NYFF: The Last Mistress
The Last Mistress **1/2
Directed by Catherine Breillat
Written by Catherine Breillat, based on the novel by Jules-Amédée Barbey d'Aurevilly
Starring:
Asia Argento as Vellini
Fu'ad Ait Aattou as Ryno de Marigny
Roxane Mesquida as Hermangarde
Claude Sarraute as La marquise de Flers
Yolande Moreau as La comtesse d'Artelles
Michael Lonsdale as Le vicomte de Prony
Anne Parillaud as Mme de Solcy
114 Minutes(Not Rated)
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Through my viewing of Catherine Breillat's new film "The Last Mistress" I had a hard time deciding if I liked the movie or not. And after it was over it took a while to settle it-I couldn't decide if I enjoyed what I saw, admired it, was bored by it, or thought it was simply "ok." And then I realized that it was a combination of all those things-but in the end, I think it just missed the mark from something that I could recommend. It's one of those things where I would recommend it to someone if there were no other good movies out there to see. This was also my first film by Breillat, a quite popular French film maker, but I remember when her sexually explicit experimental film "Anatomy of Hell' came out a few years back to horrid reviews. I will admit that this is a costume drama unlike any that I have ever seen, and it borders onto an NC-17 level-not that I would complain.
Our film is one about gossip and class and romance and marriage, all of it focusing it Ryno de Marigny. Ryno is set to be married, in an arranged marriage, to Hermangarde, a beautiful blonde woman that seems to love him and be ready to wed. However, Ryno has a secret lover-a mistress before he is even married, and that is too Vellini (played with fierce bravery and openness by Asia Argento, who has made a huge turn here from the last film that I saw her in "Land of the Dead.") The two of them carry on their sexual affair on the side-one that is strongly based on pleasure than actual love. But there is a story behind this affair-one that is a bit more complicated than a standard story of adultery, and that is where I refuse to reveal any more.
Breillat gets several things right-especially with the look and feel of the costume drama. There is always something appealing on the screen, and Breillat is sure to put something even more interesting in every shot than just a character and a costume. There is such a great attention to background detail. I recently saw "Barry Lyndon" for the first time, and was impressed by the amazing set design-some of the paintings especially were massively impressive, on their own even, and not just in the context of the film. The sets here may not be as elaborate, but they sure are beautiful to watch. Story wise, and narrative wise, I enjoyed many parts of the movie. The scenes with Argento and Fu'ad Ait Aattou, who played Ryno, are filled with such a strong amount of sexual tension and chemistry, that you really focus on the scene with a strong gaze. Other scenes, such as the ones with royalty discussing the gossip and drama that goes into Ryno's life, felt a bit endless, even though they bookend the film and have a strong importance when it comes to the themes. In addition, the marriage scenes between Ryno and Hermangarde were necessary in the script, I'm sure, as a comparison between his relationship with her and his relationship with Vellini, but there was a lack of spark between the actors to make those scenes interesting. I'm sure there was supposed to be no chemistry between the two to just highlight this idea more, but they were still black dots on the scenes that I really felt had more effort in them.
I think "The Last Mistress" is the best period piece around at the moment-because it tells a historical story well, and also manages to be a little bit original. I never felt like I was watching something I had seen before, even at times it does get a bit draggy, and even though the film is only an hour and fifty minutes long, by the third act I think I just had enough. And the ending is abrupt, and considering the last scene was very forgettable, I was struggling to remember important lines during it to wrap up an analysis of the movie. This is probably the most conflicting rating of a film I have seen in a while. I liked this movie, but its far from perfect, and is something to be enjoyed in certain pieces-on the whole its a little rocky.
IFC has their hands on this film as well, and it should be opening sometime next year.
Directed by Catherine Breillat
Written by Catherine Breillat, based on the novel by Jules-Amédée Barbey d'Aurevilly
Starring:
Asia Argento as Vellini
Fu'ad Ait Aattou as Ryno de Marigny
Roxane Mesquida as Hermangarde
Claude Sarraute as La marquise de Flers
Yolande Moreau as La comtesse d'Artelles
Michael Lonsdale as Le vicomte de Prony
Anne Parillaud as Mme de Solcy
114 Minutes(Not Rated)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Through my viewing of Catherine Breillat's new film "The Last Mistress" I had a hard time deciding if I liked the movie or not. And after it was over it took a while to settle it-I couldn't decide if I enjoyed what I saw, admired it, was bored by it, or thought it was simply "ok." And then I realized that it was a combination of all those things-but in the end, I think it just missed the mark from something that I could recommend. It's one of those things where I would recommend it to someone if there were no other good movies out there to see. This was also my first film by Breillat, a quite popular French film maker, but I remember when her sexually explicit experimental film "Anatomy of Hell' came out a few years back to horrid reviews. I will admit that this is a costume drama unlike any that I have ever seen, and it borders onto an NC-17 level-not that I would complain.
Our film is one about gossip and class and romance and marriage, all of it focusing it Ryno de Marigny. Ryno is set to be married, in an arranged marriage, to Hermangarde, a beautiful blonde woman that seems to love him and be ready to wed. However, Ryno has a secret lover-a mistress before he is even married, and that is too Vellini (played with fierce bravery and openness by Asia Argento, who has made a huge turn here from the last film that I saw her in "Land of the Dead.") The two of them carry on their sexual affair on the side-one that is strongly based on pleasure than actual love. But there is a story behind this affair-one that is a bit more complicated than a standard story of adultery, and that is where I refuse to reveal any more.
Breillat gets several things right-especially with the look and feel of the costume drama. There is always something appealing on the screen, and Breillat is sure to put something even more interesting in every shot than just a character and a costume. There is such a great attention to background detail. I recently saw "Barry Lyndon" for the first time, and was impressed by the amazing set design-some of the paintings especially were massively impressive, on their own even, and not just in the context of the film. The sets here may not be as elaborate, but they sure are beautiful to watch. Story wise, and narrative wise, I enjoyed many parts of the movie. The scenes with Argento and Fu'ad Ait Aattou, who played Ryno, are filled with such a strong amount of sexual tension and chemistry, that you really focus on the scene with a strong gaze. Other scenes, such as the ones with royalty discussing the gossip and drama that goes into Ryno's life, felt a bit endless, even though they bookend the film and have a strong importance when it comes to the themes. In addition, the marriage scenes between Ryno and Hermangarde were necessary in the script, I'm sure, as a comparison between his relationship with her and his relationship with Vellini, but there was a lack of spark between the actors to make those scenes interesting. I'm sure there was supposed to be no chemistry between the two to just highlight this idea more, but they were still black dots on the scenes that I really felt had more effort in them.
I think "The Last Mistress" is the best period piece around at the moment-because it tells a historical story well, and also manages to be a little bit original. I never felt like I was watching something I had seen before, even at times it does get a bit draggy, and even though the film is only an hour and fifty minutes long, by the third act I think I just had enough. And the ending is abrupt, and considering the last scene was very forgettable, I was struggling to remember important lines during it to wrap up an analysis of the movie. This is probably the most conflicting rating of a film I have seen in a while. I liked this movie, but its far from perfect, and is something to be enjoyed in certain pieces-on the whole its a little rocky.
IFC has their hands on this film as well, and it should be opening sometime next year.
posted by Eric at
1:45 PM
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