426 - Heartbeat (La Chamade), France, 1968. Dir. Alain Cavalier.
I wish you understood me.
Lucille is summing up her predicament with the man in her life. It is perfectly clear what she wants and needs, but he does not see it.
Lucille wants to be loved.
Nothing more. Nothing less. Just loved.
Her husband loves her.
He loves her for who she is, the way she is, and does not ask her to change.
Mr. Charles Blassans-Lignieres provides Lucille with a great life. Fifty dresses in her closet. Her own convertible in the garage. Freshly cut flowers. A maid. A gardener. Lobster and wine for lunch. Mozart Sonatas in the evening. Dinner parties. A social life.
And freedom.
Complete freedom.
He lets her do whatever she likes.
Love is not jealous. - 1 Corinthians 13:4b
Charles is not jealous.
Should he be a little jealous?
He is not jealous.
He trusts Lucille.
Trusts her even with Diane's new boyfriend Antoine.
Should he trust her?
Antoine is young and handsome and tall.
And a bit mischievous.
They meet him when Diane brings Antoine to a dinner party at Charles and Lucille's house. During their game of croquet. After Diane first pulls Antoine into the weeping willows to kiss him.
On Lucille's turn, she strikes her yellow ball and misses the wicket. It is now Antoine's turn. Lucille does not know who he is. He introduces himself. He strikes his blue ball. He roquets her yellow ball. Both go through the wicket. He gets a continuation shot. He roquets her with a cut rush and sends her yellow ball out into the swimming pool. Pretty cheeky, Antoine.
Antoine is welcome in these circles because he is dating Diane and Diane brings him.
However, he does not walk in these circles otherwise.
Antoine does not have money. He lives in a studio apartment in town and works at a book publishing company. Like his workmates, he has no car and rides the subway. When Diane comes to pick him up in her silver 1962 Alfa Romeo 2600 Sprint, it embarrasses him. It is one thing that it is a luxury car, but he is embarrassed to be riding in a car at all!
She takes him to their second evening with the gang.
A night at the theatre. The night at the theatre consists of three parts. Before the show. The show. After the show.
Before the show, they hang out on a park bench in front of the Cafe du Theatre. Four gents are seated in front of the Cafe, singing, one playing an acoustic guitar, all belting out a catchy, repetitious, seven-note melody. Our gang eats chips out of a bag. When Diane and Antoine arrive, Diane says, "You're picknicking. What a good idea." Then she sends Antoine inside to get her some cigarettes. He does. He also orders a drink and turns around and sees Lucille sitting on the park bench outside. He nods and salutes her with his glass. She demurs and looks down. Charles, who is talking to Diane, sees it. But he is not worried.
The show itself is Les Chemins de Fer (Railways), an 1867 vaudeville comedy by Eugene Labiche, apparently playing on its 100th anniversary. The group sees it at the Theatre de l'Atelier at 1, place Charles Dullin.
After the show, they are hungry. Charles suggests they go to the Cheval Noir, that charming little place just this side of Versailles, to get a bite to eat. Everyone agrees. They get in their cars to go.
But Charles feels he is catching a cold. Since he and Lucille came in Lucille's convertible, he asks if he can ride with Diane and let Antoine go with Lucille. He is not worried.
He trusts her.
So they do.
And Lucille lets Antoine drive her cobalt blue 1957 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider. He loves driving it. He is not embarrassed at all. How handy that his workmates are not around.
The next morning Lucille asks Charles why he let her go with Antoine, and he explains it. He wanted to see the way she looked when she came into the restaurant. "Not looking at him." "Thoughtful, terribly gentle, and almost resigned." "The way you look when you're attracted to someone."
He gives her that much freedom. He says he never does anything with his freedom. He loves her. He is interested in no one else. But he can see that she is already attracted to Antoine, and he will do nothing to stop her. She is free.
The next few sections of the film are quite remarkable.
What will Lucille do with her freedom?
What will happen as a result?
Alain Cavalier has thought about human relationships and what it means to love someone. Antoine has his way of loving. Charles has his way. Lucille is looking for love.
And who will give it to her? And how?
Perhaps providing for someone is a way of loving her.
Cavalier also films the movie in beautiful colors. With the architecture. The art. The fashion. The cars. The music. All contributing to this beautiful picture. Catherine Deneuve sparkles in her Yves Saint-Laurent outfits, and her hair billows as fully as ever.
The film is a kind of Sliding Doors, in that it looks at two different life choices and the kind of life that will result from each of them.
Lucille has to think about which choice she really wants to make. And which kind of life she really wants to lead.
In the end she follows her heart.
Lucille wants to be loved.
* * * * *
Michel Piccoli was born in 1925 and began working in 1945. He is now 92 and still working.The next morning Lucille asks Charles why he let her go with Antoine, and he explains it. He wanted to see the way she looked when she came into the restaurant. "Not looking at him." "Thoughtful, terribly gentle, and almost resigned." "The way you look when you're attracted to someone."
He gives her that much freedom. He says he never does anything with his freedom. He loves her. He is interested in no one else. But he can see that she is already attracted to Antoine, and he will do nothing to stop her. She is free.
The next few sections of the film are quite remarkable.
What will Lucille do with her freedom?
What will happen as a result?
Alain Cavalier has thought about human relationships and what it means to love someone. Antoine has his way of loving. Charles has his way. Lucille is looking for love.
And who will give it to her? And how?
Perhaps providing for someone is a way of loving her.
Cavalier also films the movie in beautiful colors. With the architecture. The art. The fashion. The cars. The music. All contributing to this beautiful picture. Catherine Deneuve sparkles in her Yves Saint-Laurent outfits, and her hair billows as fully as ever.
The film is a kind of Sliding Doors, in that it looks at two different life choices and the kind of life that will result from each of them.
Lucille has to think about which choice she really wants to make. And which kind of life she really wants to lead.
In the end she follows her heart.
Lucille wants to be loved.
* * * * *
We have seen him as Captain Valorgueil in Jean Renoir's French Cancan (1955), Nuttheccio in Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Doulos (1963), Paul Javal in Jean-Luc Godard's Contempt (1963), and the dubbed voice of Fernando Rey in Luis Bunuel's That Obscure Object of Desire (1977).
French Cancan
http://realbillbillions.blogspot.com/2017/03/066-french-cancan-1955-france-dir-jean.html
Le Doulos
http://realbillbillions.blogspot.com/2017/03/086-le-doulos-hat-1963-france-dir-jean.html
Contempt
http://realbillbillions.blogspot.com/2017/04/111-contempt-1963-franceitaly-dir-jean.html
That Obscure Object of Desire
http://realbillbillions.blogspot.com/2017/05/145-that-obscure-object-of-desire-1977.html
Consider Michel Piccoli in Contempt, as Brigitte Bardot's husband, the film director, in his iconic hat and untied tie, or shirtless, arguing with her, overthinking everything as she tries to explain to him that all she wants is to be loved. Just love me and finish the movie. His character here understands that. If he as Charles from La Chamade could step into the shoes of Paul Javal in Contempt, then he could love her and finish the movie!
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