Mikhaël Hers
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm
Mikhaël Hers
Mikhaël Hers (1975 - )
"No doubt these are my obsessions: mourning, the passing of time, a longing to film places, and music."
Filmography
Features
Charell (2006)
Primrose Hill (2007)
Montparnasse (2009)
Memory Lane (2010)
This Summer Feeling (2015)
Amanda (2018)
Web Resources
Mikhaël Hers on "Memory Lane", IndieWire (2011)
2018 interview with Kaleem Aftab, CinEuropa (Spoiler warning for Amanda)
"No doubt these are my obsessions: mourning, the passing of time, a longing to film places, and music."
Filmography
Features
Charell (2006)
Primrose Hill (2007)
Montparnasse (2009)
Memory Lane (2010)
This Summer Feeling (2015)
Amanda (2018)
Web Resources
Mikhaël Hers on "Memory Lane", IndieWire (2011)
2018 interview with Kaleem Aftab, CinEuropa (Spoiler warning for Amanda)
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm
Re: Amanda (Mikhaël Hers, 2018)
Amanda (2018)
No film has ever made me cry more. I went in only knowing the barest of plot details, so its central narrative event was as much a shock to me as the characters it impacts, though I imagine any advertising or writeup for this film will spoil it, as will I in the spoiler box below. The film owes a clear debt to all three Kenneth Lonergan films, and from that alone you could probably guess the skeleton of the plot, but this film is after something different than those films, and alas this is where I must leave all of you for the spoiler box:
SpoilerShow
No character in Amanda remotely approaches the complexity of those found in Lonergan’s films, but instead works in an opposite direction: rather than dense, novelistic portrayals of conflicted and sometimes infuriating characters impacted by trauma in knotty ways, this movie gives us an entire film of basically good people who are doing the best they can in the wake of an impossibly awful and all too realistic tragedy: a mass shooting in a public place. The film presents this event far removed from exploitation, but instead shows the aftermath, in more ways than one. Details like how the ever-present sounds of the city are dulled the morning after, or how victims of a public act of violence can truly turn nowhere without being reminded of the event thanks to the 24-hour news cycle of modern life— these feel real and true and well-observed without ever becoming melodramatic, and the authenticity of their normalcy makes the underlying sadness worse and less safe.
The film would not work at all without the work Vincent Lacoste brings to his role here, and it’s as good as performance as I’ve ever seen. Lacoste contributes small touches that show how lived-in his portrayal is: this isn’t a vibrant only-in-the-movies character come to life, this is the epitome of someone who could be your brother, your boyfriend, or you. Lacoste brings the same laid back likability that worked for him in Hippocrate and Victoria and builds on it to give us a character that feels at all times relatable. One thing I especially loved was how Lacoste’s sporadic crying breakdowns are ugly and awkward and not at all the kind of self-conscious power-emoting that passes for serious dramatics in most films. This doesn’t even look like acting, it looks like it would if any of us started crying. As I said, I’m typing this through red eyes thanks to this film, I can tell you with close proximity what that can look like!
Three great scenes:
01 Lacoste encounters his sister’s copy of Elvis Has Left the Building, the basis for the primary scene of mother-daughter interaction in the film, and discards it without a second thought. How many meaningless objects left by the dead carried power and weight that we will never know?
02 Lacoste receives a letter from the boyfriend of his sister, whom he has never met. The boyfriend wants to meet. Lacoste reads the letter, thinks about it, and we never hear about it again.
03 Lacoste encounters an old friend of he and his sister, and halfway through the small talk chat realizes that the woman does not know his sister is dead. At first he nods and doesn’t correct her, so as to avoid the awkwardness and the emotions that come from that, but then as he walks away, he reconsiders and the camera stays static as he runs off to her and we watch the rest of the conversation in long shot. A perfect scene.
