1974

In her review of Murmur of the Heart Pauline Kael commends the work of Louis Malle, but attributes his relative obscurity in comparison to the more known filmmakers of the 70s to his tendency to explore a variety of themes instead of honing in on his obsession with merely a few; he’s hard to pin down, she thinks, either thematically or aesthetically one. Having seen Malle’s Lacombe, Lucien with my memory of Murmur of the Heart fresh, I find Kael’s assertion curious. The films are thematic facsimiles, and what’s remarkable about them is how dynamic the bored, totally indifferent male youths at the center of each are. Their behavior can be outright offensive, but you feel a particular fondness for them despite their actions. There is a beautiful scene in Lacombe, Lucien that finds Lucien in the middle of a gestapo skirmish, bullets flying everywhere, and he’s laughing, and probably not even paying attention. A rabbit juts across his field of view; he shoots at it, and misses. “Merde!” he says, as some of his colleagues are getting shot.

by Rumsey Taylor | Source: The Criterion Collection DVD
27 Sep 2006 11:18 AM | Submit Comment

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