Tuesday, February 28, 2023

Queen Delphine, Ruler of My Heart


For fans of impossibly glamorous slow cinema has Criterion got a treat for you today -- when I think of Marguerite Duras I immediately think of her writing, but she actually did some work in the movies too. She directed about two dozen films -- most famously she was nominated for an Oscar for her screenplay for Hiroshima, mon amour in 1959. But I'd never seen any of her films until I saw her 1975 arthouse-hit India Song this past weekend thanks to Criterion putting out a brand new double-feature of her movies on blu-ray, which is just hitting shelves today. (The other film in the set is 1977's Baxter, Vera Baxter, and I'll watch that this next weekend I think.)

Both films star MNPP beloved Delphine Seyrig (of Jeanne Dielman and Daughters of Darkness fame) but India Song is basically two hours of Delphine looking devastatingly chic and depressed while we watch her stare at herself in a mirror and dance with a small phalanx of men wearing tuxedos as in voiceover we listen to her (or somebody, anyway -- all sound is non-diegetic) talk about suicide and a beggar woman screams at the gate of their embassy. And if that doesn't sound appealing to you we are not similar people. This right here is my idea of cinematic heaven. I could have watched ten more hours of it. Pick up your copy today! Delphine could do no wrong!


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

movies about how western colonial countries should be eradicated >>>>>

Jason Adams said...

Word, anon