The film would not work at all without the work Vincent Lacoste brings to his role here, and it’s as good as performance as I’ve ever seen. Lacoste contributes small touches that show how lived-in his portrayal is: this isn’t a vibrant only-in-the-movies character come to life, this is the epitome of someone who could be your brother, your boyfriend, or you. Lacoste brings the same laid back likability that worked for him in Hippocrate and Victoria and builds on it to give us a character that feels at all times relatable. One thing I especially loved was how Lacoste’s sporadic crying breakdowns are ugly and awkward and not at all the kind of self-conscious power-emoting that passes for serious dramatics in most films. This doesn’t even look like acting, it looks like it would if any of us started crying. As I said, I’m typing this through red eyes thanks to this film, I can tell you with close proximity what that can look like!
Three great scenes:
01 Lacoste encounters his sister’s copy of Elvis Has Left the Building, the basis for the primary scene of mother-daughter interaction in the film, and discards it without a second thought. How many meaningless objects left by the dead carried power and weight that we will never know?
02 Lacoste receives a letter from the boyfriend of his sister, whom he has never met. The boyfriend wants to meet. Lacoste reads the letter, thinks about it, and we never hear about it again.
03 Lacoste encounters an old friend of he and his sister, and halfway through the small talk chat realizes that the woman does not know his sister is dead. At first he nods and doesn’t correct her, so as to avoid the awkwardness and the emotions that come from that, but then as he walks away, he reconsiders and the camera stays static as he runs off to her and we watch the rest of the conversation in long shot. A perfect scene.
+++++++++
Montparnasse (2009)
Clearly Amanda was no fluke. Some of the same stylistic touches and approaches are present between the two films, such as a significant focus on ambient sounds and depicting the city as a character itself, but most notable is how both films focus on "mundane" details and everyday observations apart from traditionally dramatic stakes inherent in the material. Montparnasse presents three unconnected vignettes from one night in the titular Parisian neighborhood: two women have drinks, a younger and older man have dinner, and a man and a woman go for a walk after a concert. This strikes me as exactly the kind of film Mumblecore directors kept trying and failing to make, and the difference is stark: this film feels naturalistic and real because it is so heavily structured and planned-out. Information is carefully meted out to the degree that all three scenarios involve characters whose relation to each other we have to suss out in real time, as we are getting all three segments in the middle of the lives of all subjects. I admire this approach a lot, and it takes a lot of restraint and skill to highlight mundanity without being mundane. Looking forward to seeing the rest of Hers' films now, especially if they are all in the mode of these two.
Also, these films have taught me that Paris apparently has no open container laws!
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm
Re: Mikhaël Hers
Primrose Hill (2007)
This one shows the early cracks in the foundational style of Hers, and is evidence this kind of thing is hard even for someone who eventually masters it. Ostensibly this isn’t far removed from the other two later Hers films in terms of approach: a depiction of four 20-something bandmates wandering around one afternoon and evening (this time in the outskirts and not the city), with lots of walking and talking, ambient sounds, and non-dramatic dramatics. But it doesn’t work here at all, for a couple reasons, namely the actors and the script aren’t up to snuff. There’s perhaps something to be said for accurately depicting a group of characters I wouldn’t want to spend time with, but that still means I have to spend time with them, and I found this quartet alternately boring and annoying, especially in their negativity. And I don’t think any of the actors embodied these roles as much as they seemed to be totems for the look or sound Hers was after— compare the musicians here to the shy Depardieu-esque “Elvis” of Montparnasse and it’s not even close. There’s also some artificially artsy voice-over from a mystery narrator whose identity is revealed late in the film but without much impact.
Primrose Hill also resorts to another gimmick that falls flat, and this one seems solely engineered out of insecurity: late in the film the audience is privy to a very long static shot of two of the characters having awkward and possibly non-simulated sex in real-time. Now, perhaps this scene could work in a different film where I bought the machinations that led to the encounter, and I’ll be the first to admit that the spirit of eros can lead to unexpected sexual encounters, but the aggressive hott girl all but throwing herself at her disinterested (and uninteresting) band mate strikes me as a bit of wish fulfillment, and also highly uncharitable to these characters as shown. Compared to the generosity Hers shows in Montparnasse and Amanda, this feels cheap and worse yet incongruous to what came before and what comes after in the film. It’s a true misstep, and I hope I don’t encounter more like it while exploring the rest of Hers’ work.
