Wednesday, January 9 2018
568 - Désiré, France, 1937. Dir. Sacha Guitry.
Madame has a thing for the new Valet. His name is Désiré Tronchais.
The new Valet has a thing for Madame. Her name is Odette Clery.
Mademoiselle Odette Clery, that is.
Madame is a Mademoiselle.
She is not married. She has a boyfriend. He goes home at night. His name is Felix Montignac.
The cook also goes home at night. Her name is Adele Vazavoir.
That leaves only three people who stay in the house at night. Madame, Désiré, and the chambermaid, Madeleine Crapicheau.
So one might expect some shenanigans between Madame and the Valet.
Except that neither Madame nor Désiré know of their feelings for one another. Their feelings are subconscious.
They are expressed at night in their dreams. Dreams which are shown in creative cinematic ways by director Sacha Guitry.
Dreams which are forgotten by the dreamers in the light of a new day.
We know, because we see their dreams.
And the others come to know after the gang goes to Deauville on holiday.
In Deauville no one goes home at night. They all stay in the villa together.
So the chambermaid Madeleine knows, because she hears the Valet speaking his dreams through the wall between their rooms.
And Felix knows because he hears Odette speak her dreams across their room.
Across their room? Yes. It is 1937, and just as in an episode of I Love Lucy, Odette and Felix sleep side by side in twin beds.
The chambermaid tells the Valet, and the boyfriend tells the Madame. That they heard them. And what they said.
Now everyone wants to purchase a copy of the hot new book The Key to Dreams at the newsstand. But the newsstand has only one copy. And Désiré gets it. So Odette, Felix, and Madeleine have to borrow his copy.
The Corniches come to dinner. At least Madame Corniche--Henriette--comes to dinner. Monsieur Corniche--Adrien--is late. So we get gags of miscommunication from her inability to hear or see or speak in a clear manner. What?
When Monsieur Corniche arrives, we learn that the government has been dissolved, and the gentlemen are officers of the government. So they must leave in a hurry to deal with their new situation.
This leaves Madame and the Valet alone without Felix in the house.
But again, they are unaware of their own feelings for one another. Their feelings are subconscious. They have only been told about their vocal dreams by their housemates. And they are embarrassed by them.
Désiré is a good Valet. He does his job. He loves serving. He behaves appropriately. He does not wish to cause trouble. Despite the fact that this is not the first time this has occurred.
So when he decides to sleep in the living room so that no one can hear his dreams through the wall. And when Madame decides to sleep downstairs so that no one can hear her dreams through the floor. Well. This is 1937. It will not end scandalously. But humorously. And charmingly.
Sacha Guitry is charming. He is an intelligent, sophisticated, witty man.
He was a man of the theater who wrote, directed, and starred in many plays. He was married to his fellow actress Jacqueline Delubac. He did not wish initially to get into film. But when talkies came out, his wife talked him into it. So we have her to thank. He films his films like a master filmmaker. Staged, yes. But very well staged indeed.
Like other theater directors who became great filmmakers--Elia Kazan (1909-2003), Orson Welles (1915-1985), Ingmar Bergman (1918-2007), Mike Nichols (1931-2014), Mike Leigh (1943- ), etc.--Sacha Guitry is a master of blocking, timing, and composition.
And language.
He wrote the play upon which this film is based. And he wrote the screenplay, in addition to directing and starring.
His wife stars opposite him. Jacqueline Delubac costars in all three of the movies we have seen so far, as well as the one we will see tomorrow. So of course Madame loves the Valet. Their chemistry is palpable.
We are discovering another great French filmmaker.
And we are enjoying it.
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