Le pont des arts

Ah, the Baroque era, those were the days! In Eugene Green’s third full-length film set around 1980, it is Baroque that links two symmetrical stories on the Paris bridge that gives the film its title. Pascal (Michaux, always to be seen in Green’s films) is in the last year of his literature studies, unmotivated and listless, but his thesis – and his relationship with the ambitious Christine – suffer as a result of his obsession for the poetry of Michelangelo. Classical vocalist Sarah (another beautiful role by Natacha Régnier) suffers under the verbal abuse of the conductor – known as ‘The Unnameable’ – with whom she is working on recording Monteverdi’s Lamento della ninfa and is imprisoned in an unsatisfying relationship. An impossible love unfolds between the two of them in Baroque dialogues. Strangely enough, this love is moving, elevated, artistic and humorously absurd. When Pascal, comforted by Sarah’s voice on an LP, decides not to commit suicide and sets off to look for her, Sarah has herself just committed suicide by jumping off the pont des arts. Those who saw Le monde vivant last year have some idea about Green’s specific film style, with actors who speak their texts straight into the camera and a calm montage that engenders a suitable level of surprise. The result is a masterpiece about true love, serious art and the beauty of life. (GT)