++++
As you can see, this has evolved from a thread for Amanda into a Hers-dedicated filmmaker thread, and DarkImbecile has given it the proper first post
- mfunk9786
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Re: Mikhaël Hers
Great work on the look of this thread by both of you!
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm
Re: Mikhaël Hers
Charell (2006)
Two men reconnect by chance after not having seen each other for twenty years. The nature of their previous relationship is a mystery throughout the film, and no satisfying answers are ever offered up by Hers. This film reminded me a lot of the work of a young poet, in that there are some decent ideas and instincts, but too much of the film is occupied with being cryptic to a degree that shuts down any investment on any level. Is the film giving us an Une affaire de goût redux? Not really, since both characters seem to be upper middle class at worst. Is this an A Master Builder scenario in which the older man may have done something untoward to the younger years prior? Maybe, but this isn’t given much weight if so. Are we in an Eyes Wide Shut world wherein a veiled sexual threat seems to underlie all of the two mens’ interactions? This seems likely, but again, to what end? I praised the ambiguity of Montparnasse, but each of those three segments eventually revealed pretty clearly who its characters were and what their relationship was to each other. This doesn’t.
I am glad I ended up watching these first three films backwards, as I don’t know that I would have dug deeper had I seen this or Primrose Hill first. You can see an artist struggling to find their voice, and Charell never recovers from the one good idea Hers has, which is still one more than many first-time directors: after the two men reconnect, the older invites the younger man up to his apartment. Gradually we and the younger man realize the “empty” apartment is in fact quite populated. A better film would have stayed in this room and drawn out the tension and unease of this scenario, and there’s one great reveal-- wherein a series of shot-reverse shots eventually ends with the realization that there’s been a third party present the entire time-- that shows Hers had the ability to block and think about this scenario with more depth. But instead we get a rather muddled collection of bits and pieces that fail to connect.
I was also disappointed that of the four Hers films I’ve seen, this is the only one that doesn’t focus on average lower-middle class characters. There’s a shortage of non-pandering, non-message movies focusing on retail workers and odd job-takers, and I appreciated the warmth he’s given these characters in his other films. I’m not sure the world was hurting for another “Rich people are fucked up” French movie (or at the very least, not this one), and thankfully Hers seems to have figured that out himself.
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
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Re: Mikhaël Hers
(I saw these before I attended Hers’ Q&A, but didn’t get a chance to write them up til now)
Memory Lane (2010)
A quasi-sequel, in spirit and appearances, to Primrose Hill, already the Hers film I least want to revisit. Various band members and tertiary associates/family members kill time and interact in a way that I found largely without interest. Sitting through this did give me a chance to crystalize where Hers’ strengths are found, as the film exhibits the Goofus opposite: what makes Montparnasse and Amanda work so well is the specificity and closeness of the films’ observations. We meet only a few characters and we are laser-focused into their lives, with details revealed organically and in a way that indicates they existed before the film started and will continue to after it ends. Hers actually had a lovely thought on this notion at his Q&A: Hers said he views films as existing not separate or “next door” to our lives, but within our lives, as part of the experience of living. And while films have clear trajectories and climaxes, life often does not. You can see this notion working throughout his work, but without a specific character focus on which to hang these normalcy markers, Hers’ generosity to his characters blurs the audience investment and ends up serving no one, neither on screen or in the seats.
Ce sentiment de l'été (2015)
We are introduced to a young woman (played by Hers-regular Stéphanie Daub-Laurent, one of the many familiar actors that pop up in most of Hers' pre-Amanda work) and we follow her going about the mundane activities of her day until she suddenly drops dead (this isn't a spoiler, it happens within the first five minutes of the film). The rest of the film follows the twin paths of her fiancé, an American French-translator, and her sister, over the next year as their lives change in response to this tragedy. It’s impossible for me to see this as anything but a dry run for Amanda, and while it covers much of the same ground, this like Memory Lane seems to forget the lessons Hers appeared to have learned in Montparnasse and spreads its focus too thinly and without much insight. It’s also more than a little jarring to see one of the Safdie brothers and Mac DeMarco playing barely fictionalized versions of themselves in the film’s NYC sequences, and Safdie’s energy in particular seems wholly at odds with Hers’ approach.
