Friday is for Films: Cafe de Flore
If I would have to spend the rest of my life on a desert island and I would be allowed to take with me only 10 movies, Cafe de Flore will be definitely among them.
This sentence was too good not be used as an introduction. Sorry if it sounded a bit abrupt, but I had to say it.
With the introduction covered, let's see what's all this Friday is for films stuff. Well, it's exactly what it says it is: if Slow Saturdays are for reading, Fridays are for watching movies. I will try to share each Friday a movie that I liked or I found it to be interesting in some other ways. It's not intended as a film critique section, nor as an educational stream of posts. It's just sharing what I like.
Life Bridges
If you didn't see it, I won't spoil the details. Because Cafe de Flore is one of those films you have to watch without knowing the story. But even after you watch it, if you choose to rewind and start watching it again (I know I saw it at least 3 times), the movie reveals more and more details. The key syntagm that defines this movie, is, for me, Life Bridges. The story is interweaved in such a delicate and yet, strong and unpredictable way, that you have no other choice that to be completely immersed in it. And each story leads to the next one like each seed leads to the flower that grows from it. If you think this sounded to poetic to be descriptive for a movie which tells the story of a divorced DJ, then go watch it first and let me know your thoughts later.
The soundtrack (featuring, among others, Sigur Ross, a very good - and quite popular - rock Icelandic band) greatly contributes to this feeling of immersion, with long sequences of ethereal, obsessive music.
I was told once that hypnosis is "suspended disbelief", or the ability of our cognition to consider everything "true". We're "hypnotized" when we cry at a movie, because our disbelief is suspended, we actually believe that the sequence of images and sounds we see on a flat surface in front of us is true. During this movie I was in a continuous state of "suspended disbelief". The story is so well said and built, the characters are so carefully constructed and the editing is done in such a seamless, flowy, way, that you have no other option than surrender to it.
As for the actors, Vanessa Paradis is having probably one of her top 5 performances as an actress, playing a French mother of a kid with the Down syndrome. But all the other actors are also doing a very, very good job.
Before letting you watch the trailer and hear the tune which gave the name of the movie (Cafe de Flore), I will just tell you that this movie opened my appetite for other seemingly related movies like Atlas Cloud.
Which I hope to review as soon as possible.
picture source: Wikimedia
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The "Cloud Atlas" is also one of my favourite from the past 10 years, of course the list includes "Café De Flore" and, from the same director, "C.R.A.Z.Y." at least equally powerful a movie. If you speak French, there has to be "La Belle Histoire" among your MUST see list, as it is greatly related to Café De Flore and the Cloud Atlas as well... ;) Thanks for sharing the goodness our way, namaste :)
Thank you for the recommendation, I will definitely look into "La Belle Histoire" and yes, I do speak French (arguably better than English since I also have a University degree in French literature, but I wouldn't hold my breath) :)