566 - The Story of a Cheat, France, 1936. Dir. Sacha Guitry.

Monday, January 7, 2019

566 - The Story of a Cheat, France, 1936.  Dir. Sacha Guitry.

This movie is not the story of an adulterer.

It is the story of a cheat at cards.

And other things.

He was only a cheat at cards for seven of his around fifty-five years of age--as he has aspired since he was twelve to live a good, clean life----but somehow people keep showing up in his life to pull him back into a lifestyle of shenanigans.

It all began when he as a child stole eight sous from the till of his parents' store.

He was punished with not not being allowed to eat his favorite mushrooms for supper that night.

The rest of his family ate the mushrooms.  The mushrooms were provided by a gardener who mistakenly selected poisonous mushrooms.  So all other eleven members of the blended family of twelve died that night.  In their sleep.

One might call this a black comedy.

The story is framed in the present.  Our protagonist, who is named Le Tricheur--or The Cheater, or The Cheat--sits at an outdoor cafe across the street from the house he no longer owns, and writes his memoirs.

As he tells his story, we go into flashbacks of the different phases of his life and see things play out as he narrates them.

He encounters wild coincidences throughout his life, and nothing ever seems to go as he wants it to.  Yet he is reconciled to what he sees as fate, so he relays his story with an amused acquiescence.

The film was written, directed by, and stars Sacha Guitry, who has an offbeat sense of humor.

His style for the thirties reminds one of what Wes Anderson is doing today.  Quirky.  Dark.  Humorous.  Emotionally distant.  Cynically ironic.  With flashbacks.  With voice-over.  With precise camera movements.  Heavy on production value.  Highly stylized.

In fact, one would not be surprised to learn that Sacha Guitry has influenced Wes Anderson.

Our first impression is that he stands alone in French film history for his particular style.  Similar in the way Jacques Tati does.

We will watch a few more of his films over the next few days, so we are about to get to know him better.


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Tonight is the CFP Championship game.

Roll Tide.