I think it’s kind of amusing how the sex scenes in Hers’ films have become gradually less and less graphic as his confidence in not needing to fall back on this kind of thing grows, with Primrose Hill being the most explicit and exploitative, Memory Lane muting the impact somewhat but still lingering far too long in its unnecessary depiction, Ce sentiment de l'été giving us a more subdued sex scene finally tied to narrative needs rather than outre notions of shocking (false) intimacy, and then finally in Amanda, lasting fleeting seconds and tied to a sweet and touching coupling, a flash of shared amour without lingering beyond what is needed to get the idea. It like everything else in Amanda shows how the film is a culmination in repeated efforts to arrive at using Hers’ voice to show with clarity and emotional surety the culmination of all his hangups and interests, from grief to the city to the vibrant normalcy of everyday life.
I also felt emotionally vindicated when the programmer for the Lincoln Center fest introduced the film by saying she hoped she would be able to talk afterwards since she knew she'd be crying so much during the movie! Spoilers for Amanda:
I see swo has also added Amanda to his 2019 Best Of list, hopefully more of you with access to back channels give it a chance (and of course God willing someone gives it an English-friendly release)— it’s certainly looking like a lock for a top space in my own best of the decade list too...
Memory Lane (2010)
A quasi-sequel, in spirit and appearances, to Primrose Hill, already the Hers film I least want to revisit. Various band members and tertiary associates/family members kill time and interact in a way that I found largely without interest. Sitting through this did give me a chance to crystalize where Hers’ strengths are found, as the film exhibits the Goofus opposite: what makes Montparnasse and Amanda work so well is the specificity and closeness of the films’ observations. We meet only a few characters and we are laser-focused into their lives, with details revealed organically and in a way that indicates they existed before the film started and will continue to after it ends. Hers actually had a lovely thought on this notion at his Q&A: Hers said he views films as existing not separate or “next door” to our lives, but within our lives, as part of the experience of living. And while films have clear trajectories and climaxes, life often does not. You can see this notion working throughout his work, but without a specific character focus on which to hang these normalcy markers, Hers’ generosity to his characters blurs the audience investment and ends up serving no one, neither on screen or in the seats.
Ce sentiment de l'été (2015)
We are introduced to a young woman (played by Hers-regular Stéphanie Daub-Laurent, one of the many familiar actors that pop up in most of Hers' pre-Amanda work) and we follow her going about the mundane activities of her day until she suddenly drops dead (this isn't a spoiler, it happens within the first five minutes of the film). The rest of the film follows the twin paths of her fiancé, an American French-translator, and her sister, over the next year as their lives change in response to this tragedy. It’s impossible for me to see this as anything but a dry run for Amanda, and while it covers much of the same ground, this like Memory Lane seems to forget the lessons Hers appeared to have learned in Montparnasse and spreads its focus too thinly and without much insight. It’s also more than a little jarring to see one of the Safdie brothers and Mac DeMarco playing barely fictionalized versions of themselves in the film’s NYC sequences, and Safdie’s energy in particular seems wholly at odds with Hers’ approach.
I think it’s kind of amusing how the sex scenes in Hers’ films have become gradually less and less graphic as his confidence in not needing to fall back on this kind of thing grows, with Primrose Hill being the most explicit and exploitative, Memory Lane muting the impact somewhat but still lingering far too long in its unnecessary depiction, Ce sentiment de l'été giving us a more subdued sex scene finally tied to narrative needs rather than outre notions of shocking (false) intimacy, and then finally in Amanda, lasting fleeting seconds and tied to a sweet and touching coupling, a flash of shared amour without lingering beyond what is needed to get the idea. It like everything else in Amanda shows how the film is a culmination in repeated efforts to arrive at using Hers’ voice to show with clarity and emotional surety the culmination of all his hangups and interests, from grief to the city to the vibrant normalcy of everyday life.
I also felt emotionally vindicated when the programmer for the Lincoln Center fest introduced the film by saying she hoped she would be able to talk afterwards since she knew she'd be crying so much during the movie! Spoilers for Amanda:
SpoilerShow
I can’t remember the last movie I saw twice within such a short period of time, but I was struck on second viewing how knowing what happens informed my rewatch in an unexpected way: I found myself crying more in the first act, with its small scenes of everyday joy between mother and daughter & sister and brother. It reminded me of an earlier trip to NYC many years ago to visit the Jewish History Museum. Walking through level after level of their exhibit on the horrors of the Holocaust did little to impact my emotions, as I like most have become somewhat deadened to their impact. But there’s a room in the museum that is nothing but floor to ceiling pictures of hundreds of smiling, joyous French children and teenagers, all of whom we are told were killed by the Nazis. And that’s the part of the exhibit that overwhelmed me with emotion. Hers’ films gets at the same idea: a tragedy is not just the sadness of the act that instigates the change or loss, it’s the impact it takes on what came before, coloring it forever in memory. And so my second viewing of Amanda confirms my first impression: this is the best film I’ve ever seen on the subject of grief, precisely because it forgoes traditional melodramatics while showing keen insight into how personal tragedies feel to those directly involved.
- swo17
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Re: Mikhaël Hers
Yes, and the only reason I haven't said anything about it is that you covered it so well. I do think it's best if you know nothing going into it.
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
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Re: Mikhaël Hers
Fantastic news: Artificial Eye/Curzon has picked up the UK rights to Amanda, so at minimum we’ll see an English-friendly DVD of this masterpiece so everyone can experience it (and fingers crossed for a Blu-ray)
- colinr0380
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Re: Mikhaël Hers
If it is Artificial Eye more likely it will be DVD, I'm afraid.
- domino harvey
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Re: Mikhaël Hers
Sadly true, but I'm still ecstatic that at least those who don't have access to back channels or the ability to understand French will be able to see it. And the film is still conspicuously without US distribution. I could see this legit being an Awards player here if Sony Classics took a chance, but who knows, it will probably be one of the countless great recent French films to never get distributed here...
- Aunt Peg
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Re: Mikhaël Hers
Great news. I saw the film a couple of weeks ago and can highly recommend it. It handles material that I'm afraid most directors would basically stuff up but Hers and his cast handle it with such grace and beauty. Also, I think the less you know before going into it the better as it goes into a completely unexpected direction and pulls it off so beautifully.domino harvey wrote: ↑Thu Mar 28, 2019 1:59 pmFantastic news: Artificial Eye/Curzon has picked up the UK rights to Amanda, so at minimum we’ll see an English-friendly DVD of this masterpiece so everyone can experience it (and fingers crossed for a Blu-ray)
- domino harvey
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Re: Mikhaël Hers
I agree, and it’s worth noting that you can’t even just Google the name of the film without the default one line description coming up and spoiling what happens! At least the Lincoln Center description had the good sense to talk around the central event. And then on the other end there’s the Guardian, which sensationally summarized it in their freaking review headline
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Re: Mikhaël Hers
So did the French Film Festival program which was all that I read before seeing the film and I'm very grateful to them for that. I'd never seen any of Mikhael Hers previous films and I included it in my viewing schedule solely because of the Caesar nomination for Vincent Lacoste. Though the Caesar's have as little creditability as the Oscars they can sometimes point you into some rewarding directions. This year Amanda and Alex Lutz's Guy were two of them.domino harvey wrote: ↑Thu Apr 18, 2019 5:22 pmI agree, and it’s worth noting that you can’t even just Google the name of the film without the default one line description coming up and spoiling what happens! At least the Lincoln Center description had the good sense to talk around the central event. And then on the other end there’s the Guardian, which sensationally summarized it in their freaking review headline
Word of warning to people who haven't seen Amanda: DO NOT LOOK AT imdb either! Please trust Domino and myself on this one. Don't read anything about it - just see it.
- domino harvey
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Re: Mikhaël Hers
Guy is without a doubt the most convincing and authentic fake documentary I’ve ever seen. I’m not sure it does much for me beyond impressing me at how perceptively Lutz catalogs every tic and feature of these kind of movies (I would bet easy, easy money that you could show this to someone who doesn’t know the actors or much French cultural history [but enough to get the tradition the protagonist belongs to, I guess] and they’d without hesitation believe it was the real thing, because it’s just dead-on), but it at least refutes the notion that all a fake doc can do is be a humorous “mockumentary” or a cheap horror movie
Back on Hers’ film, though, I thought Amanda’s other Cesar nomination, for score, was equally well-deserved. Was surprised to learn in Hers’ Q&A that the composer Anton Sanko was an American! Also Jarvis Cocker wrote and contributed the original song that plays over the final credits after reading the script early on. I haven’t mentioned it yet, and it’s not really a spoiler since I’m not going to say what plays under them, but the end credits before Cocker’s song kicks in are simultaneously beautiful and deeply sad for the implications of what is and isn’t shown in a simple series of shots that now hold deep weight for the viewer. And of course on a different note, the gasps of shock from the audience at the reveal of the once-familiar name who plays a key role late on the film were also great (and I didn’t recognize her either and probably reacted similarly when I first watched it at home)
Back on Hers’ film, though, I thought Amanda’s other Cesar nomination, for score, was equally well-deserved. Was surprised to learn in Hers’ Q&A that the composer Anton Sanko was an American! Also Jarvis Cocker wrote and contributed the original song that plays over the final credits after reading the script early on. I haven’t mentioned it yet, and it’s not really a spoiler since I’m not going to say what plays under them, but the end credits before Cocker’s song kicks in are simultaneously beautiful and deeply sad for the implications of what is and isn’t shown in a simple series of shots that now hold deep weight for the viewer. And of course on a different note, the gasps of shock from the audience at the reveal of the once-familiar name who plays a key role late on the film were also great (and I didn’t recognize her either and probably reacted similarly when I first watched it at home)
- therewillbeblus
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Re: Mikhaël Hers
I’ll add to the praise for Amanda, which is about all I can do outside of a spoiler box.
SpoilerShow
This is certainly the most humanistic depiction of the effects of tragedy I’ve seen. While the obvious sister film may be Manchester By The Sea, they are actually much different as that film focuses on the ways in which a person copes and exists with guilt vs. Amanda’s interest in tragedy divorced from responsibility surrounding the event.
Domino selected three key scenes but a few others that struck me:
1. When David and Amanda are mini-golfing and witness two white people screaming at Muslims. Amanda asks about it, David responds honestly, and they move on. The way that the film addresses how different people cope with tragedy without making any definitive statements is perfect: David doesn’t focus on the (potential) terrorists to project his anger, while his friends urge him to join a group to focus his energy into social justice to help punish those responsible, and then we see (from afar) people discriminating against members of a general population of people with hate. None of these reactions are championed or shamed- Hers instead embraces a humanistic approach to his characters and the reality of subjective grief.
2. All scenes depicting David’s relationship with Lena, particularly the scenes where he tries to convince her to stay with him. I found myself wanting him to push harder, but he relents and respects her responses each time without needing extra prompting (including when he travels to surprise her at her country home in a grand romantic gesture, so atypical of any other film). The romantic filmgoer in me wanted her to come back with him, but they both respond authentically to their characters and show the complexity of how relationships and personal issues are not always complements to one another, and often don’t work despite love being present.
3. The brief scene of Lena and David making love, which at first seemed unnecessary and out of place, but in reflection was absolutely crucial to the film and another reason why it’s different than the Lonergan film. The scene shows that, even in the process of grief, people are capable of feeling, of feeling good, of having fun (the scene where David and Lena have a laugh modeling for Amanda how wine enthusiasts behave is another example). Most people go on living, and are not broken in every moment of their lives post-tragedy. Amanda’s acceptance of her mother’s death at the end with the “Elvis has left the building” line, immediately after she is shown having fun watching tennis is a perfect ending. We know that she has not accepted it for good, as nobody does, but the film is hopeful in showing how she will continue to accept it, not accept it, enjoy life, feel broken, find peace, etc. and how David will do the same, but they will have one another during all of these moments, and that means something.
Domino selected three key scenes but a few others that struck me:
1. When David and Amanda are mini-golfing and witness two white people screaming at Muslims. Amanda asks about it, David responds honestly, and they move on. The way that the film addresses how different people cope with tragedy without making any definitive statements is perfect: David doesn’t focus on the (potential) terrorists to project his anger, while his friends urge him to join a group to focus his energy into social justice to help punish those responsible, and then we see (from afar) people discriminating against members of a general population of people with hate. None of these reactions are championed or shamed- Hers instead embraces a humanistic approach to his characters and the reality of subjective grief.
2. All scenes depicting David’s relationship with Lena, particularly the scenes where he tries to convince her to stay with him. I found myself wanting him to push harder, but he relents and respects her responses each time without needing extra prompting (including when he travels to surprise her at her country home in a grand romantic gesture, so atypical of any other film). The romantic filmgoer in me wanted her to come back with him, but they both respond authentically to their characters and show the complexity of how relationships and personal issues are not always complements to one another, and often don’t work despite love being present.
3. The brief scene of Lena and David making love, which at first seemed unnecessary and out of place, but in reflection was absolutely crucial to the film and another reason why it’s different than the Lonergan film. The scene shows that, even in the process of grief, people are capable of feeling, of feeling good, of having fun (the scene where David and Lena have a laugh modeling for Amanda how wine enthusiasts behave is another example). Most people go on living, and are not broken in every moment of their lives post-tragedy. Amanda’s acceptance of her mother’s death at the end with the “Elvis has left the building” line, immediately after she is shown having fun watching tennis is a perfect ending. We know that she has not accepted it for good, as nobody does, but the film is hopeful in showing how she will continue to accept it, not accept it, enjoy life, feel broken, find peace, etc. and how David will do the same, but they will have one another during all of these moments, and that means something.
- swo17
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Re: Mikhaël Hers
SpoilerShow
Honestly the scene that sticks with me most is just a small random one where David is waiting at the airport for some reason and he just suddenly breaks down crying. Like, he's troubled by what happened constantly, and he can't even control when it comes rushing out of him in public.
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
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Re: Mikhaël Hers
SpoilerShow
swo: He’s there at the train station to pickup the people who are staying at one of the Air BnB he’s paid to upkeep/do checkins. I can’t remember if it’s his sister or Stacy Martin whom he texts (or does he call?) about bringing baguettes to the picnic in the park, but the train station was where he relays his final message before the mass shooting, and he only missed out on being present for the massacre because the people he was picking up were running late.
Great thoughts as always, therewillbeblus. The film ends with hope for the romantic pairing too, as Martin texts Lacoste a sweet message at the end of the film when they’re at Wimbledon. Both times I’ve seen this I think it’s the estranged mom’s message til I see the name at the end, though, so maybe it’s not that romantic!
Great thoughts as always, therewillbeblus. The film ends with hope for the romantic pairing too, as Martin texts Lacoste a sweet message at the end of the film when they’re at Wimbledon. Both times I’ve seen this I think it’s the estranged mom’s message til I see the name at the end, though, so maybe it’s not that romantic!
- tenia
- Ask Me About My Bassoon
- Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:13 am
Re: Mikhaël Hers
I've read on DVD Classik the anecdote of someone who was in a theater showing the trailer for Guy, and a person sitting nearby said "Wow, I don't know at all this singer, but this looks interesting".domino harvey wrote: ↑Fri Apr 19, 2019 3:18 amI would bet easy, easy money that you could show this to someone who doesn’t know the actors or much French cultural history [but enough to get the tradition the protagonist belongs to, I guess] and they’d without hesitation believe it was the real thing, because it’s just dead-on
- therewillbeblus
- Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm
Re: Mikhaël Hers
All I could think about while watching Montparnasse (2009) was how honest and realistic the dialogue and performances were, and how does Hers find these actors and what does he do on and off the set to make this magic happen? I second domino’s thoughts on the power of the film hinging significantly on calculated efforts all around. The acting and script are the elements that stand out, but the editing and less obvious stylistic choices are just as important to the success of making this work so well. The progression of shots, from wide to medium, shot reverse shot, close ups, back to wide, etc. while not using anything groundbreaking, creates an intimacy in the timing and execution that only a great filmmaker could present as fresh and utilize to maximum effect. While I enjoyed the film itself, the first part particularly struck a chord with me, and taken by itself is a perfect film. What starts out as confounding becomes the most relatable existential breakdown one could write, act, or capture on film. How can anyone write dialogue that esoteric and yet universally discernible? A filmmaker who is disciplined in committing to the practice of self-restraint and also a passionate humanist. These qualities don’t often co-exist but with Hers they blend to unrecognizable levels that come across as understated and effortless. I can’t wait to see what he does next based on the strength of the two films I’ve seen, and hopefully Amanda affects enough people around the globe to persuade the powers at be to grant wider accessibility to his work.
- NABOB OF NOWHERE
- Joined: Thu Sep 01, 2005 12:30 pm
- Location: Brandywine River
Re: Mikhaël Hers
I have watched Amanda twice to try and join the love fest but find myself totally unmoved. It's my only experience of Hers (apart from selling him a Philip Glass CD on Amazon- true) Despite having had a very similar experience as a small child, or maybe because of it, the emotional scenes you both describe that affected you seem hollow and forced to me and as for the I just found it a rather cheap device waiting to be detonated and when it came rather facile. Call me out for a heart of stone or being a doubting Thomas -particularly after my lukewarm reception of the other pin-up Mouret but there you are. I would love to have elucidated a more rigorous critique and even more echoed the applause but there you are. So it goes.
SpoilerShow
Elvis bomb
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm
Re: Mikhaël Hers
Amanda will be playing the Boston French Film Festival on July 12th and July 20th. The summary provided by the Festival in that link spoils the major plot point all of us have been doing our best to preserve, so good work whoever was in charge of that decision.
- Aunt Peg
- Joined: Fri Dec 21, 2012 5:30 am
Re: Mikhaël Hers
Australian viewers alert: Amanda is playing on SBS World Movies Free-to-air (Channel 32), 7.30pm Wednesday 10 July. I'm pretty sure they will do repeat screenings. Don't read the stations 'What's it about' because they give spoilers
- therewillbeblus
- Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm
Re: Mikhaël Hers
My mother took a group of her friends, also all therapists, to see Amanda at the MFA in Boston today on my rec and they all loved it, particularly emphasizing how right it was in its portrayal of the complex process of grief against anything Hollywood could offer. I’m glad that I’m not crazy that my handful of years in the field amounted to some valid assessment, since these women all have around 45 on me and had the same immediate thought! Hopefully its inclusion in this festival bodes well for a stateside release...domino harvey wrote: ↑Thu Jun 20, 2019 3:55 amAmanda will be playing the Boston French Film Festival on July 12th and July 20th. The summary provided by the Festival in that link spoils the major plot point all of us have been doing our best to preserve, so good work whoever was in charge of that decision.
- Never Cursed
- Such is life on board the Redoutable
- Joined: Sun Aug 14, 2016 12:22 am
Re: Mikhaël Hers
Saw Amanda at today's Boston screening, and I know I'm largely preaching to the choir, but yeah, it's one of the best of the year, and I don't know how much I have to add beyond that, if only because of the many great deep dives done by others in this very thread. I certainly struggle to think of another movie (maybe To Sleep With Anger) whose every second felt as vital and necessary to the film as a whole as this one. Believe all the hyperbole upthread about this film's emotional power, too: my dad (who is nothing if not stoic) saw it with me, and he was in tears for most of the movie. Making my dad cry is an exceptionally hard feat, and this movie pulled it off.
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm
Re: Mikhaël Hers
I love these stories! How great is it to be able to share a wonderful film like this with the people we care about, especially given the subject matter?